Jessica Wuesthofen, winner of the 2013 USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final, aboard CH EQ Chanti's Prayer (Howard Schatzberg) Kansas City, Mo. – A talented field of competitors entered the Kemper Arena on Saturday, November 16, in hopes of winning the USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final at the United Professional Horsemen's Association (UPHA) American Royal National Championship. The judging panel comprised of Kim Cowart (Statesville, N.C.), Sandra Currier (Bellville, Texas) and Cecile Hetzel Dunn...

Auburn, Ala. - It was a match that lived up to its billing. Perennial NCEA and SEC forces Georgia and Auburn met as the No.1 and No.2 ranked teams in the country respectively. Georgia brought a 3-0 record into the Auburn Horse Center to face an Auburn team that looked a little shaky in an earlier loss to South Carolina. Though Georgia riders were awarded the Most Outstanding Player Award (MOP) in all four disciplines, the scrappy and talented Tigers jumped to an early lead, let it slip, then...

Karl Cook and Banba (McCool Photography) Las Vegas, Nev. - Brazilian course designer Guilherme Jorge is brilliant at asking just the right questions for the field. With sixty-six entries, Jorge created a course that tested the technique necessary to tackle tight turns and tidy tracks. It included an interesting option fence - a skinny 1.40m gate 'winged' by a simpler vertical on each side. Heading home as fence 4, the skinny was the quicker choice to rollback to 5a-b; and later going...

Andres Rodriguez and Caballito (McCool) Las Vegas, Nev. - Wrapping up the indoor season, the Las Vegas National offers the final FEI classes on the West Coast until February 2014. Fifty-six horse and rider pairs representing eleven different countries gave it a go in tonight's $33,000 EquiFit, inc. Jumper Classic. The course was technical and the competition fierce. Brazilian Guilherme Jorge set the track. Knowing he had a large field, he intentionally built a course with technical...

Hunter Chancellor, winner of the 2012 USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final, riding Imagine My Surprise (Howard Schatzberg) Kansas City, Mo. - The United States Equestrian Federation’s Saddle Seat Medal Final presented by Elisabeth M. Goth will be held Saturday, November 16, 2013, at the United Professional Horsemen’s Association’s American Royal National Championship in Kansas City, Mo. This medal final brings together the premier saddle seat equitation riders from across the country...

Katie Aoki comes from behind to win the Onondarka Medal Final (Flying Horse Photography) Los Angeles, Calif. - After three challenging rounds and a work off, Katie Aoki (Jan Hainze, trainer) led the victory gallop aboard her Truman in the prestigious Onondarka Medal Final at the LA National (Nov 6-10). “It was super exciting to win,” Katie shared. “I competed in the final last year and had kind of a tough time, so it was definitely something I have been working towards and...

California's Akiko Yamazaki celebrated her success aboard "Matrix" in the Prix St. Georges Adult Amateur Championship on the final day of the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®. (SusanJStickle.com) Lexington, Ky. - Emotions ran high as the final six champions were crowned Sunday at the inaugural US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® in Lexington, KY. Riders who traveled to the Kentucky Horse Park from coast to coast celebrated their championship experience with memorable rides and...

Christian Heineking and NKH Selena are unstoppable in the $50,000 LEGIS Grand Prix of Los Angeles (Flying Horse Photography) Los Angeles, Calif. - Christian Heineking (GER) heard the German national anthem for the second weekend in a row as he clinched another win aboard NKH Selena (NKH LLC, owner) in the fast and furious $50,000 LEGIS Grand Prix of Los Angeles (a World Cup Qualifier). “I definitely rode the momentum from last week’s grand prix win,” Christian commented....

American Olympian Leslie Howard and Utah took the $75,000 Ricoh Big Ben Challenge in front of a sold-out crowd to cap the international division at the CSI4*-W Royal Horse Show (Ben Radvanyi) Toronto, On. – America’s Leslie Howard is a legend in the sport of show jumping and she handily won the $75,000 Ricoh Big Ben Challenge tonight at the CSI4*-W Royal Horse Show, Toronto, in front of a standing-room only crowd of equine enthusiasts. Canadian Olympian Beth Underhill was runner-up...

Glory Days and Katie Dinan clear the Ace Bakery oxer (Ben Radvanyi) Toronto, On. – The phrase “We have a jump off!” is commonly heard around the horse show ring, but it’s rarely, if ever, heard following a speed class at a four-star international event. Friday night the ‘one-in-a-million’ happened. Veteran American rider Laura Kraut (Middleburg, VA) put in an incredible round in what, under normal circumstances would have been the first and only round of the...