A five-part series to learn more about the exciting new discipline of Western Dressage Part 1: What is Western Dressage? When most equestrians think of "dressage", they envision the graceful harmony of beautiful horses with riders clad in top hats and tails, dancing together through musical freestyles in an Olympic stadium. But now, an increasing number of competitors entering dressage arenas will be wearing Western hats and boots with their horses outfitted in stock saddles. What's going...

Lillie Keenan piloted Clearway to the 2013 ASPCA Alfred B. Maclay Finals Championship at the Alltech National Horse Show (Shawn McMillan Photography) Lexington, Ky. - In many ways, it came as no surprise when the champion of the 2013 ASPCA Alfred B. Maclay National Finals was announced as Lillie Keenan of New York, NY. The young phenom has been at the top of the sport since she was a pony rider, and this has been an exceptional year for her career. It began with the 2013 North American Junior...

Becky Gochman and Sambalino (Shawn McMillen Photography, www.shawnmcmillen.com) Washington D.C. - The Amateur-Owner Hunter divisions concluded their second day of competition on Wednesday and awarded championship honors as well. The Grand Amateur-Owner Hunter 3’6” championship was awarded to Becky Gochman of New York, NY, riding David Gochman's Sambalino. The pair earned the Frank Counselman Memorial Perpetual Trophy donated by Friends of Frank Counselman. Gochman was also...

Elkton, Md. - The Dutta Corp Fair Hill International came to an exciting conclusion on Sunday with two and three star competitors navigating Sally Ike’s scopey show jumping tracks. At the end of The Dutta Corp/USEF Three-Star Eventing National Championship, Jan Byyny and Inmidair proved to be deserving and popular winners as they claimed their first National Title. While in the morning session Allie Blyskal-Sacksen and Sparrow’s Nio held their nerve to rise one place and claim the...

Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville (Jenni Autry) Unionville, PA - The sixth annual Plantation Field International Horse Trials weekend concluded Sunday with an exciting finish in the CIC3*, as Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville smoked the course to finish double clear and 13 seconds inside the time. Halpin led wire to wire all weekend, and she won the event on a very impressive dressage score of just 37.8. While Halpin said Saturday she didn't intend to go for time Sunday and...

John Pearce and Chianto jump to a win in the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, making it two in a row for Pearce at HITS Saugerties this week (ESI Photography) Saugerties, NY – On the heels of a win in Friday’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix with Son of a Gun, John Pearce of Bermuda Dunes, California jumped his way to another blue on Sunday in the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented, by Zoetis, this time aboard Forest View Farm’s Chianto. Celebration, however, soon...

John Pearce and Son of Gun jumping their way to a win in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis (©ESI Photography) Saugerties, NY - With hopes of million-dollar success, John Pearce of Bermuda Dunes, California made his way east this week and piloted Forest View Farm’s Son of a Gun to the top of the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Saugerties on Friday. Pearce is one of several West Coast riders who are in Saugerties preparing for next...

Lillie Keenan rode Levistano 2 to victory in the Sam Edelman Equitation Championship, presented by The Chronicle of the Horse, at the Hampton Classic. (Shawn McMillen photo) Bridgehampton, NY - Lillie Keenan won the two-round Sam Edelman Equitation Championship, presented by The Chronicle of the Horse, at the Hampton Classic, scoring 175.5 points. Charlotte Jacobs finished second (171), and McKayla Langmeier finished third (170). Keenan, 16, was disappointed in her first-round performance,...

Bridgehampton, NY - Lillie Keenan rode her Londinium to a narrow victory in the $20,000 Hampton Classic Time Challenge at the 38th Annual Hampton Classic Horse Show. Her time of 57.08 seconds barely eclipsed the time of Todd Minikus on Tuxedo, who stopped the clock in 57.51 seconds. Shane Sweetnam rode Cyklon 1083 to third place in 58.47 seconds. Keenan, 16, New York, N.Y., said she'd watched Minikus go on Tuxedo, and she knew that replicating his performance would be the key. Minikus went...

Jared Petersen and Titus 2:11 on their way to a win in the $40,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Culpeper (ESI Photography) Culpeper, VA - Twenty-one-year-old Jared Petersen of Archer, Florida and fellow Legacy Farm rider Jordan Coyne of New Port Richey, Florida went one-two in Sunday’s $40,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Culpeper, posting the only double clear rounds of the day. In a field that included grand prix veterans such as Laura Linback, Tracy...