Alexandra Flynn and Kalu's Can't Stop the Magic (Howard Schatzberg) Lexington, KY—Alexandra Flynn, age 17, of Tampa, FL, riding Kalu’s Can’t Stop the Magic, was crowned champion of the 2006 USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final, held November 18, as part of the UPHA/American Royal National Championship Horse Show in Kansas City, MO. The USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final was determined through a two-phase competition that required both rail work and patterns. Twenty-eight riders competed in...

Tish Quirk (Kimberly Frey and Marlou were the highest-placed American horse-and-rider combination in fifth place at the 2005 FEI World Cup Jumping Final. ) As a continued pledge of cooperation between the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and the Swiss watchmaker Rolex SA, the FEI announced today that Rolex will be the title sponsor of the FEI World Cup™ Finals 2007 to be held in Las Vegas. The Rolex FEI World Cup™ Finals 2007, which will be among the most significant events...

Mike Ferrara (Leslie Lurkin of Rochester, MN, after his win with Melissa LOA in the Half-Arabian Mare Breeding Saddle Pleasure AAOTH at the 40th Annual U.S. National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show. ) The 40th annual U.S. National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show (U.S. Nationals) bid a final farewell to Louisville from October 12-21, 2006, at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, KY. It was the last time the show will be held in this particular venue....

Hillary Dobbs aboard Quincy B in the Adequan/USEF National Junior Jumper Championship (Randy Muster) Two nights and two big courses netted Hillary Dobbs two gold medals. On Friday, Dobbs, an 18-year-old member of the Prix Des States winning Zone 2 team returned to take individual Gold in the third phase of the 2006 Adequan/USEF Junior Jumper Individual Championship at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. Riders accrue faults through each phase of the three-part series. Dobbs distinguished...

Nick Haness, 2006 USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals-West Champion (A.C. Custom Photo ) (Burbank, CA)—After three challenging phases of competition, and a ride off among the top four, California’s Nick Haness emerged as the 2006 USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals–West champion during the Los Angeles International Jumping Festival (September 20-24) at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Judges Anne Kursinski, an Olympic medalist, and Carol Hoffman, both of Frenchtown,...

Bob Langrish (Vaulter Megan Benjamin won an Individual Gold medal.) (Aachen, Germany) – It all came down to one minute. It was years in the making, but it came down to one minute in Aachen, Germany, and when that one minute was over, 18-year-old Megan Benjamin of Saratoga, CA, was the first female American vaulter ever to take a world championship. For the past 20 years, a German woman has always held the title of World Champion, and Germany has also won 23 of the last 30 world championships....

Bob Langrish (American Kathryn Downs was the highest-placed American in 17th in endurance.) Long before the sun rose over the first day of competition at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Aachen, a flurry of activity was going on as the stage was set for the first medal decisions made in the equestrian discipline of endurance. The consensus is that today’s championship served as the biggest in the sport’s interesting development and history, and the fact that temperatures...

PhelpsPhotos.com/USEF Archives (Kaitlin Campbell on Rockette during the 2006 USEF Pony Finals National Championships.) Lexington, KY – At the close of what was the longest and largest USEF Pony Finals National Championships to date, Kaitlin Campbell of Upper Black Eddy, PA, was one happy camper. The 14-year-old Campbell rode five ponies at this year’s event and ended her sixth year at Pony Finals with the Overall Grand Champion title in the Wild Horsefeathers/USEF National Hunter...

Amber Siegelman and The Waterboy Sailing To The Gold Medal (PhelpsPhotos.com/USEF Archives ) Lexington, KY – When Amber Siegelman was the last to go in the jump-off at the 2006 Adequan/USEF National Pony Jumper Individual Championship, you would have thought you were at a Western event by the sounds of the crowd. All night the crowd was clucking on horses to help them over the fences. But, when Siegelman’s ride looked to be the only clean of the five in the jump-off, the crowd got...

Riding Claim to Fame, 12-year-old Reed Kessler won the Small Pony Green championship title with a total score of 983 during the second day of the USEF Pony Finals National Championships. (PhelpsPhotos.com/USEF Archives) Lexington, KY – Despite an ominous black cloud and earth-shaking claps of thunder, three young ladies had a very happy ending to their day. In the 2006 Wild Horsefeathers/USEF National Green Hunter Pony Championship, 14-year-old Kaitlin Campbell cantered away with the...