Photo by Randi Muster (Daisy Farish aboard Ballou in the Small Pony Hunters.) The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) Week Nine, held March 10-14, 2010, featured many winners in the equitation, hunters, and jumpers, including the leader in the $200,000 FEI World Cup Grand Prix, CSI***, presented by CN. The week nine title sponsor was CN. Double H Farm's Night Train sped to the win with Olympic Gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil in the $200,000 FEI World Cup Grand Prix, CSI***,...

Longtime Saddlebred trainer and instructor Irvin Kaelin passed away on Saturday, March 13, 2010, at his St. Matthews home in Louisville, KY. At age 12, Kaelin won the Kentucky Equitation Championship, and a few years later began training and showing horses for the Howell Family at their Indian Hills Stable in Louisville, KY. Upon graduation from St. Xavier High School, Irvin purchased the Indian Hills Riding Academy from the Howells, and eventually instructed his 12-year-old daughter, Ava, to...

Photo Courtesy Jan Sharp (TS Black Tie Affair is one of four AHA Ambassadors.) The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) recently honored four outstanding horses with Ambassador Awards. Athena+++// (LS Zane Grey+// x Little Badger Baby), Gilet+/ (Gil x El Eta), TH Barbarian+ (Barbary+++ x TH Annimai), and TS Black Tie Affair (Tardar x EVG Lady Di) are all recognized for an outstanding achievement in representing the Arabian horse to the general public. To be named an AHA Ambassador, an Arabian,...

When 15-year-old Chelsea Dowdy entered one of Kentucky’s many county fairs in 2009 with El Diamante, she could feel their usual synergy. With all the fun she had, it was an easy decision to enter another. And another. By season’s end, they had not only claimed top honors and a collection of garlands and ribbons—they had amassed a respectable college fund totaling $10,799.31. That hefty chunk of change came courtesy of the Kentucky Breeders’ Incentive Fund (KBIF), earmarked for a...

Photo by ESI Photography (Emma Kennedy, the owner and rider of Summer Hill, captured Sunday's $5,000 Pony Commotion. ) The Ocala Winter Finals wrapped up another exciting week of show jumping that included two of the four remaining qualifying grand prix classes this winter for the Pfizer Million at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, FL. Maryland’s Tracy Magness captured the win in the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, aboard Mr. and Mrs. John Barko’s Tarco Van Ter Moude for...

Riders in the Galway Downs International Horse Trials will compete under a different schedule and format than previously announced for the event at the Southern California Equestrian Center on March 26-28. The 21 horses entered in the CIC***, along with those in the CIC** and CIC*, will still perform their dressage tests on Friday, but now they’ll also show jump on Friday afternoon, starting at 1 p.m. Their competition will climax on Saturday with the now increasingly decisive cross-country...

Dressage Dressage riders on the West Coast competed under the California sun this weekend at the Dressage Affaire CDI3* held at the Del Mar Horse Park. Steffen Peters continued to demonstrate his dominance in U.S. dressage, winning in all seven of his outings. With 2009 Horse of the Year, Ravel, Peters blew away the competition winning by nine percentage points in both the Grand Prix (77.660%) and Grand Prix Special (77.375%). Adrienne Lyle and Wizard put in two excellent performances to finish...

Photo Courtesy Pics of You The Live Oak International Combined Driving Event, the premiere driving event in North America that attracts competitors from around the world, will host the Single and Four-In-Hand National Championships during the 2010 competition, March 25-28. Held at the picturesque 4,500-acre Live Oak Plantation in Ocala, FL, the U.S. Trust returns again as the title sponsor, and thousands of spectators are expected to attend. “Since this is the year of the World Equestrian Games...

One year after the death of Kentucky Derby Winner Alysheba, the Kentucky Horse Park will unveil a memorial statue at his grave. The famous son of Alydar had resided at the park for only five months when he was euthanized as a result of an accidental fall in March 2009. The 25-year-old stallion was buried at the Hall of Champions. The public is invited to the Alysheba Memorial Statue Unveiling, Friday, April 16, at 2:00 p.m. "During the brief time he lived at the Kentucky Horse Park, Alysheba...

The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) was full of top competition during week eight, held March 3-7, 2010. The week featured the USEF Selection Trials for the U.S. Show Jumping Team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games #3, #4, and #5, presented by Fidelity Investments, and the $75,000 FEI Nations Cup, presented by CN, along with a full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. The week eight title sponsor was CN. The $150,000 CN U.S. Open Grand Prix, CSIO**** was...