Reed Kessler and Mika (Rebecca Walton for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International) Lexington, KY - The top horses and riders from across the country have returned to the Kentucky Horse Park this week for the start of the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows. The first day of competition kicked off with the Open Jumper divisions in the Rolex Stadium. Olympian Reed Kessler led the way in the 1.45m Open Jumper class aboard Mika with a double clear effort, while the victory in the 1.40m Open Jumper speed...

Louise Serio and Casino (The Book LLC) North Salem, NY – The first week of the Old Salem Spring Horse Show continued today with championships in the professional hunter divisions as well as opening classes for the Open Jumpers. The show goes through Sunday, May 12, and the second week will be held on May 14-19 at Old Salem Farm in North Salem, NY. Moshi, owned by Stephanie Riggio and ridden by Sandy Ferrell, was champion in the combined Conformation Hunter division. Their top placings...

Del Mar, CA – The highlight class of the 2013 Del mar National Horse Show’s Hunter/Jumper week was held Saturday night and it was Duncan McFarlane & Mr. Whoopy that came out on top. A field of 33 horses attempted the first round course of the $100,000 Grand Prix of Del Mar, but it was challenging one that caused a lot of rails down, a couple of on-course retirements, and plenty of time faults. Only four horses managed to go double clear over the course and set-up an intense...

Lexington, KY - This week, USEF Network coverage will feature west coast show jumpers at the Del Mar national Horse Show. The first of two nights of live coverage will be tomorrow, May 2nd, and feature the $25,000 Surfside Grand Prix at 7pm local time (10pm ET). The second night will be Saturday, May 4th, and feature the $100,000 Grand Prix of Del Mar. Both Grand Prix classes will be streamed live, online, at www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2013DelMarNationalHorseShow/ The Surfside Grand Prix and...

Lexington, KY - Applications are now being accepted for consideration to participate in the 2014 U.S. Saddle Seat Equitation World Cup Team Selection Trials. The trials will be held at William Woods University in Fulton, MO, on December 7, 2013, with the team being announced that evening. The Saddle Seat World Cup is a bi-annual international competition that includes both three- and five-gaited sections. Teams from as many as five nations now compete for the coveted World Cup titles. The 2014...

Amy Lewis and Sir Steinerman (David Honor) Lexington, KY - The final Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Training Session of Spring 2013 wrapped up Sunday at Oak Hill Farm in Lockport, Illinois. The two-day training session featured 11 horses between the ages of four and six and was once again led by USEF Young Horse Coach Scott Hassler. “We had a terrific training session at Oak Hill Farm in Illinois. There was once again a nice balance of U.S.-bred and imported horses,” said Hassler....

Lexington, KY – The final phase of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover provided an exciting finish to the Kentucky Horse Park’s staple event. A sold-out Rolex Stadium crowd witnessed Andrew Nicholson (NZL) win North America’s only CCI4* event for the first time. With Quimbo, he held onto the overnight lead, only adding three time penalties to their dressage score, finishing with a score of 41.0. Deboarah Sellar’s 10-year-old Spanish Sport Horse...

Shane Smith & Shepherd Star (Shannon Brinkman) Lexington, KY For the second time in three years, Shane Brown won the World Championship Freestyle Reining tonight at the Kentucky Horse Park. He rode Shepherd Star to the title, receiving 228 points from the three judges. Brown’s score put him just 1 point ahead of three riders who tied for second with a score of 227—Aaron Ralston on Blue Taris Glo, Drake Johnson on Sonic Chic Dream, and Pete Kyle on A Ruf Gal. The winners split a...

Lexington, KY - Cross country day was an influential one at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover. Derek di Grazia’s 6500 meter, 28 obstacle cross country course caused some problems throughout the day but did not pose any issues for HSBC World Rankings Leader Andrew Nicholson (NZL) who holds the top two places on the leaderboard. Nicholson is in the lead with Quimbo after having a textbook round, adding nothing to their dressage score of 38.0. Deborah...

Beezie Madden & Simon (Rebecca Walton/ Phelps Media Group) Gothenburg, Sweden - Valuable World Cup points were at stake Friday evening in the Rolex/FEI World Cup Final as riders vied for a place in Sunday's final competition. Uliano Vezzani tested the 38 riders that returned for round two over a flowing 13-obstacle track in the Scandinavium Arena. Riders within the top 26 placings following tonight's round qualified to jump in Sunday's final competition and of those entries...