Reprinted with permission from Cowboy Dressage Newsletter: August 2-4, 2013 “Build It and They Will Come” “Cowboy Dressage Competition debuted at Rancho Murieta Gold N Grand Horse Show Aug 2-4. Gold N Grand is known on the west coast for being the premier open horse show at one of the west’s top equine facilities. A record number of 183 entries for one discipline made history. It was Cowboy Dressage. This does not happen by accident. It happens because of hard work, a...

Crisp and Hunt Tosh (Shawn McMillen Photography) Lexington, KY - Owner Douglas Wheeler said what may have been on many people's minds at the conclusion of the inaugural $157,990 Pre-Green Incentive Championship, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. "Hunt's instincts as a horseman and a rider are fantastic. He's very patient with the young ones, and his riding talent is second to none," said Wheeler. And on August 15 that statement was particularly true as Tosh rode the Wheeler...

Ali Wolff and Artemis (Mary Adelaide Brakenridge for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International) Lexington, KY - Ali Wolff and Artemis led from start to finish to claim the title in today's $5,000 1.40m Open Jumpers at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. They completed a speedy jump-off round as the first to go and maintained their position to claim first place. In the 1.35m Open Jumpers, Allen Nabors and Muchacha De Uno similarly laid down a good time early on, but Juan Ortiz and Apple edged...

Hunt Tosh and Casanova (Phelps Media Group, Inc. International) Lexington, KY - The USHJA Pre-Green Incentive Program is in its inaugural year, and based on the huge horse and rider turnout, large spectator draw and beautiful hunter rounds today at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show, it is already an overwhelming success. Thus far, it has also proved to be particularly successful for Hunt Tosh. The USHJA Pre-Green Incentive Program Championship opened with two rounds of competition today at the...

Jennifer Alfano and Candid (Phelps Media Group, Inc. International) Lexington, KY - The eyes of the hunter world are glued on the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show this week as the country's top horses and riders converge for the USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship Finals and the inaugural USHJA Pre-Green Incentive Program Championship. Today riders utilized the first day of the World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) week show, running now through Sunday, August 18, to prepare for the...

Emily Short and Grande Finale 3E (David Mullinix Photography) East Dorset, VT - Twenty-year-old Emily Short of Cheswick, PA, and the aptly named Grande Finale 3E won the grand finale of the 2013 Vermont Summer Festival, the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix, presented by Hand Motors, on Saturday, August 10, in East Dorset, VT. A starting field of 28 entries lined out for the final grand prix of the Vermont Summer Festival’s six-week circuit with 11 advancing to the jump-off...

Ashlee Bond and Chela L-S (McCool) Huntington Beach, CA - The fourth event in the $260,000 GGT Grand Prix Series drew a great crowd, and the riders did not disappoint with 4 clear rounds moving into the jump off. Ashlee Bond and Chela L-S took the win with a fast double clear, capturing the blue ribbon and moving into third in the current GGT Series standings. "Chela L-S is a hot, but careful horse and it's so fun to gallup around with her and let her take the fences as they come. It was a...

Saturday’s Big Tour competition had a very convincing winner with the USA’s Nicholas Dello Joio and his 11-­-year-­-old Zangersheide gelding Carlos VHPZ (by Chelanno x Voltaire). He clocked the fastest time as 13th rider and none of the remaining 30 competitors on the startinglist could better that time. It must be in his genes. His father Norman Dello Joio has had an impressive jumping career. Highlight without doubt were the World Cup title in 1983 (Vienna, Austria) with...

Valkenswaard, Germany - CSI Valkenswaard has been kind to U.S. riders over the last two days. Eight classes have seen Americans atop the leaderboard and they've been near the top in others. Below is a quick breakdown of CSI2* and CSI1* classes with links to full results. CSI1* Friday Alexandra Crown started things well for the U.S contingent with a win in the Special Invitational against the clock. She and her own Quadrant finished first, Alexandra Cherubini and Lovelite LLC's Equifit...

Dublin, Ireland - Coming off of their third place team performance at in the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Friday at the Dublin Horse Show, five U.S. horses and riders competed in the JLT Dublin Stakes, a 1.50m Table A with jump-off. Three of them, Kent Farrington, McLain Ward, and Beezie Madden were clear through round one and returned for the jump-off. Of the three, Kent Farrington (Wellington, FL) was the only one to keep all the rails up through both rounds, and he did so in magnificent fashion...