Jason Berry guides Upswing to success in the Hunter ring (ESI Photography) Culpeper, Va. - Earlier this year, Upswing was imported as a dressage prospect at three-day eventer Phillip Dutton’s barn. Quickly proving that piaffes and passage weren't his calling, Upswing left them in the dust for an over-fences career. Pamela Deslauriers purchased the eight-year old Mechkenburg gelding and handed the reins to Jason Berry (Verona, Virginia) less than three months ago. “He has come...

Laura Chapot and Quointreau Un Prince (The Book LLC) Lake Placid, N.Y. - Laura Chapot of Neshanic Station, NJ, and Quointreau Un Prince won the $30,000 Adirondack Jumper Classic Thursday at the inaugural Adirondack Horse Show, Presented by Sea Shore Stables. Chapot was one of five entries from the starting field of 18 to reach the jump-off by riding without penalty over the first-round course designed by Pierre Jolicoeur. Todd Minikus went first in the jump-off and set the mark to beat with a...

Live Oak Driver Apprentice Jacob Arnold Scores Personal Best Chester Weber on his way to a record high score in dressage. (PicsofYou.com) Ocala, Fla. - The Florida Horse Park in Ocala saw ten-time US National Driving Champion Chester Weber write combined driving history at its Kingdom of the Sun CDE, February 19-23, as the Ocala horseman dubbed “Mr. Dressage” set a never-before-achieved score of 30.89 in the dressage phase of the Advanced Horse Team division. Then Weber and his team...

Tracy Fenney and MTM Centano jump their way to a win in the $40,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Culpeper to cap the Constitution Classic at HITS Culpeper (©ESI Photography) Culpeper, VA - HITS recently announced a Culpeper Finals schedule change moving the $10,000 USHJA Hunter Derby originally scheduled for Sunday morning in the Grand Prix Ring to Sunday afternoon in the Main Hunter Ring. The Culpeper Finals begin Wednesday, September 25. For a complete revised scheduled,...

The USDF “L” Education Program was developed to teach judges to evaluate the correct training of dressage horses, and is a prerequisite for entering the USEF Dressage Judges Training Program and obtaining Recorded “r” status. Designed to provide trainers, instructors, competitors, and spectators insight into the evaluative techniques of judging dressage, it also provides continuing education for licensed judges and “L” Graduates. Several programs will be...

Team Weber on the marathon couse at Beekbergen. (Rinaldo de Craen) Ocala, FL - With his signature flourish in the dressage phase at the Beekbergen CAI-A4, July 18-21, in The Netherlands, nine-time U.S. national driving champion Chester Weber set an early lead (32.97) with an Ultra-good performance. As in Koos de Ronde's Ultra, an 11-year-old KWPN gelding that Team Weber has had their eye on for the last two years but, like any top professional athlete, it was a matter of waiting until Ultra...

Shelburne, VT - AMHA is pleased to announce that starting January 1, 2014, its membership structure and associated benefits will be modified. The changes are a result of a nine-month research project conducted by the AMHA Membership Committee, led by Sara Foy and Mari Sanderson. Three surveys and a series of interviews with nearly 300 people targeting non-members, previous members, and current members were conducted. Starting January 1, 2014, AMHA will offer one class of membership with the...

Welfare of the Horse in the 21st Century; Meeting the Needs of the Performance Horse in a Changing Environment In the face of overwhelming response from its membership and requests to host USEF Town Hall Meetings in many cities around the U.S, Federation staff and leadership have opted to host a Town Hall Meeting to be broadcast LIVE on USEFNetwork.com on Monday, June 3 at 6:00 p.m. ET. This interactive broadcast will replace the previously scheduled meetings and provide greater access to more...

The second in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder I started formal riding lessons when I was four years old. English riding lessons. The doctors told my mom it would be good for me. It was 1969. The Academy where I learned is now a national historic landmark. By the time I was 6, I was riding with double reins. My introduction to western riding came when my parents purchased a POA stallion for me the summer of my sixth year. That pony could buck my dad off! ‘Nuff said. When...

Traverse City, MI - Horse Sports by the Bay, Inc., is excited to announce an increase in prize money for the High and Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classics during Series II and Series III of the 2012 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival. Thanks to additional sponsor support, each classic will now include an increased purse of $12,000 and $7,500, respectively, offering riders an even greater opportunity to earn fabulous prize money and points toward year-end awards. Additional money has...