Missy Ransehousen aboard Critical Decision leads after Day One of dressage at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Presented by Farnam. (Amy Katherine Dragoo ) The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Presented by Farnam, began in traditional Rolex style on the first of two-days of dressage—and that was with rain. Spectators came prepared for the typical Rolex wet weather, as they gathered to watch the top competitors in eventing vie for the prestigious four-star title. With 45 horses starting...

Steffen Peters and Floriano won the Freestyle Championship and U.S. League Finals and are on their way to the Rolex FEI World Cup Dressage Championship in Las Vegas. They will be joined by Courtney King and Leslie Morse.(Amy McCool for McCool Photography ) Burbank, California—Steffen Peters, of San Diego, CA, was the odds-on favorite going into Sunday’s freestyle class, and he did not disappoint. Riding Laurelyn Browning’s Floriano, Peters put in a beautiful and flowing...

Photo by Bob Langrish (Guenter Seidel and Aragon on the first day of dressage competition.) Aachen, Germany—Europeans know how to do dressage. Each country brought their best to the table today, including their fans. The crowd was filled with foam fingers, waving flags, funny hats and colorful scarves. It looked more like an American football game and sounded like it when certain competitors finished their test and left the stadium. The rain held off, the sun tried unsuccessfully to break...

PhelpsPhotos.com/USEF Archives (Pony Finals First-Timers Zone 10 Take Home Gold) Lexington, KY – On day three of the 2006 USEF Pony Final National Championships, Samantha Schaefer and Zone 10 walked away with the top prizes. The 13-year-old Schaefer, of Westminster, MD, rode her seven-year-old German Riding Pony gelding, Rockport, to their first Pony Finals win. This was their first time riding indoors, after the competition had to be moved inside today due to the torrential rainstorms...

Parker, CO—July 22—Karen Cudmore had her good luck charm in the stands during the $60,000 American Grandprix Association (AGA) Grand Prix of Denver presented by Dillard’s and Ariat. It seems whenever friend and judge Dale Pederson is at a show, Cudmore brings home the winning paycheck. The grand prix at the Colorado Horse Park was no exception. Not only did Cudmore finish in first place with Ocelot, she took the yellow ribbon with Southern Pride. Six horses advanced to the jump-off over Jack...

Matt Mills and Easy Otie Whiz (Waltenberry) Lexington, KY – It was a night of upsets at the Kentucky Horse Park during the 2006 Adequan®/United States Equestrian Federation® Open Reining Championship, which was also the selection trial for the U.S Reining Team for this summer’s World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. Twenty-seven of the finest reiners our nation has to offer competed in what many believed was one of the most competitive reining competitions ever held. The...

Gladstone, NJ – Three was the magic number today at the USET Foundation Dressage Festival of Champions. Rebecca Hart won the USEF National Para-Equestrian Championship after she pulled off a hat-trick, winning all three classes three days in a row. Then, in the USEF Grand Prix Special, it was déjà vu with the top three riders in the same placings as Thursday, when they performed their Grand Prix. The third class that makes up the 2006 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National...

Brentina Cup Winner Elisabeth Austin and Olivier (SusanJStickle.com) Gladstone, NJ – The inaugural Brentina Cup was awarded to the winner of the USEF National Young Adult Dressage Championship today as part of the USET Foundation Dressage Festival of Champions. Elisabeth Austin of Williston, VT and her 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion, Olivier scored a 70.39% on their FEI Intermediaire II test despite it being only his ninth show ever and only his third recognized FEI competition....

Burbank, CA – With nary a misstep, Alex Maida, was picked as the winner of the grueling 2005 USEF West Coast Talent Search. The class was held in conjunction with the Los Angeles International Jumping Festival at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, September 21-25. Thirty-eight junior riders qualified throughout the year for a spot in the two-day four-phase finals. On Wednesday afternoon riders were allowed into the Equidome for a practice round and the class started in earnest the next...

San Juan Capistrano, CA – In an amazing dual victory of sorts, Stephanie Danhakl of Pacific Palisades, California, and her horse In Sync, claimed their second National Championship victories respectively, at the fifth annual Show Circuit Magazine/USEF National Junior Hunter Championships, West Coast, in San Juan Capistrano, California, August 16-17. Stephanie won the 2004 Championships on the West Coast, riding Callaway, while her winning Thoroughbred gelding In Sync, trained by Archie...