Kelley Farmer and Rosalynn. (Photo by Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - January 13, 2011 - The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival continued Thursday as professional riders sought championship honors in various hunter divisions. This year, the High Performance Working Hunter division, sponsored by The Sanctuary at PBIEC, has been added to the list of divisions for competition. The new division is open to all riders and horses, and includes fences ranging in height from 4' to 4'6". While eight horse...

Yann Candele and Redefin. (Photo by Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) held its second day of competition today with the first of 12 weekly WEF Challenge Cup grand prix classes. Canada's Yann Candele and Redefin, owned by Susan Grange, were the fastest double clear combination to earn the top prize. Held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL, the 2011 WEF will hold 12 consecutive weeks of competition for its winter show...

Wellington, FL - Equestrian Sport Productions is introducing a new two-part educational component to the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The two new series, the "Lunch & Learn" and "Ride & Learn," are designed to provide all FTI WEF participants and members of the Wellington community with creative and informative opportunities for further developing their skills and knowledge of the sport as a whole. The Lunch & Learn series will begin on January 20, and will take place every...

Nick Skelton and Unique (Photo © Sportfot, Official Sport Photographer of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival) Wellington, FL - The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) began its competition January 12 with opening jumper classes in the International Arena. To start the year off right, Nick Skelton (GBR) was back in the saddle and in the winner's circle with Unique, owned by Beverly Widdowson, in the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m Jumpers. The first week of the FTI WEF runs through January 16. The...

LA Pomeroy (IHSA Executive Director Bob Cacchione.) Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation and The EQUUS Foundation are pleased to announce the winner of the EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award. Bob Cacchione, Executive Director of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), was selected from more than 20 nominees to receive this distinctive honor. The award will be presented January 22, 2011, at the USEF Pegasus Awards Dinner during the Federation's Annual Meeting...

2010 Green Mountain Horse Association photo (Green Mountain Horse Association ) South Woodstock, VT - Green Mountain Horse Association is pleased to announce that it has received $15,000 from the Chichester duPont Foundation to continue youth program scholarships for applicants with financial need. GMHA has earmarked this funding to help young riders attend our Junior Horsemanship Clinic, which will attain its 55th year in the 2011. These funds will also support our Working Student program and...

Gallo Del Cielo. (NRHA/Waltenberry) Oklahoma City, OK - Only four stallions in history are distinguished as being a National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Three Million Dollar Sire. NRHA is pleased to welcome Gallo Del Cielo, a.k.a. “Rooster,” to this acclaimed list of that includes Hollywood Dun It, Topsail Whiz, Smart Chic Olena and Shining Spark as Rooster’s offspring earnings now total $3,041,295. Congratulations go to his owner, the Joseph & Karalyn Revocable Trust. Outstanding...

Dressage rider Leah Winston and Lusitano stallion Amintas Interagro. (Photo courtesy of JRPR.) Jacksonville, FL – The Lusitano breed was in the spotlight at the recent United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Annual Convention in Jacksonville, FL, when an award-winning Lusitano took part in the symposium and two lucky audience members won tickets to the upcoming 2011 Lusitano CollectionTM International Horse Auction. The auction, which will be held at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in...

Redha Gharsa on Neopolitano Primavera and Anthony Jackson on Pluto Pompea. (Photo courtesy Eric Martin.) Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain – Ten horses and eight riders braved a 16-hour plane ride to the Middle East to present the King of Bahrain with a demonstration of classical dressage. King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa staged the Bahrain Animal Production Show and brought in the Lipizzaner Stallion Show as the headliner. Also known as the Mara’ee, the agricultural show featured animal trainers,...

Wellington, FL - The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) will run for 12 weeks from January 12 to April 3, and this year's competition will offer more opportunities for show jumpers to accumulate FEI ROLEX ranking points than ever before. For riders to start their year off strongly, the only place to gain this amount of points in North America is at the FTI WEF. The FTI WEF will award more than $6 million in prize money throughout the circuit, and $3.2 million of that will be given in the...