Wayne, Ill. – The nation’s top young dressage talent has arrived at the Lamplight Equestrian Center with their sights set on national titles in the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. The annual championship will run Friday, August 26 through Sunday, August 28 and showcase three days of top notch competition across four divisions. These championships include the USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship presented by Dressage Today, AGCO/USEF Young...

Lexington, Ky. – The Team Championship of the US Pony Jumper National Championships took place Friday evening in the Alltech Arena as teams competed in the two-round Nations Cup format. Following the first round, the top teams came back to jump the same Jasen Shelley-designed course in round two, with a total of 32 combinations jumping for individual classification. For the 2016 US Pony Finals presented by Collecting Gaits Farm, the Zones 5/6 team stood atop the podium. The team,...

Piber Köflach, Austria – The U.S. Driving Team of Donna Crookston, Sterling Graburn, and Suzy Stafford, along with individual Leslie Berndl, made a valiant effort at the 2016 FEI World Driving Championships for Singles, which proved to be a true championship test. The strong international field consisted of 75 combinations from 23 countries, and after four days of competition, the U.S. team finished 14th. Sterling Graburn and Mannkato (Krisztina Horváth/Hoefnet.com) Graburn (Paris,...

Piber Köflach, Austria – Torrential rains on Friday afternoon made for slick spots and deep footing in the marathon obstacles on Saturday at the 2016 FEI World Driving Championships for Singles, proving difficult for the U.S. combinations. Sterling Graburn is the top American in the overall standings in 51st place, while Donna Crookston was the top U.S. finisher in the marathon phase in 51st place in the field of 74 combinations. The U.S. Driving Team of Crookston, Graburn, and Suzy...

This is stressful. Sitting in the Team tack room watching a procession of athletes destroying our supplies of snacks, drinks, and other culinary delights: Clearly they do not get fed at home and this is an enjoyable adventure for them. Ok, I get it, they and the grooms are who matter most but all the bottles and snacks were lined up in regimental rows and now a tornado has destroyed the illusion of order. Rewind. Monday morning (Europe time) Clan Dressage deployed to Rio; horses from Liege...

This may not be a photo likely to win any photographic competitions but it was taken at 2:30 a.m. from my bedroom. No, I am not some weird stalker or peeping tom but this is a photo of the merry bunch of selfish insomniacs that decided to have a very loud speaker (top right quarter of the photo) playing until about 3:30 a.m. Yes, I kinda wish I had something more persuasive to hand than a Canon camera… in fact a canon would have done very nicely. The eventing horses have settled in very...

Aachen, Germany – Members of the U.S. Olympic Show Jumping Team performed in the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup at CHIO Aachen Thursday, which served as their final Nations Cup competition prior to the Rio Olympic Games. Led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland, the Hermès U.S. Show Jumping Team of Lucy Davis, Laura Kraut, Beezie Madden, and McLain Ward put in valiant efforts in a very competitive field to tie with France for the Silver medal on four faults. Germany won the Gold medal...

Columbus, Ohio - The Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA), in conjunction with the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), awards a student-rider the National Sportsmanship Award each year. This year's award was presented to Kate Coffey, a sixteen-year-old from Westford, Massachusetts. The national award winner is selected from a group of riders who earned a Sportsmanship Award at a local, regional or zone IEA show during the 2015-2016 season. These winners were then invited...

West Yorkshire, England – The Bishop Burton College Under 25 CCI3* division tackled Ian Stark’s challenging cross-country course at the Equi-Trek Bramham International Horse Trials on Saturday. Under the guidance of USEF Eventing Developing Rider Coach Leslie Law, Jenny Caras and Fernhill Fortitude had a great round to sit in eighth place heading into the final day of competition. Caras (Cartersville, Ga.) is competing at Bramham as part of the Karen Stives European Developing Tour...

Compiegne, France – Eight international teams took to the arena in Compiegne Saturday as day one of the CDIO5* got underway. Team medals will be awarded based on the results of today’s Grand Prix tests and Sunday’s Grand Prix Special and Freestyle tests. The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team, led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Dover, took a commanding lead following strong performances from Allison Brock, Shelly Francis, Laura Graves, and Kasey Perry-Glass. They lead on a total of...