Meagan Davis and Bentley (SusanJStickle.com Photo) Gladstone, NJ – Bentley just couldn’t help but to create a little excitement, he had been on his best behavior since arriving at the USET Foundation Headquarters but there was an instant in the left half-pass of the Young Rider Individual Test that the overnight leader of the National Young Rider Dressage Championship at the 2010 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions had a moment of indiscretion. Meagan Davis (Stone Ridge, NY) rode...

Photo by Flashpoint Photography (Shakira do Jacare and owner Sarah Owen during the retirement ceremony.) Shakira do Jacare, the brilliant 14-year-old Brazilian-bred chestnut mare owned by Sarah Owen and Muny Sunk Stables officially retired from the sport of show jumping in an emotional ceremony during the 2010 Atlanta Summer Classics. Dubbed the “Queen of Speed” by her competitors, Shakira’s presence alone at many a grand prix was enough to rattle the nerves of most seasoned jumpers. However,...

Jodie Stowell and Comet, a 13-year-old Appaloosa/Thoroughbred-cross whom she raised from a two-year-old, took home the top honors at the Indiana Eventing Association (IEA) Training Three-Day Event, June 3-6. Finishing on their dressage score of 35.9, the two put in two flawless jumping phases to take home the blue and a bevy of prizes in the most recent event in the SmartPak Equine/United States Eventing Association's (USEA) Classic Series. The win at IEA was the second major milestone within...

The sun over Hansen Dam shone on a packed parking lot and a whole crowd of smiling faces for the fourth in the Verdugo Hills/Lake View show series May 15-16. The momentum has been building in these shows over the year, and last weekend’s large turnout made for a great weekend of competition. “The weather was perfect for this show weekend, and it was so nice to see so many trailers in the parking lot and a significant increase in the amount of entries,” said trainer Sandrine Seifert of D&D...

The second Gold Coast show of the season ran April 9-11 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, giving the chance for everyone from beginners to seasoned competitors a chance to compete and have some great fun and keen competition. Carolyn Biava of First Field Farm and her crew had a great show, garnering numerous ribbons and several championships to boot. However, perhaps her biggest success story for this show had nothing to do with ribbons. Biava’s student, Dale Winters, suffered a brain...

Beginning in 1995 as part of the Volvo World Cup Finals, the Festival of the Horse (March 30–April 2) has become one of the largest dressage shows in Southern California. Cornerstone Event Management strives to combine top competition with special activities surrounding the show. “The sponsors play a large part on the success of the Festival,” said Glenda McElroy, Festival manager. “We try to find a niche for all our sponsors; Markel Insurance, a longtime partner, sponsors the high-point...

Although the weather threatened to put a damper on the weekend, it held off just enough to allow the first Gold Coast show of the season (February 19-21), held at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, to be the fun event exhibitors knew it would be. There was a great mix of familiar faces and new ones to make the show a big success with a record number of entries. One group of new faces came from Hayden Show Jumping and Riding School of Laguna Hills, riding under the tutelage of Mickey Hayden and...

Mikala Munter Gundersen and Festivo Win Equilite Sponsored Class International dressage trainer and competitor Mikala Munter Gundersen was in the ribbons at the Wellington Classic Holiday Challenge, winning the USEF Third Level Test 3 with Christine DeHerrera’s Westphalian gelding Festivo. The class was sponsored by Equilite, makers of Sore No More, Herbal Blends and Botanical Animal Flower Essences, and Gundersen took home a giant tote filled with Equilite products. “Christine, who owns...

The Jumper Classic, New England's premieer high-performance show-jumping event held each September since 1989, welcomes a new show manager—Bridget Fleming. Fleming steps up to the position Margaret (Peggy) Lynch held for 19 years and brings an extensive background in events management, sales management, and hunter/jumper equestrian competition to her new position. She is a resident of Hampton Falls, NH, home to the Jumper Classic at Silver Oak Equestrian Center. "Bridget has been both an...

Lady Calido's first time was a charm as she and Robyn Fisher took home the big win in the mare's inaugural CIC*** this past weekend at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, CA. The CIC*** also served as the final event in the 2009 $10,000 Adequan/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Gold Cup Series, where top horses and riders across the country competed for cash, prizes, and leaderboard points. Needless to say, Fisher, 29, of Topanga, CA, was thrilled with "Callie's" performance. "She was...