Oliver Townend of Great Britain is poised to achieve what only one other event rider in the world has ever done, claim the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. In September of 2003, Pippa Funnell of Great Britain became the first rider in history to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing when she rode Primmore's Pride to victory at the Burghley Horse Trials in England following back-to-back wins in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in April aboard Primmore's Pride and the Mitsubishi Motors...

Lexington, KY – A seasoned veteran of the USEF Driving Four-in-Hand Team battled the elements to win the 2009 Laurels at Landhope Advanced Horse Teams division in a deluge on Friday. Rain plagued the annual event in West Grove, PA and many of the competitors chose to withdraw from the marathon phase (including reigning Silver medalist from the 2008 World Driving Championships, Chester Weber) but Jim Fairclough (Newtown, NJ) made the best of a very wet weekend. Fairclough’s fortitude prevailed...

On Sunday at HITS Culpeper Tracy Magness was back to her winning ways riding Tarco Van Ter Moude to the blue in the $30,000 HITS Grand Prix to conclude the Winston National at HITS Commonwealth Park in Culpeper, VA. Magness got the best of 19 pairs that challenged course designer Jerry Dougherty’s first-round course and the additional six that advanced to the jump-off en route to collecting $9,000 in first-place prize money. With the victory, Magness and Mr. and Mrs. John Bartko’s Tarco Van Ter...

After two days of exciting competition, a new champion was crowned when Danielle Cooper rode her mount Amalfi to the Grand Championship at the 2009 USEF Junior Hunter Championship-East Coast on Wednesday afternoon at HITS-on-the-Hudson, in Saugerties, NY Coming out of the Small Junior Hunter 16-17 Division, Cooper and her mount outlasted last year’s winning rider, Jennifer Waxman, to earn the crown. “Danielle has been riding with me since September,” said trainer Frank Madden. “She has been a...

Karen Healey Stables showed at the Showpark Summer Festival and Gold Coast Series '5'horse shows, July 15-19, 2009. Showing in the hunters, jumpers, and equitation, Healey's students earned top honors throughout the weekend. The Showpark Summer Festival was held at the Del Mar Horse Park in Del Mar, CA, where many of Karen Healey's students competed. Mackenzie Baker showed Kona in the Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic and placed second, and rode Cruise Master to a first place in the...

Gladstone, NJ – After a four day battle, the rain finally won at the 2009 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions, and collectively the Ground Jury and the management decided that, in the best interest of the horses, the competition was suspended after the Young Riders rode first thing Sunday morning. This meant that Leslie Morse was crowned USEF National Grand Prix Champion for the fifth time. Morse GP Raymeister (SusanJStickle.com) and her beloved 15-year-old Swedish...

Gladstone, NJ – The first leg of the 2009 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Grand Prix Dressage Championship, which was rescheduled to Friday morning after Thursday’s deluge, showcased some of the top horse/rider combinations in the US. But it wasn’t until the final ride of the class that anyone could break 70%. Veteran Olympic rider Leslie Morse and her classy 15-year-old stallion, Tip Top 962, put in a very focused and expressive effort to take a commanding lead with a...

Las Vegas, NV – Defending champion, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, looked impossible to beat throughout the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Final. Shutterfly was faultless going into the final round of the final leg. Looks matter: She became the third person, and the first woman to win three World Cup titles. She did it all with Shutterfly. That meant heart break for McLain Ward and Sapphire who chased the German combination through all three legs, jumped two immaculate clear rounds. But it didn’t...

Las Vegas, NV – After defending Rolex FEI World Cup Champion Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum broke the timing beam at 32.04 seconds with Shutterfly at the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Final, the question remained: how do you beat this horse? US superstar McLain Ward tried with Sapphire, the pair looked phenomenal. Foot perfect, lightning fast and with some seriously bold moves, Ward went with two remaining in the 13 horse jump-off and there was reasonable consensus that Sapphire’s effort...

Las Vegas, NV – 44 riders from 22 nations went to task this evening in the Thomas & Mack Arena, 12 of them American. By the time the music died down and the last pair of feet landed on the arena floor, it was the reigning Rolex FEI World Cup champion, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly who proved to be the fastest in the First Leg of the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Final: the Speed Class. Again. The German pair were quickest by just less than a second with a time of 56.48. “I thought the...