Annville, PA - Summer is here, and with warm air and sunshine flooding horse shows across the country, competition in the 2011 North American League (NAL) has heated up. The NAL's two year-end finals are just months away, and riders are continuing to put in stellar performances in the show ring with the hopes of qualifying for one of both of the finals. The NAL will maintain its traditional year-end Finals in six divisions – Children’s Hunter, Adult Hunter, presented by...

Bjorn Ikast and Amore Claim 1st Place in the $10,000 Open Welcome at Summer in the Rockies 1 (Flying Horse Photography). Parker, CO - A thrilling summer at The Colorado Horse Park debuted this week with nearly $1,000,000 in cash and prizes during the inaugural edition of the expanded Colorado Summer Circuit, June 8-July 24, 2011. For 20 years this circuit has attracted some of the continent's best hunter and jumper competitors, and this year it expands from four to six weeks. With...

Dressage American dressage star Guenter Seidel returned to top form at CDI Hamburg, winning the Grand Prix Freestyle on UII. Seidel, who has represented the United States on numerous occasions, broke his pelvis a year ago and has made an amazing recovery to the top of the sport. After a third place finish in the Grand Prix in Hamburg, Seidel topped the field in the Freestyle with a score of 73.400%. Lillann Jebsen of Norway was second on Pro-Set and Alexandra Bimschas was third for Germany on...

Rod Matthiesen and Cruisin on the River. Photo courtesy ArabianHorsesGlobal.com. If you are in the market for action, thrills and a terrific time with horses, check out the Ultimate Futurity, a brave new Arabian stock horse competition - the brainchild of South Dakota Arabian horseman, Elise Ulmer. Ulmer spent a great deal of time listening to her fellow owners and trainers regarding that burning question … "How do we get more horses involved in the reining, cutting and working cow...

Cathy Vecsey rode Mandaley Bay to roses in the Park ATR Championship. Ferrara Photography Inc. Columbus, Ohio - The first Ohio Buckeye Show was held in 1964. It lasted two days, featured 49 classes and was rife with horses bred by Al-Marah, Lewisfield and Cedardell Arabians. Al-Marah Laurie was the 1964 Buckeye Champion Halter Gelding, won the English Pleasure Championship with Bob Hart Sr. in the irons and the Western Pleasure JTR with Bob Hart Jr. Bob Jr. was 13 at the time. Arabian horses...

Kenneth and Sally Wheeler Devon, PA - The $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby was a labor of love. The class was presented by the Wheeler family in honor of their parents, Kenneth and Sally Wheeler, whose names alone bring back images of phenomenal Hunters exploding over huge solid natural jumps on outside courses. Doug Wheeler spoke on behalf of the family. "This is in honor of my mom and my dad. Devon has been a part of our family's tradition and history for years. I was there as a...

McLain Ward and Domino cruised to victory in Friday's $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, NY (ESI Photography). Saugerties, NY — McLain Ward of Brewster, NY, proved once again why he is considered one of the best riders in the world when he won his second Grand Prix in a row at HITS Saugerties. Just six days ago he captured the blue in the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, aboard his own...

The Dutch team scored a back-to-back double when winning the third leg of the 2011 FEI Nations Cup™ at St Gallen, Switzerland today. Pictured (L to R) Peter Stoessel, CSIO St-Gallen President; John Roche, FEI Director of Jumping and Dutch team-members Eric Van Der Vleuten, Maikel Van Der Vleuten, Chef d’equipe Rob Ehrens, Piet Raymakers Jr and Jur Vrieling. Photo: FEI/Katja Stuppia. St. Gallen, Switzerland - The Dutch team recorded a back-to-back double when topping the third leg of the 2011...

Kevin Babington and Mark Q (Photo courtesy of Parker/Russell - The Book LLC). Devon, PA - The 20-horse field in tonight's $100,000 Wells Fargo Grand Prix of Devon read like a Who's Who of the show-jumping world. Two-time Olympic gold medalist McLain Ward, 2010 winner Peter Leone, Kate Levy, Todd Minikus and Kevin Babington just to name a few. The jumps were high; 150-160 m, the crowd was huge, and the competition was fierce over Olympic Course Designer Olaf Petersen's...

Pictured during the draw for the third leg of the 2011 FEI Nations Cup™ series at St Gallen, Switzerland today were : L to R - Peter Stossel, President CSIO St Gallen, John Roche, FEI Jumping Director and Henk Nooren, Chef d'Equipe for the French team. Photo: FEI/Katja Stuppia. St. Gallen, Switzerland - The American team will be first into the ring for tomorrow's third leg of the 2011 FEI Nations Cup™ at St. Gallen, Switzerland. A total of nine nations will compete, as the Swiss, who...