Show season is rolling all over the country. Let the games begin indeed! Western Dressage tests are being ridden in competitive venues all over, especially in the more temperate areas of the nation. Not the northeast! Riders are already sending test sheets in to the “NAWD Trax” year end award program. IPHDA has already completed 2 cycles of virtual shows with entries due for the March V show on Monday April 1st. USEF Morgan tests have been ridden in the first dressage schooling show...

David Marcus and Don Kontes Loxahatchee, FL - The International Horse Sport (IHS) Champions Cup CDI-W hit the ground running both literally and figuratively with all the horses passing the FEI jog on the beautiful International Horse Sport Showgrounds in Loxahatchee, FL. The horses and competitors settled into the comfortable surroundings featuring plenty of green spaces and a convivial atmosphere on the historic grounds that also play host to the Palm Beach Dressage Derby. Competitors chatted...

Marshall and Amanda Lyerly (Anne Gittins Photography) Wellington, FL - Third time was a charm for Marshall and Amanda Lyerly in the Gold Coast Baby Green Hunter division at the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). Week eleven marks the third time the pair has competed together and their first time earning championship honors for the division. Lyerly piloted Marshall to first place under saddle and consistently strong over fences rounds, jumping to third, first, and two second...

Ocala, FL - A small but mighty field lines up to contest the 2013 USEF National Pairs Championship at the Live Oak International March 21-24. Competition gets underway Thursday with the driven dressage and continues Saturday as competitors navigate the exciting marathon. On Sunday, drivers return to the John Deere Arena for the final cones phase. Misdee Wrigley-Miller (Lakewood Ranch, FL) will be eyeing her first USEF National Pairs Championship, having claimed Reserve Championship Misdee...

Last week I gave you some wonderful numbers that show the tremendous growth we have seen in Western Dressage over the last year. Almost 200 shows and events are already scheduled for 2013… 200! All those events are the brainchildren of people who want to help develop WD in their area. Most riders start by going to audit or participate in a clinic first or by becoming familiar with different philosophies and approaches to western dressage via the FaceBook pages or investigating the...

Eiken Sato and Espyrante (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Japan's Eiken Sato and Espyrante jumped to victory in the $82,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix CSI 3* on Saturday night during another exciting evening of international competition for week ten at the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). In a jump-off of seven nations, Sato beat out riders from Great Britain, Ireland, Venezuela, Germany, Greece and the United States for his first big win at the Pam Beach International...

Kim Herslow and Rosmarin (SusanJStickle.com) Wellington, FL - Earlier in the day, the FEI Prix St. Georges was held with victory going to Kim Herslow of New Jersey on Rosmarin. They scored a 73.728%; second place went to Caroline Roffman (USA) and Her Highness O with a score of 71.404%. Canada's Christilot Boylen and Dio Mio placed third with a score of 70.614%. The judges for the Prix St. Georges were Sandy Phillips at H, Anne Gribbons at C, and Ulrike Nivelle at B. Herslow found Rosmarin,...

Whitecap and Mary-Katherine Shaughnessy (Photography) Wellington, FL - Mary-Katherine Shaughnessy and her sixteen-year-old Trakehner gelding, Whitecap, jumped to tricolor honors in the Camping World Adult Amateur Hunter 51+ Division during week ten of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). With the points widely spread across the division, Whitecap and Shaughnessy emerged as champions after consistent over fences performances. The pair was second and eighth over fences on day...

Thermal, CA - The fine tuning of an official rider’s list for the AIG Thermal $1 Million Grand Prix, presented by Lamborghini Newport Beach, was completed during last night’s rider meeting at HITS Desert Horse Park. With the touch-down of the East Coast manger’s picks in California, the final order of go was drawn and revealed that Candice King of Wellington, Florida will clip the hypothetical ribbon of the first-ever West Coast $1 million grand prix aboard Campbell VDL.....

Jessica Springsteen and Vindicat W (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Twenty-one-year-old Jessica Springsteen of Colts Neck, NJ, guided Stone Hill Farm's Vindicat W to the winning round in Sunday's $82,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic to conclude week nine of the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF), sponsored by The Bainbridge Companies. Showing on a beautiful afternoon at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL, Springsteen...