Steffen Peters and Ravel (Amy McCool) San Juan Capistrano, CA – Day one of the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions was highlighted by the afternoon performances of the 12 best horses in the country competing in the USEF Selection Trials for the 2008 Olympic Team in Dressage. Serving also as the National Grand Prix Dressage Championship, the class featured four Olympic veterans. San Diego rider and Olympic veteran Steffen Peters had plenty of fans on hand to watch him...

At the Wachovia Showplace Spring Spectacular II Horse Show, the $10,000 ASG Software Solutions/USJA International Hunter Derby presented by Dietrich Insurance featuring Walsh Harness & Saddlery was won by New Yorker Patricia Griffith on North Country, owned by Laura King-Kaplan. The class of more than forty entries produced flawless performance after flawless performance, but Griffin was the star of the day aboard North Country, an eight-year-old bay Warmblood. The course, designed by Skip...

Winner’s of the 2008 Markel Amateur Winter Dressage Championships presented by The Paddock Saddlery were notified this week. The Markel Amateur Winter Dressage Championships recognizes leading amateur’s accomplishments over the winter show season in South Florida. The 2008 awards ceremony will be a virtual presentation. Photographs of winners with their awards will be viewable on The Paddock Saddlery’s website, www.paddocksaddlery.com . The idea for an amateur championship was the brainchild of...

Prior to Sunday's $50,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix, HITS handed out its Spring Circuit Awards to the most accomplished equestrians who participated at HITS Saugerties this spring. The overall and reserve circuit champions in 68 divisions were awarded during a special Parade of Champions celebration in the grand prix ring at HITS-on-the-Hudson to cap off three exciting weeks of competition. It was a very successful spring for trainer Cynthia Williams of New England Farms, and it showed on Sunday...

Todd Minikus and his ride Ultimo Van Ter Moude cruised past the star-studded field of 38 starters to secure $7,500 in prize money in Thursday's $25,000 Ariat Grand Prix at HITS Saugerties. Course designer Doug Russell sliced the large first-round field to 12 for the jump-off, making it a very competitive race over fences. “I was happy to have 12 come back for the jump-off," said Russell. "To be honest with you, I thought we had the right 12 come back. None of them got scared and they all walked...

After his spectacular success at the 2007 Stallion Performance Test, where he earned the highest score in the history of U.S. testing, 164.86, Little Bit Farm’s homebred Rashka took some well-deserved time off. At his first show of 2008, Rashka remained true to his early promise by winning all seven of his classes at the May Dressage at Lamplight show, where he was high score of the show with an 80.4%, champion at T4, and reserve champion at First Level. With an additional T4 score of 75%, he...

Lexington, KY - The USEF/USEA Safety Summit took place on June 7-8, 2008, in downtown Lexington, KY. More than 250 people from all corners of the country and all levels of the sport of eventing showed up to listen, voice their concerns and work with fellow members of the eventing community to find solutions to the safety issues facing the sport. Attendees included spectators, coaches, riders from every level, officials, trainers, veterinarians, horse welfare advocates, media, medical...

The World Games 2010 Foundation announced that Conrad Homfeld and Richard Jeffery have been selected as course designers for show jumping at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG). The 2010 WEG will feature eight world championships in equestrian sport, and will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, September 25-October 10, 2010. As the course designers for show jumping, Homfeld and Jeffery will oversee all aspects of the courses, including the overall course layout, as...

Lexington, KY- The United States Equestrian Federation has approved the following drivers for the 2008 FEI World Championship for Drivers with Disabilities CPEAI 4*. The World Championship takes place from June 27-29 in Greven, Germany. Driver/Age/Hometown/Grade Meghan E. Benge/22/Windsor, SC/Grade II Mary L. Gray/59/Newton, NH/Grade II Diane Kastama/40/Arroyo Grande, CA/Grade I Diane Kastama won the Individual Gold medal at Mensport in Hellendoorn, The Netherlands, at the IPC World Carriage...

Last week at the Upperville Colt and Horse Show in Upperville, VA, Katherine Newman continued her winning ways with Almelo in the Paul & Eve Go As You Please Handy Hunter class. Two weeks prior, the pair scored a major win at the Devon Horse Show in the $10,000 ASG Software USHJA International Hunter Derby in Devon, PA. Seventeen-year-old Newman piloted Almelo for Mimi Abel-Smith, who shows the horse in the older amateur-owner hunters. Abel-Smith resides in Middleburg, VA. "We had to make up...