Winner of Hanovarian class Age 2 and under Francheska AH (Project Marketing) Devon, PA - Dressage at Devon attendees were treated to an amazing array of individual breed classes in the world’s largest open Breed Show. From Andulusians to Gypsy Vanners, and Hanovarians to Knabstruppers, each breed had the opportunity to show off its unique qualities. In the Hanovarian – Age 2 and under, Francheska AH (Fielding/SPS Malena), bred and owned by Kate Palmquist, took home the blue. In the...

Ocala, Fla. - The weekend started off right for hunter exhibitors in Week IV of the Ocala Winter Circuit with Saturday’s Devoucoux Hunter Prix, with a bigger prize purse of $10,000, and the $1,500 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix. Aaron Vale and Dress Balou on their way to a $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix win. (ESI Photography) $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix Aaron Vale has been on fire in the Ocala Horse Properties Grand Prix Stadium, and on Saturday, he returned to claim the throne in the...

With Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice expected to fly through the cross country course, Steffen Peters and Legolas hanging around the top of the leaderboard in dressage and Shawn Flarida and Spooks Gotta Whiz taking reining by storm, horse lovers around the United States have all eyes on Normandy, France, home of the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™. Having started on August 23 and continuing through September 7, the Games include jumping, dressage, eventing, driving, reining,...

The North American Young Rider’s Championship was a great success! Everyone (myself included) seemed to have a great time, and the endurance Basecamp was full of positive things to say about the Horse Park and staff. Though it was hot, everyone was in great spirits, and the 75 mile race went as well as anyone could have hoped. I only got to see 55 miles of the trail, but what I saw of it, I loved. It was an amazing experience to ride parts of the WEG course, and see some of the beautiful...

Time certainly flew by in Kentucky at NAJYRC. We arrived mid afternoon Monday and got all unpacked and settled in the best that we could. Devon got to go on a nice big hand walk and ate some delicious Kentucky Blue Grass. I probably could have just left him right outside the compound and he never would have moved a foot all week with all of the grass. Tuesday I rode twice. I got on in the morning and went for a big walk around to show him the sights. He can get a little worried about things so...

NAJYRC was a great success this year! The Zone 4 teams won gold medals in both the Junior and Young Rider divisions for the first time in history. Zone 4 had never won a gold medal at this competition until last week! Nepal and I had a very good show. One ten fault round in the nation’s cup class on Friday kept us out of the individual medals, but Nepal jumped great and finished up in 8th place overall. The final day of competition was very intense! Katie Dinan was in the lead with only 2....

2011 NAJYRC After eleven days in Kentucky for the 2011 FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships, I’m finally home! I had such an amazing time and I can’t wait to share my experience with you. This was my third time at the NAJYRC, but the fun and excitement just grows each year! My NAJYRC experience started on Tuesday, July 19th when my horse was picked up at midnight for the long haul to Kentucky. I had one day to pack and then I got on a plane with my mom on...

I have finally made it home from Lexington, and I am surely glad to be in my own bed! My last few days at the NAJYRC were definitely better than the first few. Things started happening like we had hoped for me and Smartie. We started off Saturday with our schooling session at 6 A.M. She and I practically camped out by the big , black, reflective sign. She never once shied away from it, so I had a bit of confidence for my ride. My trainer said he felt good about the way she was acting for me,...

Another eventful day in Smartie’s world. It all started off pretty well, with me and Smartie both in a great mood. Smartie was especially happy because we got to graze her for a really long time. Since her middle name tends to be “Piggy,” she was very happy with her clover-filled breakfast. As the day went on, I began to get very excited. This made for a very long time of excitement since our class did not even start until 10 o’clock at night, but that didn’t stop...

Started off the day with a nice bath for Smartie, which she greatly appreciated. Her ankle looked really good this morning with only minor swelling, but just for a precaution, we wrapped her back up in ice until we were called for the jog. My team went first, and of the three of us, Smartie was second. We entered the ring for the jog and began walking as directed. Looking back, it was very obvious that I was extremely nervous. The entire time I was talking to my dad about how worried I was...