Nayel Nassar and Lordan jump to a win in the $33,500 FEI HITS Desert Classic, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Thermal (Flying Horse Photography) Thermal, Calif. - It all came down to the gallop in the $33,500 FEI HITS Desert Classic, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Thermal on Thursday. With only two horses in the jump-off, Nayel Nassar put the speed of his nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding Lordan to the test and bested Bliss Heers by fractions of a second. Nassar of Santa Clara, California represents...

Shane Sweetnam and Cyklon 1083 (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - The 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) began its seventh week of competition on Wednesday with a win for Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and Cyklon 1083 in the $34,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.45m at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL. Sponsored by Adequan®, FTI WEF week seven runs February 19-23, 2014. The week will feature the $125,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 7 on...

Part 2 in a five-part series about the exciting new discipline of western dressage More and more western riders are thinking about trying the exciting new discipline of western dressage. While the progressive training principles of dressage can be a benefit to any horse's development, riders will discover that trotting down the centerline of a dressage arena is a very different experience than they may be used to for a western pleasure or reining show. The first and most obvious difference...

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...

Lexington, Ky. - To reach the highest level of excellence in equestrian sport requires talent, perseverance, a tremendous spirit and often, unwavering courage. In 2013, six horses have shown the world these qualities and more. On January 11, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will bestow two of them with the prestigious title of Horse of the Year, the highest honor the USEF awards a horse. Again this year, both a national and international horse will be crowned. The six champions...

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...

Welcome to the fourth installment of a different kind of blog from WDAA! The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or...

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...