Originally published at www.useventing.com Jessica Phoenix (CAN) and Patras VR are the overnight leaders in the Adequan USEA Gold Cup & PRO Tour Series CIC3* at The Fork (Leslie Threlkeld/USEA Photo) Announcer Brian O'Connor called it "difficult conditions." What started as a windy and slightly damp morning worsened as the day progressed, and by the time the Adequan USEA Gold Cup and PRO Tour Series CIC3* division got under way this afternoon, a cold rain blew sideways. Nevertheless,...

Micheal Hughes, pictured aboard Zammetje, led the victory gallop in both the NAL Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Classic and the SJHOF High Junior/Amateur-Owner Classic Sunday in Tampa (Emily Riden) Tampa, FL - Michael Hughes sped to victory in the North American League (NAL) Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Classic, and he kept right on cruising. Hughes immediately followed up his NAL win Sunday with a blue ribbon in the Show Jumping Hall of Fame High (SJHOF) Junior/Amateur-Owner Classic under the lights of...

Despite not competing over the past two weeks ( since the last coaches poll was released ), and securing the No.1 seed in the SEC Championship next week, the Auburn Tigers lost the No.1 ranking to the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia was impressive in a win over Texas A&M on March 8, and apparently that was enough for voters. The Bulldogs aren’t No.1 by much, they were voted there by a trim one point margin, but they could have a chance to defend their ranking against Auburn in the finals of...

John Bragg and Cansas were the ones to beat this week in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix at HITS Thermal and pocketed a total score of 172 for the win (Flying Horse Photography) Thermal, CA - It was a hard fought contest for the ribbons in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix Friday, with 46 horse-and-rider combinations on course. At the end of the day, it was three top California riders in the first three slots, with John Bragg of Rancho Santa Fe and Cansas in first. Carleton Brooks of Pacific...

The 10-2 Auburn Tigers are now the No.1 ranked NCEA team in the country (Auburn Sophomore Danielle Long) As expected, the Auburn Tigers took over the No.1 ranking in the latest NCEA Coaches poll. Despite a loss to Texas A&M last Friday, the Tigers finished their season-ending road trip to Texas 2-1 and defeated the former No.1 Georgia Bulldogs the week before. Their 10-2 record is the most impressive in the NCEA, and they’ve been the most consistently good team all year. Georgia,...

Jessica Stitt and On the Hour. (Anne Gittins Photography) Wellington, FL - Jessica Stitt took home both champion and reserve champion prizes with her geldings On the Hour and Taken in the FarmVet Amateur/Owner 3'3" 18-35 division at the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). Competition for the division wrapped up on the last day of week one of the FTI WEF in the Equine Tack and Nutritionals Ring 6. On day one of competition for the division, Stitt and On the Hour placed first...

Temecula, CA - Michael Pollard, of Dalton, Ga., rode Schoensgreen Hanni to a narrow lead in the dressage phase of the CCI3* at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event. Scoring 46.4 penalties, Pollard just eclipsed Phillip Dutton on Atlas (47.0). Hawley Bennett-Awad stands a close third on Five O’Clock Somewhere (48.2) and McKenna Shea is fourth on Landioso (48.4). “I was happy. It was probably the best dressage test we’ve done at a CCI. [We] just had a little bobble in...

USEF Dressage Youth Coach Jeremy Steinberg with Rebecca Cohen at the training session. (Carol Cohen) Lexington, KY - The first of two USEF Elite Youth Dressage Training Sessions for 2012 wrapped up Sunday at Shannondale Farm in Alpharetta, Georgia. The two-day training session, made possible by a generous donation from Kristen McDonald and the Marquis George MacDonald Foundation, was led by USEF Dressage Youth Coach Jeremy Steinberg. The invitation-only session included eight of the top youth...

McClain Ward & Pjotter Van De Zonnehoeve (Curtis Wallis) New Albany, OH - The New Albany Classic Invitational Grand Prix & Family Day celebrated 15 years of support for the fight against family violence at the home of Abigail and Les Wexner in New Albany, Ohio today, attracting a crowd of 18,000 people to cheer on the participants in the Grand Prix competition. U.S. rider McClain Ward prevailed again aboard Pjotter Van De Zonnehoeve (PJ), whom he won the class on in 2011, as well. Ward...

Shane Sweetnam took the lead in the 2012 Hagyard Challenge Series during the $10,000 Hagyard Welcome Stake at the KHJA Horse Show. (Shawn McMillen Photography) Lexington, KY - It was a thrilling Welcome Stake for the final week of the Kentucky Summer Series, during the KHJA Horse Show. It was Shane Sweetnam who rode to the top of the standings for the 2012 Hagyard Challenge Series. Sweetnam's first place finish knocked Kaitlin Campbell into the second place position, with Reed Kessler...