U.S. Three-Gaited Team Wins Gold (2010 Saddle Seat World Cup) Shelbyville, KY - The U.S. Saddle Seat Equitation World Cup teams turned in gutsy performances to earn Gold in the Three-Gaited World Cup and Silver in the Five-Gaited World Cup events. The event was held October 6-8, 2010 at the historic Shelby County Fairgrounds in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Both the three- and five-gaited U.S. teams headed to the competition looking to win back the coveted gold medals and World Cups. Three-gaited Team...

Rachel Perry and Major Fun, Champions, with HITS Acct. Exex. Lisa Engel (Photo by © ESI Photography) CULPEPER, VA (October 8, 2010) -- HITS Culpeper proudly recognized its 2010 SmartPak Circuit Champions. The HITS Culpeper show season began in April and featured six weeks of competition that culminated on Sunday, October 3, offering riders ample opportunities to accumulate points toward the coveted SmartPak Circuit Champion title. Prior to the $40,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal...

U.S. Vaulting Team Wins Gold (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF) Lexington, KY - After years of preparation, what began as a dream finally turned into reality. The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games took place here in Lexington, KY - the first time they had ever been held outside of Europe. But now, what was a reality has turned into a memory as the Games concluded today as the final medals were presented. The U.S. Team started on a high note, taking home the first Team Gold medal of the...

Mary McCormick, earlier in the week (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF) Lexington, KY - The Alltech Arena was a sell-out house with old and new fans of the equestrian sport of vaulting as the men's and women's freestyle final was contested at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games on Saturday, October 9. The crowd was treated to the world's best vaulters who put on a fantastic show for a vocal and appreciative audience. The top 15 from each division were invited back to compete for a...

Jonathan Wentz, earlier in the week (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF) Lexington, KY - The second day of freestyle competition for the FEI World Para Dressage Championships got underway early this morning with the Grade II and Grade Ib riders. Like in yesterday's competition, the riders all came to win and rode their hearts out to try to claim one of the coveted medals from the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Only two riders from the Kentucky Equine Research U.S. Para-Equestrian Dressage...

Laura Goldman and Carlingford JD (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF) Lexington, KY - It was a chilly morning at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, but the sun quickly warmed the air as the Grade III and Grade Ia Para-Equestrian athletes were ready to wow the crowds with their individual freestyle tests. This was the first group of freestyle tests for the Para-Dressage riders, with the individual and team tests having been performed earlier in the week. The Grade III riders were the first...

Laura Goldman and Carlingford JD. (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF.) Lexington, KY - The Kentucky Equine Research U.S. Para-Equestrian Dressage Team was on a mission today as four riders contested the Grade Ia and II Individual Championship Tests at the FEI World Para Dressage Championships. The scores for Jonathan Wentz and Laura Goldman proved to be doubly valuable as they not only determined their placings in the Individual Championship Test but also decided standings in the Team...

I have begun my crash course in combined driving and I must say I’m enjoying it more than I anticipated. So far we have had the carriage presentation and one session of dressage and I’m finding all the technicalities and attention to detail rather interesting. Fun fact: it takes an average of 10 hours to prepare a carriage and harness for presentation. 10 hours! No more complaining about the 10 minute take cleaning job you do once a week. It’s going to be a very intense competition with the...

This has been a tough and maybe even heartbreaking WEG for Team USA in many disciplines. I think some are wondering if we perform better when we're not on home turf. The reining team was victorious (as they have been since reining’s debut at WEG in 2002). We didn’t have enough endurance riders finish (due to one thing or another—all normal occurrences in endurance) to have a team standing, the dressage team finished fourth, just out of the medals, as did the eventing team....

Upper Marlboro, MD —Oct. 6, 2010 – John French and Small Affair made a big impression at the Capital Challenge Horse Show. With breathtaking efforts during the two-round $15,000 WCHR Professional Challenge, the bay French-bred gelding soared to victory with a score of 182.99 for owners Iwasaki & Reilly. Although French has contested the class on many previous occasions—and placed second in 2009—this was the first time he claimed the WCHR Professional Challenge and the Little Book Trophy,...