Lexington, KY - The popular helmet awareness campaign Riders4Helmets will be hosting the 4th Riders4Helmets Safety Symposium on Saturday February 2nd, 2013 at the Alltech Arena, Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY from 8.30am to 5pm. The symposium is being sponsored by Tipperary , Charles Owen , Troxel , GPA , One K , Ovation and High Visibility USA (Equisafety). Contributing companies include Adequan and Triple Crown . For those who cannot attend the symposium in person, videoed sessions will...

Jacob Pope completes the Final Test at the Alltech National Horse Show aboard Patrick to win the coveted ASPCA Alfred B. Maclay Finals (Rebecca Walton/PMG) Lexington, KY - It was another fairytale day for Jacob Pope of Columbia, MD, during the 2012 Maclay National Championship for the ASCPA Alfred B. Maclay Horsemanship Classes. The Alltech National Horse Show, 129th Edition, welcomed 152 riders for the prestigious event. At the end of the day, it was 18-year-old Pope whose horsemanship...

Lauren Hough and Quick Study (Rebecca Walton) Lexington, KY - fter spending the summer in Europe, Lauren Hough and Quick Study made a triumphant return to the United States during the Alltech National Horse Show, 129th Edition. The pair bested a 14-horse jump-off with a speedy double clear effort during the $75,000 Double H Farm International Open Jumper class. Ireland's Richie Moloney galloped into second place position aboard Slieveanorra, while Kent Farrington and his young mount Venus...

2012 is nearly over. Show season is winding down and Western dressage organizations are gathering feedback from judges and competitors alike about tests, rules, shows and all things western dressage. Late fall is time for annual meetings for everyone and WD is on agendas all over the country. NAWD and WDAA are busy analyzing data and perfecting tests and rulebooks before the 2013 show season starts so more news will be coming from these fronts very soon. USEF and USDF will have more information...

Victory in the final leg at Boekelo (NED) clinched the overall win for Germany in the first FEI Nations Cup Eventing (left to right): Michael Jung, Bettina Hoy, Julia Krajewski and Ingrid Klimke with Chef d'Equipe Hans Melzer (Jon Stroud/FEI) The German team produced yet another first-rate performance to win at Boekelo (NED), the final leg of the inaugural FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing, and rounded off what has been an outstanding year for the country’s senior riders with a comfortable...

The sixteenth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder In an attempt to acknowledge the current diversity within the discipline, show organizers have started offering exhibitors the opportunity to ride ANY test they want to ride, from any organization that has published tests. A buffet of western dressage is now available with something for everyone. The show organizers want to meet the needs of the competitors and in so doing really have taken the first step toward acceptance and...

Hunter Chancellor is a 17-year-old junior at Mater Del High School from Evansville, Indiana. She is ranked third in her class and has a 3.99 GPA. Hunter is on the five-gaited section of the 2012 U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup Team. People always ask me at what age I started riding horses. I guess the true answer is, “since before I was born.” My mom showed American Saddlebreds long before I was around, and continued to ride in the early stages of her pregnancy. Not only did my mom show...

The fifteenth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder Last weekend our barn attended the first Western Dressage classes in our area. It was a beautiful day to ride in a beautiful venue at a facility where the idea of western dressage has been warmly accepted. It was such a nice feeling to share space with dressage riders and enthusiasts, most of whom were very curious about the discipline. We rode all the North American Western Dressage Tests through Level 4 and found the tests...

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...

Tracy Fenney and MTM Centano fly to first in the Double H Farm Jumper Classic North Salem, NY -Tracy Fenney of Flower Mound, Texas, came away with the win in the $35,000 Double H Farm Classic 4* on Saturday at The American Gold Cup. The weather was crisp and clear as the horses and riders took to the field at the picturesque Old Salem Farm in North Salem, NY, and by mid-afternoon the wind picked up and the flags snapped in the gusts of wind. Fenney said she was hesitant to come and ride against...