Alison Cooney and Wittewa (Shawn McMillen Photography) Upper Marlboro, MD – The Capital Challenge Horse Show began today at the Prince George's Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, MD. This is the first day of the Capital Challenge Equitation Championship Weekend, presented by Bigeq.com. The Capital Challenge Horse Show runs through Sunday, October 6. The equitation age divisions were held today with over fences classes in the outdoor and indoor rings, joined by a flat class indoors....

Welcome to the fourth installment of a different kind of blog from WDAA! The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or...

Jennifer Bliss rode Extraordinary to the first place finish in the $10,000 GGT Footing 3'3" Hunter Derby on the final day of the Fieldstone Summer Showcase (Kendall Bierer/Phelps Media Group) Halifax, MA - The Fieldstone Summer Showcase I ended Sunday with the much-anticipated $10,000 GGT Footing 3'3" Hunter Derby where Jennifer Bliss guided her two top mounts to the 1-2 finish. The derby has always been both a competitor and crowd favorite at the Fieldstone Show Park in Halifax, MA, and...

Welcome to the third installment of a different kind of blog from WDAA! The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or challenging...

Aaron Vale and H&M Cisco (PMG) Lexington, KY - Although there were grey skies in the area for the second day of the Kentucky Summer Classic, the weather did not dampen the competition in the Rolex Stadium. Both the 1.40m and 1.35m Open Jumper classes were determined by just fractions of a second. As the last in the class, Aaron Vale had the draw on his side as he bested Juan Pablo Gaspar and Shamrock with H&M Cisco in the 1.40m Open Jumpers. In the 1.35m Open Jumpers, Geoffrey Case and...

Tatiana Dzavik and Dahlia Lexington, KY - Perfect weather greeted riders as competition got underway during the Kentucky Summer Series at the Kentucky Horse Park. The Open Jumper riders gathered at the Rolex Stadium, where the first 1.40m Open Jumper class focused on speed and Tatiana Dzavik had the winning key with Dahlia. She topped Shane Sweetnam and Fineman by just 3/10ths of a second to claim the blue ribbon. The final event of the day was the 1.40m Open Jumper Table 2 Section 2b jump-off...

Amanda Steege guided Tony Arena’s Majestic to the High Performance Hunter Championship title during WCHR week at the Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT. (David Mullinix Photography) East Dorset, VT - World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) competition took place throughout the third week of competition, held July 17-21, at the Vermont Summer Festival, attracting the East Coast’s top hunter riders as they prepare for WCHR Finals this fall. Professionals were among the first to...

Dressage Young Rider Team Gold Medalists from Region 7: Teresa Adams, Ariel Thomas, Jamie Pestana, and Jaclyn Pepper (SusanJStickle.com) Lexington, KY – The first day of competition at the 2013 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC) featured the top up-and-coming talent in the sport of dressage. Team medals were presented in the Junior and Young Rider divisions in the USDF/Platinum Performance North American Junior and Young...

Calgary, Alberta – Five weeks of world-class competition wrapped up at Spruce Meadows on Sunday afternoon with a fantastic win for Ireland’s Conor Swail and Lansdowne in the $400,000 Spruce Meadows ‘Pan American’ Grand Prix. The final event of the summer featured a five-horse jump-off with a win for the Irish, Colombia’s Daniel Bluman and Sancha LS in second and fellow Irishman Cameron Hanley and Antello in third. Canada’s Peter Grant set the track on Sunday...

Kristen VanderVeen and Bull Run's Eternal (Carrie Wirth/Mary Adelaide Brakenridge Phelps Media Group) Parker, CO - Brazilian course designer Anderson Lima built what appeared to be a straightforward course for the $40,000 Holiday Inn of Parker Grand Prix for Summer in the Rockies V, considered the peak week of the summer series at the Colorado Horse Park. But the course was tougher than appearances let on. "I decided to do a more technical course than a really big course, which meant they had...