Stacy Parvey-Larsson, owner of Hidden Acres Dressage in Ocala, FL, rode away with the FEI High Point title at the recent Dressage on the First Coast show in Jacksonville, FL, aboard the beautiful black Trakehner gelding High and Mighty. Parvey-Larsson earned a high score of 79.211% in the Intermediare I class, which was sponsored by The Oaks of Lake City Equestrian Center. “Aileen Daly recently purchased High and Mighty, and I am very grateful to have been able to show him throughout the winter...

A group of six young equestrians traveled to Middelburg, South Africa, in March as Team Morgan 2009 to compete in an international saddle seat competition. Team Morgan is an international multi-discipline competition program for Morgan youth ages 14-21. Its mission is to promote the breed through international competition and provide educational experiences to Morgan youth. Team Morgan 2009 was comprised of Lyssa Bomgaars of Walled Lake, MI; Brynne Cummings of South Woodstock, CT; Kelsey Irvine...

After a 4.20 wake-up alarm this morning, I had a cold cup of coffee (accidentally), found my way to Lexington airport in the midst of MORE rain and was in Chicago before i knew it. The SVP of Marketing (aka my boss) Kathy Meyer was on the same flight so we chatted and had breakfast in the windy city Las Vegas could give Chicago a run for its money with the wind. I got to the MGM where I'm staying (it was totally sensory overload), I'm a first-time starter in Vegas (to borrow a term from...

Gypsy Woods Farm owners Charles (Chuck) and Joann Smith announce that the beloved, crowd-pleasing Westfalen mare Rocher (Rolls Royce) will retire from international competition. “Rocher took a dream and made it a reality,” stated Chuck. “She took us all over the world and filled us with pride. She has incredible character and inspired her fans wherever she showed.” Rocher came to the United States in 2000 to be ridden by George Williams for the Smith family and Gypsy Woods Farm. Her career was...

With a faultless show jumping round on the final day of competition at the Galway Downs International Horse Trials, Amy Tryon and Leyland claimed the Adequan/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Gold Cup as the winner of the CIC***. Tryon’s perfect round gave her a final a score of 51.6 penalties, enough to vault her from third to first after second-placed Kelly Prather lowered one rail on Ballinakill Glory (53.8) and third-placed Jolie Sexson lowered two rails on Killian O’Connor (55.7),...

Riders taking part in the "Intro to Eventing" clinic at The Oaks Equestrian Center, home to the inaugural O’Connor Signature Facility, not only learned the basics of eventing but also had a chance to test out the world-class cross-country course designed by Olympians David and Karen O’Connor. Rhonda Gailey, Resident Equestrian Facility Manager of The Oaks Equestrian Center, taught the two-day Intro to Eventing clinic. “We had an excellent response for the clinic. Everyone who attended learned a...

The FEI has taken some decisions on the Wild Cards considering the 24th FEI World Cup™ Final Dressage, taking place April 15-19 in Las Vegas. The wild cards are granted to Americans Leslie Morse on Kingston and Jan Ebeling on Rafalca . This brings the complete list of 15 competitors to the following. 1. Title Defender Anky van Grunsven IPS Painted Black (NED) Western European League 2. Isabell Werth on Satchmo or Warum Nicht FRH (GER) 3. Adelinde Cornelissen on Parzival (NED) 4. Hans Peter...

Combined Driver Chester Weber continued his winning streak at the prestigious Live Oak International Combined Driving event by driving away the winner of the Four-In-Hand FEI Horse Team. The world-class qualifying competition draws top competitors to Ocala, FL, each year, and is considered to be one of the premiere combined driving events in North America. Weber, who has his sights set on qualifying for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in the four-in-hand division, won all three...

The Children of the Americas Dressage Invitational (CADI) is the only competition of its’ kind in the United States. This United States Dressage Federation- and United States Equestrian Federation-recognized event is exclusively for children between the ages of 12 and 14. It features riders from South and Central America, the Islands, Mexico, Canada and The United States, all brought together for a week of training and international competition. New for 2009 is the working affiliation with...

Double Olympic Gold medalist Beezie Madden won her first grand prix of the 2009 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) on Thursday, March 12, aboard Onlight in Round X of the $30,000 Braman Motorcars WEF Challenge Cup Series. Madden of Cazenovia, NY, and Onlight, owned by Team Onlight, were the only double-clear round from the initial 49 entries for the class in the DeNemethy arena. Only four combinations made it to the jump-off on the the course designed by Guilherme Jorge of Brazil. The time by...