SAUGERTIES, NY – Peter Leone put the antics of nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, My Pleasure, to good use on Friday when he jumped to win the first of 16 grand prix offered during the 2014 HITS Saugerties Spring Circuit – the $25,000 SmartPakGrand Prix, presented by Zoetis. ©ESI Photography Asia Manning of HITS presented winner’s honors, including a Horze Equestrian cooler, to Peter Leone and My Pleasure after their win in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis....

Article originally posted at www.useventing.com . Davidson and Copper Beech (StockImageServices.com) When Buck Davidson found his lucky red socks stashed in the corner of his camper the other day, he knew it was a good omen. Then, when he and Copper Beech scored 43 in dressage – the horse’s owner Carl Segal’s favorite number – he figured he had this event in the bag. Who can argue with fate? Sunday, Davidson (Riegelsville, Pa.) and the eight-year-old Irish gelding won...

Parker & Texas Checkmate (Tricia Booker Photography) Katy, Texas. - Paige Parker, of Baylor University, rose to the top of the Collegiate Invitational today with three consistent performances on three different horses. The Invitational was one of the featured events of the concluding day of the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show I. The event, presented by Max Bowl and the Boatright, Dougherty and Roberts families, brought eight student athletes together for head-to-head competition on catch rides....

Wilhelm Genn and his own Happy Z fly over a fence on the CWD fence en route to the winner's circle (flashpoint photography) Gulfport, Miss. - Patriarch Wilhelm Genn of Lebanon, Ohio and his sons Ryan and Theo took the top three placing's in Sunday's $50,000 CWD Grand Prix at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Winter Classic in Gulfport Sunday. World-renowned, international course designer Michel Vaillancourt originally from Montreal, Canada and now living in Aiken, South Carolina designed the...

Emanuel Andrade and Reve du Paradis (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - The 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) kicked off its sixth week of competition on Wednesday with a $6,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m speed class held in the International Ring at The Stadium at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) with a win for Venezuela's Emanuel Andrade and Reve du Paradis. FTI WEF week six, sponsored by Salamander Resort & Spa, runs February 12-16, 2014. The week...

Katherine Schmidt and Striptease with coach Carol Gwin and Jill Townsend (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - Twenty one-year-old Katherine Schmidt, of Ridgefield, CT, emerged victorious from the Collegiate Equitation Championship on Friday evening at the FTI WEF. Schmidt is a junior at the University of South Carolina (USC), where she is a double major in Marketing and Management. Schmidt made it through the first round of the evening's competition after beating out Auburn University's...

Darragh Kerins and Decia Van Het Molenhof (Phelps Media Group, Inc. International) Wellington, Fla. - Although the clouds hung dauntingly overhead, a field of 38 competitors warmed up for the fourth week of the Ridge at Wellington's Turf Tour. Held at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, the 1.30m-1.35m Jumpers saw top international riders contend for the top spot in today's two classes. Ireland's Darragh Kerins rode to the pinnacle of the ranks during the first class, while Ali...

California's Akiko Yamazaki celebrated her success aboard "Matrix" in the Prix St. Georges Adult Amateur Championship on the final day of the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®. (SusanJStickle.com) Lexington, Ky. - Emotions ran high as the final six champions were crowned Sunday at the inaugural US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® in Lexington, KY. Riders who traveled to the Kentucky Horse Park from coast to coast celebrated their championship experience with memorable rides and...

Candi Aversenti and The Veldt Queen (Jane Jacobs of Jacobs Photography) Lexington, Ky. - The Veldt Queen, owned and ridden by Candi Aversenti, claimed the victory in the Five-Gaited Amateur Stake on Wednesday evening as the American Saddlebred Division, presented by James & Misdee Miller and Elisabeth Goth & Richard Shadwick, got underway at the Alltech National Horse Show. A staple of the National Horse Show in its Madison Square Garden days, the American Saddlebred Division made its...

Kelley Farmer and Quotable (Phelps Media Group, Inc. International) Lexington, Ky. - The Kentucky Horse Park hosts numerous, top-of-the-line horse shows throughout the year, but only once a year is the Alltech Arena transformed into the beautiful home of the prestigious Alltech National Horse Show. The final destination on the indoor horse show circuit, the Alltech National Horse Show welcomes the nation's top hunter and jumper riders. Among them are Kelley Farmer and Scott Stewart. Both...