Will Letner wins Gold. Photo: Waltenberry Lexington, KY - Will Letner knew the bar was set high when fellow U.S. rider Laura Sumrall went out first into the Alltech Arena on Saturday - and came out with an impressive score of 217.5. Sumrall pumped her fists in the air, shouting, "Yes, yes!" at her first SmartPak Individual Reining Championships at the Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North. Letner's thought: "Well, where do I go from...

Saugerties, NY — Todd Minikus of Loxahatchee, FL, went two-for-four in Friday’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, piloting two of his four mounts to the jump-off to ultimately take the blue on Candy Tribble & Windsor Show Stables’ Sweetheart at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, NY. Show jumping at HITS-on-the-Hudson is operating at full throttle as weeks V and VI welcome roughly 1,900 horses to the show grounds for what is sure to be some...

Junior Gold Medal Jumping Team, U.S. Zone 4 (Photo by Sportfot). Lexington, KY - It was a clean sweep for the U.S. when Junior and Young Rider Show Jumping Teams vied in the USHJA North American Show Jumping Championships today. In the Junior division, the team from U.S. Zone 4 led the victory gallop with their Gold medal in tow while the U.S. Zone 2 carried the Silver, and U.S. combined Zones 1/6 took the Bronze. Michael Hughes and Shockwave, Hayley Barnhill aboard Toucan...

Area VII's Florence Miller sits atop the CCI* (Photo: Brant Gamma Photography). Lexington, KY - The 2011 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North continued today at the Kentucky Horse Park with Junior competitors completing the dressage phase of the USEA North America Junior Eventing Championship. Topping the leader board of the CCI* event is Florence Miller of Area VII who ended her dressage test with only 47.3 penalty points aboard...

Canada's YR Reining Gold team, l-r: Lisa Hiebert, Kylie Wasiuta, Jessica Green, Nancy Pratch (Photo: Diana De Rosa). Lexington, KY - High-quality runs and terrific scores from a field of top-quality reining horses and the continent's most elite junior and young rider athletes made for a spectacular night at the 2011 SmartPak Reining Team Championships at the Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North. Canada reclaimed the top of the...

McLain Ward and Pjotter Van De Zonnehoeve won the $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show (Photo: Rebecca Walton/PMG). Lexington, KY - It was a late night at the Kentucky Horse Park as riders gathered at the Rolex Stadium to compete in the $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show. McLain Ward proved to be the best of the best, dominating the jump-off with the only two double clear efforts aboard Pjotter Van De Zonnehoeve and Vocas to place...

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...

Young Rider Individual Medalists, l-r: Brandi Roenick, Isabelle Leibler, Chase Hickok (Photo: SusanJStickle.com). Lexington, KY – The competitive action jumped into high gear on Day Two of the 2011 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North, which got underway at the Kentucky Horse Park yesterday and will continue through Sunday. In the Rolex Stadium, it was a quest for Individual Gold for dressage competitors, then, later in the...

Albuquerque, NM - It was devilishly hot when the trainers and horses arrived and unloaded their vans for the 19th Annual Arabian Youth National Championships Tuesday and Wednesday, just a few short days before the beginning of the show. As the horses and tack trunks were walked or lifted off of the vans the temperature poked its nose over the 100-degree mark, leaving man and mount sweating and equally eager for a drink of water and a cool spot in the shade. After nearly 20 years in the...

Terry Brown and Nice Take Home Performance Hunter Championship at Kentucky Summer Horse Show (Phot: Holly Whiteman/PMG). Lexington, KY - There was plenty of sunshine for the second day of the Kentucky Summer Horse Show at the Kentucky Horse Park during their World Champion Hunter Rider event. The professional divisions concluded today in the Stonelea Ring with the Green Working Hunters, Conformation Hunters, and Performance 3'6"-3'9" Hunters all awarding championship and reserve...