Sonoma, CA - Chelsea Jones exceeded her own expectations on Saturday evening by finishing 1-2 in the $15,000 Stübben Grand Prix during the Sonoma Horse Park’s HMI June Classic. The 26-year-old young professional qualified for the jumpoff aboard both her mounts, but with five other strong pairs joining her for the second round, she knew that the jumpoff wouldn’t be a cakewalk. So it was much to her surprise when the cards fell in her favor – not once, but twice. Early in...

Katie Dinan and Sandro (Spruce Meadows Media Services) Calgary, Alberta - Katie Dinan (USA) brought home the win as the last horse in the jump-off in the $10,000 ConocoPhillips Junior/Amateur Cup 1.40m. They sped through and made a daring jump up the bank to save time in a rollback turn, which helped them stop the timers in 42.88 seconds. Second place went to Kara Chad (CAN) and Alberto II in 43.49 seconds. Meagan Nusz (USA) and Vesuvius were third in 44.42 seconds. Dinan explained her jump-off...

I guess the beginning is a great place to start. I grew up in Maine, the oldest of five, to a father who was in the military and a mother who was a housewife until the youngest of my siblings was in Junior-High school. We grew up on the other side of middle-class, OK, we were poor. I grew up watching spaghetti westerns in black and white on Saturday afternoons. I always loved the intrigue of being a Cowboy, pushing cattle up the Chisholm Trail, fighting bad guys and Indians. Next to the pony...

Traverse City, MI - What a difference a decade makes. North Face Farm, owned by Jake and Anne Haas, has supported Horse Shows by the Bay since its inception, and to celebrate the show's 10th anniversary North Face Farm is sponsoring a new $10,000 Leading Hunter Rider Cash Bonus Award. "I was one of the original members of the founder's club and began supporting the show when it was in a grass field," said Jake with a smile. "I have nothing but positive things to say about the show and...

Lauren Hough and Ohlala (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Thursday's busy competition schedule also featured a $33,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class with the roster of top finishers including Lauren Hough (USA) and Ohlala, Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) and HH Let's Fly, and Eric Lamaze (CAN) and Wang Chung M2S. Course designer Alan Wade saw 52 entries with 16 clear rounds for the one round speed class. Once again, the rounds got faster and faster as some of the best went late in the line-up. Lauren...

Lars Petersen and Mariett Loxahatchee, FL - Lars Petersen and Mariett proved they were consistently in the zone for the second time in two weeks when they delivered another one-two punch by taking the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle at the International Horse Sport Champions Cup CDI-W. The pair achieved the same laudable results just two weeks ago at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI-W, also at the IHS Champions Park at Equestrian Estates. Saturday's Freestyle impressed the judges...

Lillie Keenan and Clearway (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Fifteen-year-old Lillie Keenan rode to victory in the 6th Annual George Morris Excellence in Equitation Championship, presented by Alessandro Albanese, during week eleven of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). Keenan, of New York City, piloted Heritage Farms' Clearway to a score of 89 during round one before upping the ante in round two with an astounding 98.5. Keenan was in second with a total score of 187.5 going...

Caroline Roffman and Her Highness O (SusanJStickle.com) Wellington, FL - The WEF Dressage Classic, CDI 3* presented by Today's Equestrian & Fellows wrapped up competition Sunday at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. The highlight class was the FEI Intermediaire-1 Freestyle, with Caroline Roffman (USA) and Her Highness O taking the top prize. The Florida Youth Championships presented by Dressage4kids and sponsored by PanaCavallo wrapped up with awards in four divisions, and the...

The answer to this question is a simple, but detailed one. The Western Dressage Association® of America chose to pursue and become a nonprofit organization for many reasons, including fulfillment of our educational mission, greater opportunities for private funding and benefits of tax exemption… but the primary motivation was for YOU! When an organization applies for nonprofit status it states that it is declaring that its association is motivated by other goals then making a profit....

Daniel Deusser and Domingo (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Week eight of the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF), sponsored by G&C Farm, kicked off on Wednesday at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) with a win for German rider Daniel Deusser and Stephex Stables' Domingo in the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class. Also showing on Wednesday, Hollow Creek Farm-sponsored Children's, Junior and Young Rider Welcome Stake classes were held with wins...