The Champ (Shannon Brinkman) Las Vegas, NV – The Dressage world has changed. American rider Steffen Peters and Ravel are at the center of the universe. The suspense built throughout the night at the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Final in the Thomas & Mack Arena, and with only one American horse remaining in the competition, the crowd had to wait until the third to last horse in the ring. With $102,000 USD on the line and a Rolex watch, the competition was fierce. Ravel, in first World Cup...

The dressage justice in the world continued last night. In a fiercely difficult freestyle, Ravel and Steffen delivered a World Cup Championship performance. It was one of those nights where the planets aligned. How lucky are we to have been a part of it? Ravel got better, and better, and better throughout the Freestyle and they brought down the house for the US. To the music of the Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil, Ravel, who had an introduction to the world in Hong Kong last summer,...

Jennifer Alfano and Jersey Boy won the richest ASG Software Solutions/United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) International Hunter Derby Saturday night, March 28, when they triumphed over a record number of entries to win the $50,000 class at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC). Alfano of Buffalo, NY, held on to the lead she established in the first of two rounds of competition to return for the final to post her second straight victory in the multi-year nationwide...

Marilyn Little-Meredith captured her first ever grand prix at a Winter Equestrian Festival on Thursday, March 19, aboard Comtesse Du Lys in the finale round of the $30,000 Braman Motor Cars WEF Challenge Cup Series. Little-Meredith of Frederick, MD, and the mare Comtesse Du Lys, owned by Raylyn Farms, Inc., and Beverly Sheehy, were just nine points short of dislodging Great Britain's Peter Charles and Murka's Pall Mall from the top of the WEF Challenge standings. Charles' finish in 17th place...

Combined Driver Chester Weber continued his winning streak at the prestigious Live Oak International Combined Driving event by driving away the winner of the Four-In-Hand FEI Horse Team. The world-class qualifying competition draws top competitors to Ocala, FL, each year, and is considered to be one of the premiere combined driving events in North America. Weber, who has his sights set on qualifying for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in the four-in-hand division, won all three...

Double Olympic Gold medalist Beezie Madden won her first grand prix of the 2009 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) on Thursday, March 12, aboard Onlight in Round X of the $30,000 Braman Motorcars WEF Challenge Cup Series. Madden of Cazenovia, NY, and Onlight, owned by Team Onlight, were the only double-clear round from the initial 49 entries for the class in the DeNemethy arena. Only four combinations made it to the jump-off on the the course designed by Guilherme Jorge of Brazil. The time by...

Christie Little, age nine, of Harrington, DE, is the winner of the Morgan horse, "Cash," or CBMF Walk The Line, as part of an essay contest sponsored by the American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) and Team Morgan. Cash was generously donated to the contest by Ann Hailey of Copper Beech Morgans in New Albany, OH, which promoted the Morgan breed and raised funds for Team Morgan to travel to and host international equitation competitions. A fourth grader, Little has worked with her family's...

McLain Ward and his two-time Olympic Gold medal partner Sapphire claimed their second grand prix victory in a row Saturday night by winning the $200,000 FEI World Cup Grand Prix CSI**** presented by CN at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center during the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). In an exciting six-horse jump-off before a near-packed stadium under lights at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, Ward, of Brewster, NY, and the 14-year-old mare owned by Ward and Blue Chip...

Lendon Gray, President and CEO of The Dressage Foundation, announced that Jan Brons of Wellington, FL, has won the 2009 “Carol Lavell Advanced Dressage Prize.” The purpose of the prize, established at The Dressage Foundation, is to provide financial assistance for coaching and training to a talented, committed, qualified rider whose plan is to reach and excel at the elite, international standards of high-performance dressage. “A strong field of applicants applied for this important new prize,...

California show jumping superstar Joie Gatlin was quick to wear out her welcome at HITS Arizona when she captured the blue aboard SunCal's King in the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix to conclude Week II, the Kachina Classic at the Pima County Fairgrounds, in Tucson, AZ. "I think everyone in Tucson was happy to see me come, and I think they are even happier to see me go," joked Gatlin. The California girl got the best of 28 riders in the first round and an additional 13 that advanced to the jump-off...