Keeping your horse happy and healthy pays off! All week, U.S. reiner Tom McCutcheon has been trying to keep his mount, Gunners Special Nite, fresh and happy. Thursday afternoon, the 6-year-old American Quarter Horse stallion returned the favor by turning in a score of 228 in the individual finals at the FEI World Reining Championship presented by John Deere, held as part of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. It was enough to earn the gold medal by a margin of five points. “I...

USHJA Blog - 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Meet Our Blogger: Jeannie Blancq Putney Jeannie Blancq Putney is an avid horse enthusiast who enjoys covering all breeds and all levels of equestrian sport. Jeannie blogged the 2009 & 2010 Derby Finals. As a result, in 2009 USHJA won the American Horse Publications Editorial & Graphics Award for an Equine-Related Blog. She has also covered the World Equestrian Games, World Cup, Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Pony Finals and NAJYRC....

On my list of things I find to be riveting I usually would not rank watching dressage among the top, but in the last two days I have really gotten into it. I found myself glued to the monitors that had the live feed playing all day yesterday, watching intently and calculating scores trying to determine what teams were in medal contention. Over the two days of the team competition, it seemed as though each rider that went down centerline set a new standard of excellence. In any sporting event it...

Photo by James Leslie Parker (Laura Chapot.) Laura Chapot took top honors at the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair, winning the Open Jumper Championship on Bradberry with 30 points and also taking the Leading Open Jumper Rider title for the fourth time in six years, and the fifth time overall. Along with her four wins in the Open Jumper division that counted towards the leading Rider title, Chapot also won two six-year-old classes and a seven-year-old class for an unprecedented seven jumper...

Photo by SusanJStickle.com (Canada's Belinda Trussell and Anton won the opening class in the WEF Dressage Classic, the FEI Grand Prix CDI***. ) The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) featured four disciplines in its tenth week of competition on March 17-21. The week featured the $75,000 Equine Couture/TuffRider Grand Prix CSI** and the WEF Dressage Classic, CDI***, along with a full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. The week ten title sponsor was Equine...

Pikko del Cerro HU claimed the 2009 Markel/USEF National Championship for Six-Year-Olds (phelpsphotos.com) Lexington, KY - Following a banner year in 2009 for the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to announce the continuation of Markel Insurance as title sponsor as the 2010 Championship season gets under way. Markel Insurance has been a steadfast supporter of the USEF Young Horse Dressage Program since 2002. A long time supporter...

Brazilian superstar Rodrigo Pessoa headed the winning line-up of international riders in Sunday's $75,000 Grand Prix de Penn National on the final day of the 64th Pennsylvania National Horse Show. Pessoa, Olympic Gold medalist and three-time World Cup winner, aboard Let's Fly, was the eighth rider on course and the first to navigate the course designed by Steve Stephens without a rail down. "I have been riding him for a little over a year and a half," said Pessoa. "I started him in the bigger...

When I'm at home, I generally have a pretty good sense of direction. Even when I don't know where I'm going, I can apply logic based on where the mountains are, what direction the freeway is, etc., and keep from getting lost. My husband gets lost often, but I probably shouldn't tell you that because he's reading this. Anyhoo...something about flying to Kentucky has thrown me completely off kilter. I can't tell which way is north or south, in what direction our hotel...

Kecskemét, Hungary – Team USA was in fifth position of the Team standings after dressage and marathon at the 2009 FEI World Pair Driving Championship in Kecskemét, but had a dramatic Final. Best placed US driver Larry Poulin, who was lying in 10th place, missed a gate at the final obstacle driving competition and was eliminated. Keady Cadwell, Best for the US in Hungary (Rinaldo de Craen ) Because of his elimination, Poulin’s dressage and marathon scores in the Team...

Team USA- North Central put in a comanding performance to take the Gold medal (Sportfot.com) Lexington, KY—Don’t let the “Free Hugs” sign pasted on the front of the team golf cart for the Reining Team USA-North Central fool you, this team came to the SmartPak™ FEI North American Young Rider Reining Championships to win - and win big they did. Securing the Team Gold in a very strong field, Team USA- North Central edged their rivals out for the top podium position....