Five New Champions to be Named in Gladstone (Amy McCool) By Joanie Morris Lexington, KY – Five United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) National Champions will be crowned next week (June 18-21) in Gladstone, NJ at the 2009 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions. The competition annually showcases the best dressage horses and riders in the country in the following FEI categories: Junior, Young Rider, Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’, Intermediaire and Grand Prix....

Winners Again - This Time in St. Gallen (Courtesy of the FEI) By Joanie Morris Lexington, KY - The US Show Jumpers continued their march across Europe with another amazing performance in St. Gallen, Switzerland in the third leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup. Christine McCrea, Ashlee Bond, Laura Kraut and Richard Spooner stayed on the roll that began last week in Rome and continued with a jump-off for the win in Switzerland. “It doesn’t happen often back-to back to win in a top league like...

Winners in Rome (Courtesy FEI ) By Joanie Morris Lexington, KY – The US Show Jumping squad bounced back with a valiant effort, winning the second leg of the Meydan FEI Nations Cup in Rome, Italy. Chef d’Equipe, George Morris continues to build a show jumping empire with the US. After winning back-to-back Olympic Gold medals in 2004 and 2008, Morris brought a team of mixed experience to Rome and dominated the nine other nations to finish on a two round total of 4 faults. The French...

Photo by PhelpsPhotos.com (Rebecca Hart and Norteassa) Lexington, KY – Rebecca Hart has had quite an eventful year. In 2008, she won her first National Championship aboard Norteassa in May, 2008, and then the pair went on to Hong Kong to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Games and barely missed winning an Individual medal. This year, Hart bested 16 other riders to defend her title as 2009 Cavalor/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Para-Equestrian Dressage National Champion. The...

Laura Kraut and Cedric (Shannon Brinkman) by Joanie Morris Lexington, KY – Tomorrow, the first horse in the ring of the very first Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ will be representing the United States in La Baule, France. The 10 best Jumping teams in the world go head-to-head to kick off the prestigious summer tour. Christine McCrea will lead it off for the U.S., the Fairfield, CT rider will ride Candy Tribble and Windsor Show Stable’s Vegas – fresh from a good performance at...

Steffen Peters and Ravel (Shannon Brinkman) Lexington, KY – For the first time, a US Dressage Rider has been named by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) as the Athlete of the Month. Steffen Peters was honored for his effort in Las Vegas, NV at the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup Final. Riding Ravel, for longtime supporter Akiko Yamazaki, Peters made history. The pair earned the best score of their career together in the Freestyle (84.95%) and brought down the house at the Thomas &...

Lexington, KY – It was tight at the top of the leaderboard at the 2009 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event but the first three places remained unchanged, as Lucinda Fredericks, Bettina Hoy and Buck Davidson each jumped immaculate clear show jumping rounds. Fredericks, who took over the lead from Hoy after the cross country, had all kinds of horse left in the brand new main arena at the Kentucky Horse Park and Headley Britannia bounded around Richard Jeffrey’s track, giving the pair their...

My Boy Bobby (Mike McNally) Lexington, KY – The top two places shuffled but the names on top of the leaderboard remained the same after the cross country at the 2009 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Australia’s Lucinda Fredericks had a lightning fast round on her chestnut mare Headley Britannia. Trying to duplicate her husband Clayton’s winning feat in 2007, Fredericks blazed around and made the optimum time of 11 minutes despite having to go the long way at the Head of the...

My Boy Bobby and Buck Davidson, Best for the US (Stockimageservices.com) By Joanie Morris Lexington, KY – The American riders had some catching up to do after the first day of dressage at the 2009 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. The European riders swept the top three places after Thursday and the US riders returned on Friday to find only a little bit of room at the top of the leaderboard. Germany’s Bettina Hoy wasn’t going to be bested in the main stadium at the Kentucky...

Jolie Sexson and Killian O'Connor Lead the Americans (Stockimageservices.com) Lexington, KY – The 2009 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event got off to a flying start at the Kentucky Horse Park. In the spectacular brand-new Main Stadium, 24 of the field of 50 went to task in the dressage ring. With a Rolex Watch, plenty of prize money and the Rolex/USEF National Championship on the line, the competition proved to be tough. Twenty foreign riders are taking on the Americans in 2009, many taking...