In an exciting three-horse jump-off, Todd Minikus and Alaska were the fastest clear round to win the $100,000 President's Cup Grand Prix World Cup qualifier presented by The Boeing Company. Kate Levy and Lirving du Volsin finished second, while Mario Deslauriers and Vicomte D were third. Earlier in the evening, Samantha Schaefer was victorious in the WIHS Equitation Classic Finals. Saturday night's courses were designed by Guilherme Jorge of Brazil, and out of the 29 entries in the class, only...

It was another exciting day of competition at the 2009 Washington International Horse Show (WIHS), as the schedule featured four jumper classes for amateur-owner, junior, and open jumpers on Thursday. The highlight class of the day was the $30,000 Open Jumper Time First Jump-off class, and Olympic Gold medalist McLain Ward of the United States took the top prize on Couletto K James. Andres Rodriguez of Venezuala and Da Vinci were victorious in the $20,000 Open Jumper Gambler's Choice Costume...

Kassandra Barteau and GP Raymeister at 2009 NAJYRC (Flashpoint Photography) Lexington, KY – Three-time USEF National Champion and NAJYRC Gold Medalist Kassandra Barteau has topped the United States rankings for the FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final for Young Riders and has earned an invitation to Frankfurt, Germany for the Final, to be held December 17-20. Twenty-one year-old Barteau of Maple Park, Illinois and her mount GP Raymeister (a 10-year-old bay Holsteiner stallion owned by...

Today at Arabian Sport Horse Nationals (SHN), my fellow Arabian horse lovers and I were treated to a preview of the new Arabian Horse Galleries at the Kentucky Horse Park's International Museum of the Horse. The Purebred Arabian Trust funded a 9,000 square foot building to be added on to the existing museum, although they are still requesting donations to finish the exhibit. Those of us at SHN were invited to a special presentation (with a sales pitch artfully thrown in) to see what the...

I'm here at the beautiful Kentucky Horse Park (KHP) in Lexington, Kentucky, for my third Arabian Sporthorse National (affectionately known as SHN)--although it is the seventh anniversary of the event splitting off from US Nationals to give sport horses a chance to shine all on their own. This year is the first that SHN has been held at the KHP, and boy are the gums flapping about the facility! Walking around the park, you'll pass one group oohing and aahing about how beautiful it is and...

These last three days have been sooo busy! We get up at 6am and back to the hotel at around 1am! So let me give you an overview on what has been happening. August 25, 2009 Today our 14 year old rider Theresa rode and boy did she ride the hair off of her horse! She was a sight minus a few pilot errors that every rider makes once in a while. She unfortunately did not place in her class but North Wind Stables were very proud of her. August 26,2009 This day would be a day I will always remember. I...

Lexington, KY—Suzy Stafford has won the Individual Bronze medal in the Single Pony class at the FEI World Combined Pony Driving Championships in Greven-Bockholt, Germany. Team USA finished fourth in the nations competition, which was won by host nation Germany. Stafford was in second position after the dressage and the marathon, but the very difficult cones course kept her from keeping the Silver medal. Stafford passed the finish line just a fraction too late to make the time allowed, but...

The U.S. team at the FEI World Pony Driving Championships in Greven-Bockholt, Germany, is currently in fourth position in the standings after dressage. The U.S. drivers put down excellent performances in the past two dressage days and are only one point behind The Netherlands, who is in third position. Host nation and team title defender, Germany, ahead of Belgium, leads the standings. Germany’s Franz-Josef Lehmkuhl, who will end his active driving career after this event, won the Single...

Lexington, KY—The Mt. Eden Vaulters, of Saratoga, CA, finished the Kentucky Cup Vaulting on Sunday the way they started it on Thursday—by sweeping the first-placed awards. In the CVI2*, Megan Benjamin won the women’s division, Kenny Geisler won the men’s division and the Mt. Eden Sun Team won the team division. The Kentucky Cup is the vaulting test event for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, to be held September 25 to October 10, 2010. The World Championships...

Lexington, KY —Equipped with a new indoor facility, six strong teams and some of the most outstanding reining horses in North America, the SmartPak™ North American Young Rider Reining Championships came to an emotional and suspenseful close today with the prestigious Individual competition. For only the second time in history, the championships has declared an Individual Gold medalist in Darcy Wilson of Glenwood, Ontario, Canada, who stood on guard for her beloved Canada while...