Nikko Ritter rode Clover Count to victory at the Platinum Performance/USEF Talent Search Finals East (Jennifer Wenzel) Gladstone, NJ - Take some flatwork, add some gymnastic jumping exercises, send all the riders over a carefully designed course, then have the top four riders switch horses and over the course of two days, a very prestigious title is handed out. Welcome to the Platinum Performance//USEF Talent Search Final. Fortunately, in sharp contrast to its West Coast counterpart, the...

(Lexington, KY) - A timely response is needed from members of the horse industry to their Congressional Delegation since the House of Representative is scheduled to vote on the 2008 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Appropriations bill (H.R. 3161), which would fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture for Fiscal Year 2008, early next week. Section 738 of that bill would be devastating because it would cut-off funding for USDA activities important to the horse industry....

Diana DeRosa (Lauren Hough and Casadora lead the American effort after Day One of show jumping.) Rio de Janeiro—Some 47 Pan American Games show jumpers entered the arena at Deodoro Stadium outside of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday morning to begin the first of two days of team competition. Leading the way for Team USA was rider Lauren Hough aboard Casadora. The last of the four to go was Todd Minikus and Pavarotti. Team USA ended the day in a surprising overall fourth place after the...

Diana DeRosa (Christopher Hickey and Regent in Rio de Janeiro) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—When most people think of Rio, sunshine comes quickly to mind. However, that was not the case today at Deodoro Stadium and the National Equestrian Center outside of the city. Clouds, the threat of rain showers and cooler temperatures loomed, but it was a rather bright day for the hopes of the American dressage riders as all three of them competed in the first of two rounds that will determine the...

Team USA does it again by bringing home the Team Gold medal in reining. Pictured are: Dell Hendricks, Tim McQuay, Aaron Rahlston and Matt Mills. (By Ceci Flanagan-Snow) More than 38,000 fans of reining and driving descended on the 2006 World Equestrian Games on Friday to watch the exciting marathon phase of four-in-hand driving and the Team medal competition in the Western discipline of reining. It was a Gold-medal day for Team USA’s reiners, while three American drivers took to the...

Bob Langrish (Steffen Peters aboard Floriano finished in fourth place in the grand prix special during Friday's dressage competition in Aachen.) (Aachen, Germany)—To say it was tough competition today in the dressage grand prix special at the 2006 World Equestrian Games (WEG) would be a gross understatement. But two Americans made it look like a walk in the park. American’s Guenter Seidel and Steffen Peters, who are now both poised to enter a showdown among the top 15 dressage...

Lexington, KY – After the excitement of being in the Bronze Medal position after the dressage phase in the three-phased 2005 FEI World Driving Championship Pairs in Wals-Siezenheim, Austria, fate turned the other way for a moment, leaving the U.S. Driving Team to finish seventh out of 18 teams competing. Combining penalty scores from the dressage, cones and marathon phases, Austria’s home team was destined to win, with a final score of 248.58. “We put on a really good...

USEF Archive (Devon Maitozo, 2005 Men’s National Champion) Denver, CO – In a crowd-capturing performance, vaulting’s revered Devon Maitozo, of Simi Valley, California, once again claimed the right to the golden title, as Men’s National Champion, at the 2005 USEF/AVA National Vaulting Championships in Denver, Colorado, August 11-14. Vaulting atop Mozart, a Warmblood gelding, longed by Carolyn Bland and owned by FACE Vaulters, Maitozo performed his technical test to John...

Lexington, KY – When the world’s most talented show jumpers converge on Las Vegas, April 20-24, Nicole Simpson, of Thousand Oaks, California, will be among them. Following her third-place performance on El Campeon’s So Long at the $75,000 Ultimate Equine Grand Prix in Indio, California, February 27, Simpson’s ticket to the Entertainment Capital of the World has essentially been purchased. Leading a group of more than 30 equestrian hopefuls in the West Coast League,...

Event: HITS Arizona Winter Horse Show Circuit What: Six-week hunter/jumper horse show circuit produced by Horse Shows In The Sun, Inc. Where: Pima County Fairgrounds, Tucson, AZ When: Wednesday through Sunday, 2005 show dates are: February 2-6 - Sundance Welcome February 9-13 - Kachina Classic February 16-20 - Tucson Winter Classic February 23-27 - Sahuaro Classic March 2-6 - Arizona Winter Festival March 9-13 - Arizona Desert Finals In Brief: The six-week Arizona Winter Circuit has been a...