It was another exciting day of competition at the 2009 Washington International Horse Show (WIHS), as the schedule featured four jumper classes for amateur-owner, junior, and open jumpers on Thursday. The highlight class of the day was the $30,000 Open Jumper Time First Jump-off class, and Olympic Gold medalist McLain Ward of the United States took the top prize on Couletto K James. Andres Rodriguez of Venezuala and Da Vinci were victorious in the $20,000 Open Jumper Gambler's Choice Costume...

Rising star Daniel Bluman added another impressive line to his resume when he bested a star-studded field aboard Fatalis Fatum to secure the top prize in the $100,000 United States Grand Prix League (USGPL) Invitational Grand Prix at HITS Commonwealth Park in Culpeper, VA. Bluman and his impressive mount have now won three grand prix events in a row, including a victory in the $100,000 class at The Hampton Classic. "I am very proud of my horse," said Bluman. "He is proud to do his job. When I...

Diana DeRosa (2007 Pan American Games Bronze medalists Todd Minikus, Laura Chapot, Cara Raether and Lauren Hough) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—It was a battle between the host country—Brazil—and the teams from Canada and the United States for the team show jumping medal today at Deodoro Stadium outside Rio de Janeiro. Fittingly, it was the host country’s most popular equestrian athlete—Rodrigo Pessoa—that was the last to go in the two-round series of Nations Cup...

Stadium Jumping, Inc., hosted a meeting in The Jockey Club at the Winter Equestrian Festival show grounds on January 4 to discuss the Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) outbreak. Approximately 500 concerned horsemen attended and many pertinent questions were asked of the panel. Dr. Doug Byars, former head of Internal Medicine at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Associates in Lexington, KY, was brought in to monitor the progress and process in which the EHV-1 is being handled in Wellington. Dr. Byars is...

The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation still has a few models remaining of the 2006 Limited Edition Breyer Model Horse, Authentic. The USET Foundation announced earlier this year that Authentic, owned by Abigail Wexner and ridden by Beezie Madden, was chosen as the 2006 USET Foundation Breyer model horse. Authentic, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, is the 11th Breyer model in this popular series. Authentic was a member of the 2004 Athens Olympics Gold-medal team. In 2005,...

Kim Severson and Winsome Adante (A.K. Dragoo Photography, LLC) Allentown, NJ – On a day when most people would do anything to remain indoors in the air conditioning, 11 of the United States’ top eventing horse-and-rider combinations were at the Horse Park of New Jersey in 100+ degree weather performing all three phases of the mandatory short list outing for their spot on the team that will head to Aachen, Germany, for the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games. Amy Tryon and Poggio II were...

David Stephenson/Lexington Herald-Leader (Belle Owen and Show Biz Time waited to take to the show ring in the three-gaited junior exhibitor 14 and under class during the first night of the 70th Annual Lexington Junior League Horse Show.) The Junior League of Lexington is celebrating it's 70th annual Lexington Junior League Horse Show, which runs July 10-15, 2006, at the Red Mile Race Track in Lexington, KY. The Lexington Junior League Horse Show is the first leg of the American Saddlebred...

The World Equestrian Festival, perhaps the largest single week's horse show in the world, began Wednesday in Aachen, Germany, with the United States announcing a top team for the Samsung Super League. Aachen CHIO has added championship vaulting to the lineup of show jumping, dressage and four-in-hand driving that will be contested by 145 athletes from 23 nations on more than 400 horses, in front of what is expected to be well above 300,000 spectators during the five days of competition. For...

Aaron Vale and Serval, owned by The Serval Group, led the victory gallop in the $25,000 HITS Ocala Grand Prix on Sunday, January 29, posting the only double-clear round out of a class of 22 horse-and-rider combinations. Course Designer Jerry Dougherty set a first-round course that saw only four riders advance to the jump-off. Derek Petersen opened the jump-off with Heaven Bound, a 10-year-old former dressage horse he brought over from Germany in 2004. Had it not been for an unlucky rail at the...

Aachen, Germany - The United States dressage team finished in third place behind a history-making Dutch team that beat Germany on Thursday to win the nations’ team competition at the World Equestrian Festival. The U.S. riders, Steffen Peters of San Diego, CA, on Floriano; and George Williams of Delaware, OH, on Rocher, had led the standings in the grand prix after the first of two days of competition. But, the powerful Dutch and German teams, which included Olympic Individual and Team Gold...