Gypsy Woods Farm owners Charles (Chuck) and Joann Smith announce that the beloved, crowd-pleasing Westfalen mare Rocher (Rolls Royce) will retire from international competition. “Rocher took a dream and made it a reality,” stated Chuck. “She took us all over the world and filled us with pride. She has incredible character and inspired her fans wherever she showed.” Rocher came to the United States in 2000 to be ridden by George Williams for the Smith family and Gypsy Woods Farm. Her career was...

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, one of the world's most prestigious equestrian competitions, has been named one of the Top 10 Festivals and Events for Spring 2009 by the Kentucky Tourism Council. The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, part of the HSBC FEI Classics™ Series, is set to be held at the Kentucky Horse Park, April 23-26. It was named as one of the Top 10 Events for Spring because this premiere event is the only four-star three-day event in the Americas and because it brings...

The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation is pleased to announce that Ashlee Bond, 23, of Hidden Hills, CA, and Michelle Spadone, 25, of Califon, NJ, are this year's co-winners of the Maxine Beard Show Jumping Developing Rider Award. The USET Foundation awarded these rising young equestrians this honor because of their competitive records to date and because of their promise for the future in show jumping. Bond and Spadone were given trophies at a presentation during the 2009...

The Show Jumping Hall of Fame held its annual induction ceremony at the Budweiser American Invitational at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL, on Saturday evening, April 4. Honored with induction were Dr. John Steele and the horses Abdullah, Miss Budweiser and Riviera Wonder. Induction into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame is a great honor bestowed annually upon select individuals whose contribution to the sport has set them apart from others and whose influence has had a significant impact on the...

Lexington, KY – The Varsity Equestrian National Championships (VENC) announced the collegiate teams that have been selected and seeded for this year’s competition, in conjunction with the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). This year, there will be twelve schools competing in Hunter Seat, including Equitation Flat and Equitation Over Fences. There will also be twelve schools competing in Western, including Horsemanship and Reining. Eight...

The tradition of elite show jumping competition with a European look and feel keeps some of the finest international equestrian athletes returning to the Jumper Classic, now in its 20th year. The 2009 Jumper Classic, with its premiere event, the $75,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix, will be held September 2-6 over Labor Day weekend at New England's finest equestrian show grounds, Silver Oak Equestrian Center, in Hampton Falls, NH. The five-day show, held for the past 19 years in early...

With a faultless show jumping round on the final day of competition at the Galway Downs International Horse Trials, Amy Tryon and Leyland claimed the Adequan/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Gold Cup as the winner of the CIC***. Tryon’s perfect round gave her a final a score of 51.6 penalties, enough to vault her from third to first after second-placed Kelly Prather lowered one rail on Ballinakill Glory (53.8) and third-placed Jolie Sexson lowered two rails on Killian O’Connor (55.7),...

The American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) has announced the schedule for the 2009 ASHA Junior Exhibitor Driving Challenge. The events currently scheduled for 2009 range from March to November, and are set to be held at various shows across the country. The ASHA Junior Exhibitor Driving Challenge, funded by Elisabeth Goth, was developed to promote the American Saddlebred driving divisions among junior exhibitors. Competitors 17 years of age and under are adding driving to their...

Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will be represented by the following Horse/Rider combinations at the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Final to be held April 15-19, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV. Riders listed in the order in which they qualified. East Coast: Name/Age/Hometown/Horse/Age/Breed/Sex/Owner Kent Farrington/27/Chicago, IL/ Up Chiqui/11/Belgian Warmblood/G/Alex Boone & Craig Dobbs McLain Ward/33/Brewster, NY/Sapphire/14/Belgian Warmblood/M/McLain Ward, Tom...

The FEI has taken some decisions on the Wild Cards considering the 24th FEI World Cup™ Final Dressage, taking place April 15-19 in Las Vegas. The wild cards are granted to Americans Leslie Morse on Kingston and Jan Ebeling on Rafalca . This brings the complete list of 15 competitors to the following. 1. Title Defender Anky van Grunsven IPS Painted Black (NED) Western European League 2. Isabell Werth on Satchmo or Warum Nicht FRH (GER) 3. Adelinde Cornelissen on Parzival (NED) 4. Hans Peter...