Lisa Wilcox and Pikko Del Cerro HU (Susan J. Stickle) Wellington, FL - Lisa Wilcox and Pikko Del Cerro HU scored double wins at the Wellington Classic Dressage Sunshine Challenge CDI3* with victories Friday in the Grand Prix Special and Thursday in the Grand Prix. Pikko Del Cerro HU, a 16.2 dark bay Hanoverian stallion owned by Horses Unlimited and Anne Sparks, scored 68.854% in Friday's FEI Grand Prix Special CDI3* USEF HP $1,000 sponsored by Palm Beach Equine and Sports Complex. The pair...

Katie Monahan-Prudent and V. (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Renowned show jumper Katie Monahan-Prudent guided Michael Smith's V to victory in Thursday's $33,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 3 during the third week of competition at the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). Competing in the International Arena at the beautiful Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC), the seasoned veteran topped young U.S. competitors Kristen Vanderveen (23) aboard...

Patrik Kittel and Watermill Scandic Wellington, FL - Patrik Kittel and Watermill Scandic added a brilliant victory in today's Gold Coast Opener Grand Prix Freestyle CDI-W to their win in Friday's Grand Prix CDI-W, both at Jim Brandon Equestrian Center. The pair of strong showings establishes them as top contenders in the World Dressage Masters (WDM) CDI5* Palm Beach at Jim Brandon, which will take place January 24-26. WDM will be far from a walkover, however. Kittel and Watermill...

Conor Swail and Carlotta Singular (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - The second week of competition at the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) kicked off on Wednesday, January 16, with a win for Conor Swail (IRL) and Carlotta Singular in the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m Jumpers at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. The second week of FTI WEF competition, sponsored by Wellington Equestrian Realty , will run January 16-20. Highlight events include the $33,000 Ruby et...

The winning women's team (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Over 3,500 fans packed the stands at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) on the opening Saturday night to watch the women beat the men for the fifth year in a row in the $55,000 Nespresso Battle of the Sexes at the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) in Wellington. It was the closest race yet in the three-phase competition between the male and female teams, but the ladies pulled out another victory in the...

Shane Sweetnam and Solerina. (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - The 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) hosted its opening day of competition on Wednesday, January 9, at the beautiful Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL, with big wins for Ireland's Shane Sweetnam. Sweetnam kicked things off with a bang in back to back victories in the first two classes of the circuit in the International Arena. Sweetnam won the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class...

Happy Holidays! Tis the season and all my best to everyone. This time of year we are especially grateful for all the perfections we find our lives are blessed with. Wishing all of you the very best of holiday seasons. Thank you for reading and supporting the development of western dressage. It was a very exciting time for representatives from North American Western Dressage to attend the USDF Annual Convention in New Orleans December 5-8. President Jen Johnson and Board member Jennifer Collman...

The Dressage Foundation announced Tuesday that a new fund has been established in special remembrance of Patsy Albers. The Patsy Albers Award Fund will provide one annual Award to the highest placing dressage rider at the United States Equestrian Federation’s High Performance Championships who was also a rider competing for the U.S. at a North American Junior/Young Rider Championship. The Award will provide financial support for continuing education and training. “Patsy was a Region...

The twenty fourth in a series of blog posts from Michelle Binder North American Western Dressage receives all kinds of questions at the website and on our FaceBook page. Last week Jen Johnson shared the following in a post and it generated a huge amount of material for consideration. She posted: “I received an email last night from a **** judge who had the following concerns about Western Dressage..... “The problem is that the western horse is going to have to be much quicker in...

Courtney King-Dye at the FEI Awards 2012 (Photo courtesy FEI Fédération Equestre Internationale) Istanbul, TUR - The equestrian world celebrated its heroes last night at a glittering gala evening in Istanbul, Turkey. HRH Princess Haya, President of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the world governing body of horse sport, congratulated the winners of the FEI Awards 2012. Addressing an audience of more than 300 guests, including representatives of the FEI's 132...