Photo Courtesy American Vaulting Association (Patti Skipton of Warm Beach Vaulters received the AVA's Trainer for the Year Award for 2009.) At their recent Annual Convention, the American Vaulting Association (AVA) presented Lifetime Achievement Awards, the highest award of the AVA, to Jeffrey Ashton Moore and Jan F. Garrod, whose efforts over the past 40 years have been instrumental to the recognition, growth and continued high standards of the sport of equestrian vaulting. At the same event,...

McLain Ward and Sapphire Look to go One Better in 2010 (Shannon Brinkman/ USEF Archives) Lexington, KY - With 10 riders representing the United States at the 2010 Rolex/FEI World Cup Final (April 15-18), the American assault on Geneva looks very strong. Led by 2009 runner-up McLain Ward and his legendary Sapphire, the 34-year-old will look to go one better in Switzerland than they did in Las Vegas one year ago. Fortunately, they won't have the fleet-footed Shutterfly to chase as the defending...

Photo by JumpShot Photography (Susan Hutchison and El Dorado 29’s Cantano) With wonderful weather and a superb turnout, the second week of the Blenheim Spring Classic series ended Sunday. The $35,000 Blenheim Spring Classic II Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon hosted not only a hill full of spectators but also 25 entrants representing five countries. Showing over a challenging course set by Brazil’s Guilherme Jorge, only one jumped clean. For the ninth time in their partnership, Susan Hutchison...

Photo by Pics of You (The team of Morgans driven by David Saunders in hopes of qualifying for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.) A four-in-hand team of black Morgan geldings owned by Alan and Maureen Aulson are one step closer to their bid of making a team to represent the United States at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG), a first in the Morgan breed. The combined driving four-in-hand team of Nordby Coalie's Duke, Nordby Coalie's Coal Dust, and the full brothers Nordby...

Photo by Robbi Meisel Classic Company’s president, Bob Bell, announced the first ever Musical Freestyle Hunt Seat Equitation Championship will premiere at the upcoming Atlanta Summer Classics, June 16-27, in the former Olympic Grand Prix arena of the Georgia International Horse Park. The idea came to Bell while outside a schooling ring on an off day of his show, sitting in a golf cart chatting on his phone when the sound of a nearby stereo drifted over, causing his attention to shift towards...

Photo by Erica Larson (Hannah Sue Burnett and St. Barths) It was a nail biter to the end at the Fork Horse Trials this weekend as the United States Eventing Association (USEA)/Adequan Gold Cup Advanced division and the CIC*** wrapped up with show jumping. Neither overnight leader was able to hold on to their lead, and even the winners were pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the competition. In the USEA/Adequan Gold Cup division, the "little horse that could" came from behind to take home...

Photo by Robbi Meisel (Daniel Geitner and Sympa) The Atlanta Spring Classics series closed this Easter weekend under perfect blue skies and more heated competition among hunters and jumpers. Held at the Georgia International Horse Park, home of the 1996 Olympics, in Conyers, GA, the two-week event presented by the Classic Company came to a close with the announcement of division champions. “We’ve had two weeks of glorious showing here in Conyers with great weather, good rings, and some of the...

If you are a non-profit equine organization in need of a grant then don’t delay. Go to www.trusthorses.org/grant/request.html and fill out a grant application from USA Equestrian Trust (USAET) Grant Program. The deadline of May 4 at 5 p.m. EST is fast approaching. “While no public charity can make grants to every deserving group, USA Equestrian Trust encourages any non-profit in the equestrian community who needs assistance to consider completing the grant application,” commented Alan F. Balch,...

Photo by Rick Osteen/Courtesy IFSHA Mark your calendars and ready your Friesian horses. The International Friesian Show Horse Association (IFSHA) proudly announces that the 2010 IFSHA World and Grand National Championship Horse Show are to move west this year to the prestigious Del Mar Arena in the San Diego area of beautiful Southern California. The Del Mar Arena is a coastal gem of a facility in a community well known for its equestrian passions and sports venues. The facility has hosted...

Buck Davidson and My Boy Bobby win at The Fork (US Eventing) Dressage Competition was underway on both coasts this week with the CDI3*/Y/J Burbank, CA (Festival of the Horse) and the Dressage at Equestrian Estates in Loxahatchee, FL. Jan Ebeling dominated the Grand Prix in Burbank, coming in first on Rafalca and second on Sandrina. Guenter Seidel and U II were third. In the Grand Prix Special it was Seidel who triumphed with a score of 69.875%, narrowly beating out Ebeling and Rafalca. Ebeling...