Major equestrian competitions attended by U.S. athletes, both domestic and overseas, are listed in this weekly preview. Please look below to find competition listings by discipline* and breed. We hope you will follow the competitions that most interest you, but check Equestrian Weekly on Monday for a report of any top finishes by U.S. Equestrians. *lists of competitions in all international disciplines will include only FEI competitions or USEF Championships within the USA and international FEI...

Gladstone, NJ - The prestigious 2012 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East got underway Saturday with the flat phase and gymnastics phase. Held at the beautiful USET Foundation Headquarters in Gladstone, New Jersey, 92 competitors competed in the first two phases of the event, vying for the coveted winning title. Seventeen-year-old Jacob Pope of Columbia, MD, is currently atop the leader board after winning today's gymnastics phase with a score 95.5, and also...

Monsieur du Reverdy and Victoria Colvin. (Shawn McMillen Photography) Upper Marlboro, MD – The $10,000 North American Junior/Amateur-Owner Challenge Cup Final Round highlighted the evening session Saturday at the Capital Challenge Horse Show. Fourteen-year-old Victoria Colvin of Loxahatchee, FL, sped to the win in the jump-off on Monsieur du Reverdy and captured first place, despite finishing the course with no stirrups. That also gave her the overall win for the North American...

Woodside, CA - Derek di Grazia has done a substantial redesign of his cross-country course for the Woodside International Horse Trials, which will take place on Oct. 5-7, presented by Professional’s Choice and Equine Insurance of California. Di Grazia says he’s changed five combinations on the course for the featured CIC3* division, and he’s also made numerous alterations for the CIC2* and CIC1* divisions. “Because we did quite a bit last year, when Woodside became an...

The fourteenth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder The last several weeks I’ve talked about how to get started in western dressage. If you are curious, you’ve checked out the website, taken advantage of the free basic membership by becoming a member, read the rules, reviewed the tests, read the articles, participated in the Forum discussions, found WD groups on Facebook, visited YouTube and chatted with your friends about it. Maybe you’ve contacted your local...

Major equestrian competitions attended by U.S. athletes, both domestic and overseas, are listed in this weekly preview. Please look below to find competition listings by discipline* and breed. We hope you will follow the competitions that most interest you, but check Equestrian Weekly on Monday for a report of any top finishes by U.S. Equestrians. *lists of competitions in all international disciplines will include only FEI competitions or USEF Championships within the USA and international FEI...

Team Germany, Hans Dieter Dreher, Daniel Deußer, Philipp Weishaupt andChristian Ahlmann, this year’s winner of the BMO Nations’ cup. (Spruce Meadows Media Services) Calgary, AB - In front of record crowds, the fourth day of the 2012 Spruce Meadows saw both the American and German flag fly above the international ring. With the sun was shining and 80,961 spectators watching in the stands, 25 horse/rider combinations saddled up for the Suncor Energy Winning Round, spread over 495 meters with 15...

The twelveth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder Every day I field calls from people wanting to know more about Western Dressage. What is it? How do I find out more about it? Can anyone do it? Is it hard? Who teaches Western Dressage? Are there shows? Last weekend a few of our riders were invited to do a Western Dressage demonstration at the local dressage show. What struck me was the feeling of being out of place amongst my dressage friends because we were wearing our western...

McLain Ward and Antares F won the $100,000 Wells Fargo Grand Prix of Devon Middleburg, VA - Taylor Harris Insurance Services (THIS) announced today that the $200,000 Taylor Harris Triple Crown Challenge will return again next season. Debuting this season, the Triple Crown Challenge offered a unique test with a spectacular $200,000 top prize for any show jumping rider that could put together back to back to back wins at three of the nation's most prestigious grand prix events on the same...

So we are closing in on the end of the Para-Equestrian Dressage portion of the 2012 Paralympic Games, with only two Freestyles left for the U.S. to perform. It has been an amazing experience for me so far and the icing on the cake would be a medal for our riders! We have come incredibly close on a few occasions but with two more opportunities we are still hopeful. Jonathan Wentz and NTEC Richter Scale were so close on Saturday but had to settle for fourth, not bad in your first Paralympic...