The 60th annual Del Mar National Horse Show came to a climax on Saturday with the $100,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar. There were 27 entries, and for the second year in a row, Rich Fellers riding McGuinness took home the grand prize. Second place went to Leslie Steele and her horse AW Butterfly Hula. Third place went to Carlson, owned and ridden by Guillermo Obligado. The grand prix course was designed by world-renowned Olympic course designer, Leopoldo Palacios of Caracas, Venezuela. World Cup,...

Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation’s High Performance Committee has finalized the list of four horse and rider eventing teams which will represent the USEF in a Talent Tour at the Luhmühlen CCI **** in Luhmühlen, Germany, June 15-20. They are: Becky Holder and Courageous Comet , a 9-year-old grey Thoroughbred gelding, by Comet Shine out of Rosenelli, and owned by Tom Holder Bonnie Mosser and Jenga , an 11-year-old bay English Thoroughbred gelding, by...

When will reining be in the Olympics? We have all heard the question. As the only Western discipline approved for Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) competition, reining is on the threshold of Olympic inclusion. While the threshold won’t easily be traversed, reining received a substantial and very encouraging boost when the FEI, during its 2005 FEI General Assembly, April 5-10, in London, England, proposed recommending to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) the addition of a fourth...

Debbie McDonald on Brentina during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens (Bob Langrish) Lexington, KY – The best and brightest dressage stars will battle it out in Burbank, California this weekend, in a show-down that will determine who will ride at the 2005 FEI World Cup Dressage Final Presented by Offield Farms, in Las Vegas, April 20-24. Tickets to the World Cup won’t come easily though, with a red-hot roster waiting to take home the title at the U.S. Grand Prix Freestyle...

The battle to earn berths in the FEI World Cup Dressage Final 2005 continues to rage in countries around the world as the date of the Final approaches. After a fierce qualifying season in the Canadian League, Leslie Reid of Langley, BC, won the Canadian League World Cup Dressage final qualifier, earning the right to represent Canada in the FEI World Cup Dressage Final, which will be held along with the FEI Budweiser World Cup Jumping Final in Las Vegas, NV, April 20-24, 2005. Seven riders took...

Prince Bernhard, the President of the FEI from 1954 to 1964, passed away on December 1, 2004. He was 93 years old. Prince Bernhard, husband of Queen Juliana, who reigned from 1948, and father of the present Queen of the Netherlands, Beatrix, was born on June 29, 1911. In 1937 he married the then Princess Juliana. The couple had four children, all girls. One of them, Irene, became a successful jumper rider, competing as a member of the Dutch team at the European Junior Championships of 1956....

Wellington, FL —The retired Olympic horse Flim Flam passed away in Florida last week, following a brief, but irreparable illness. The 17-year-old Hanoverian gelding, owned by Fritz Kundrun and ridden by Sue Blinks, was humanely euthanized on the operating table after discovery of a ruptured stomach on Thursday, October 28, 2004. Flim Flam was only ill for a few hours and seemingly experienced very little pain. “Flim was the horse of a lifetime for me,” Blinks said. “I am...

It was not a competition for the faint of heart, as seasoned teams sought to outscore their rivals in a close competition. But when all was said and done, U.S. show jumpers Peter Wylde, Chris Kappler, Norman Dello Joio and Judith Garofalo pulled off a solid fourth place finish in Barcelona, with only 24 faults. Peter Wylde and Fein Cera (Holsteiner, Landadel-Bella Hop) led the way for the team—they finished the first round with four faults and added a clean round on the second try. Chris...

The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation will host its Fifth Annual Golf Outing, a benefit for the USET Foundation, sponsored by Paul Miller, Inc., on Monday, October 4. The Golf Outing will be held at the beautiful Hamilton Farm Golf Club located on the same property as the USET Foundation Headquarters and Olympic Training Center in Gladstone, NJ. The Outing will provide a rare opportunity to “Golf With An Olympian” as the outing will feature three “Olympic” foursomes, each with one...

The 2004 United States Olympic Eventing Team will practice on Thursday, August 12th and the media is invited to attend from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm. The riders will be available for interviews. The practice schedule has not yet been finalized. All of the Olympic Equestrian events will take place at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre, where the practice session will be held. Members of the Eventing Team are as follows: Darren Chiacchia, 39, Springville, NY, riding Windfall II Julie Burns...