Although the weather threatened to put a damper on the weekend, it held off just enough to allow the first Gold Coast show of the season (February 19-21), held at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, to be the fun event exhibitors knew it would be. There was a great mix of familiar faces and new ones to make the show a big success with a record number of entries. One group of new faces came from Hayden Show Jumping and Riding School of Laguna Hills, riding under the tutelage of Mickey Hayden and...

The Licensed Competition Seminar was held in Louisville, KY, on January 15, 2010. The presentations and handouts for that seminar are now available to view/print online at www.usef.org/_IFrames/LicensedOfficials/clinics.aspx . Included this year are new charts for each breed/discipline outlining the basic requirements you will need to put on that type of competition. The “Licensed Competition Handbook” takes you step-by-step through all the stages of planning your competition. Other useful...

Dressage: Dressage riders on the West Coast battled it out this weekend at the Mid-Winter CDI3* held at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Jan Ebeling and Rafalca were impressive in both the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle, easily taking home top honors. The pair was the only one to top 70% with a freestyle score of 71.800%. Canadian Sharon Merkel-Beattie and Essence of Glory were first in the Grand Prix Special with a score of 64.042; Adrienne Lyle and Wizard were second. Complete results...

Lexington, KY – Stuck in a blizzard? Stranded in an airport? Or just can’t make it to South Florida? Don’t miss a second of the best show jumping in the country this weekend! The final two USEF Selection Trials for the U.S. Show Jumping Team for the Alltech 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) book end the $75,000 FEI Nations Cup, presented by CN, from the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. It all takes place March 5 and 7 on UniversalSports.com, a partnership...

Lauren Hough and Quick Study (Randi Muster/Mustphoto.com ) Wellington, FL, – The second USEF Selection Trial for the US Show Jumping Team for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games got underway as part of the $75,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix. Thirteen horse/rider combinations came into the second Trial tied atop the rankings on a score of zero. After there were only two. Two of the stalwarts of the US show jumping circuit cruised to polished efforts. Lauren Hough and Laura Kraut,...

Todd Mikikus and Pavarotti (Randi Muster/Mustphoto.com ) Wellington, FL – Forty-four of the nation’s best horse/rider combinations lined up for the first of five USEF Selection Trials for US Show Jumping Team for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The jumping got underway on Thursday evening in low temperatures – at least by Florida standards. But the jumping standard was high and out of the 44 starters - 13 jumped clear over Guilherme Jorge’s track. In the Selection Trials which are...

Photo by Don Stine (One More Round++// with Alexis Doughty riding, shown with trainer Ben Flynn and Bill Doughty.) One More Round++// (Al Jassur Laddin x Winifred), owned by Bill and Alexis Doughty of Cape Charles, VA, was named the 2009 Arabian Horse Association (AHA) High Point Horse of the Year. The 2004 bay gelding earned 467 points in 2009 by competing in over 200 classes at 20 shows. The rigorous show schedule, which was carefully balanced with rest time, began in January and ended in...

The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) had a fantastic sixth week of competition on February 17-21. The week featured the AHJF Hunter Classic Spectacular of Palm Beach and the $50,000 CN Palm Beach Jumping Derby along with a full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. The week six title sponsor was Bainbridge. Charles Jacobs of Boston, MA, captured the top prize in the $50,000 CN Palm Beach Jumping Derby on Quidditch II, owned by Deeridge Farm of Wellington, FL. They sped to...

Photo by Diana DeRosa (Liza Boyd and Brunello) "He is my Olympic hunter," commented Liza Boyd after she nailed her third victory in the 14th Annual American Hunter-Jumper Foundation (AHJF) Hunter Classic Spectacular in Wellington FL, aboard her seasoned mount, Brunello. She won the very first one riding Monday Morning in 1997 and then in 2008 tasted victory again on Fiyero. Now just 3½ months after the birth of her first child (Ellen) it was important to prove she still had what it takes. Yet,...

Daniel Kaiser, Top Ranked German Vaulter Working with US Vaulter Eric Garcia (Primo Ponies Photography) Dressage: Horses and riders with the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and the 2011 Pan American Games on the brain got busy in Florida over the weekend training with 2009 FEI World Cup Champion Steffen Peters and US Technical Advisor Anne Gribbons. Peters helped the riders before they rode a test in front of Gribbons. Gribbons is also an ‘O’ judge with one of the keenest eyes in the...