Owens & Messick (Shawn McMillen Photography) Lexington, Ky. - Amateur rider Kyle Owens picked a good day to break into the 90s for the first time in his riding career. And, his excellent timing and performance aboard Messick paid impressive dividends, as he tied professional John Barker with Carlotta for the blue ribbon in the Second Round of the USHJA Pre-Green Incentive Championship, August 12-14 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. "This was so exciting. I'd never even gotten a...

Lexington, Ky . – A week of competition at the 2014 US Pony Finals came to a close Sunday with the most coveted award of the championship. The Marshall & Sterling/US Pony Medal Finals took place in the Alltech Arena with 159 riders vying for top honors in front of judges Karen Healey and Stacia Madden. After riding Finders-Keepers to the Regular Medium Hunter Pony Championship title the day before, Taylor St. Jacques earned a Championship title of her own on Sunday. Taylor St....

Julie Welles and Twan won the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix on August 9 (David Mullinix Photography) East Dorset, Vt. - Julie Welles of Wellington, FL, and Twan triumphed in the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix on August 9 during the final week of the Vermont Summer Festival horse show in East Dorset, Vt. The six-week equestrian competition runs July 2 through August 10 at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, Vt. A total of 10 entries found their way to a clear round...

Lexington, Ky. – Another day of competition at the US Hunter Pony Championship presented by Sallee Horse Vans saw two more championship titles decided on Friday. Madeline Schaefer and Leon collected Medium Green Hunter Pony honors, while Kirklen Petersen and For the Best were named the Large Green Hunter Pony Champions. Both championship divisions completed the Over Fences phase on Friday, earning the final 50% for their overall score, after receiving 25% from both the Model and Under...

Sophia Calamari and Smitten (Shawn McMillen Photography) Lexington, Ky. - Sophia Calamari (New Milford, Pa.) won the Small Green Hunter Pony Championship Wednesday at the US Hunter Pony Championship presented by Sallee Horse Vans with her own Smitten, completing the competition with a phenomenal overall score of 1011.50. She and the six-year-old Welsh pony cross-bred gelding garnered second place in the Over Fences phase with a score of 249.75, while on Tuesday they earned 260.00 in the Model...

Lexington, Ky. - The first championship titles of the US Hunter Pony Championship presented by Sallee Horse Vans were claimed Wednesday as the Large Regular Hunter Ponies and the Small Green Hunter Ponies completed their final phases of competition in the 2014 US Pony Finals. Devin Seek and Hudson claimed the Large Regular Hunter Pony Championship title and Sophia Calamari and Smitten took home the Small Green Hunter Pony Championship title. National titles are determined in the US Hunter Pony...

Kevin Babington jumps to his second grand prix win at HITS Saugerties VI (ESI Photography) Saugerties, N.Y. - Kevin Babington and Shorapur were on the brink of their second grand prix win in a row at HITS Saugerties as they approached the fifth fence of Sunday’s jump-off. They were on track to best 15 contenders when Babington’s martingale got caught on his rein. “Once I got my tack sorted out we had already added three strides,” said Babington. “I knew her...

This article was originally published at www.useventing.com . Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch take the top prize for the second year in a row (Brant Gamma photo). Laine Ashker downplayed her chances of a winning the Advanced at Millbrook Horse Trials for the second year in a row all weekend, but she and Anthony Patch remained cool under pressure and rode a beautiful show jump round to defend her title in the Adequan USEA Gold Cup/PRO Tour Series. With less then two points separating Ashker from...

Isabel Coleman and Pistol (Rebecca Walton/Phelps Media Group) Lexington, Ky. - The Kentucky Summer Classic concluded with another day of perfect weather as riders gathered at the Rolex Stadium for the NAL/WIHS Adult and Children's Jumper Classics, sponsored by Johnson Horse Transportation. Isabel Coleman proved that age is just a number when she sped to victory in the Children's Jumper Classic aboard 22-year-old Pistol, and Sydney Crenshaw had the fastest jump-off of the day with Camera...

Sofia Roberts and Brownland's Mr. Mack (Emily Riden/Phelps Media Group) Lexington, Ky. - The Kentucky Summer Horse Shows have seen large numbers of entries all summer, but this weekend those numbers skyrocketed in the pony divisions. The 2014 US Pony Finals competition kicks off at the Kentucky Horse Park in just two days, and hundreds of ponies and young riders took advantage of the opportunity to prepare for the prestigious Pony Finals at the Kentucky Summer Classic. Among them were two Pony...