Photo by Flying Horse Photography (Martel and Jenny Karazissis.) The hunters were stellar on a surprisingly cool Saturday in San Juan Capistrano. Forty-one competitors galloped around the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby course with 14 returning for the Handy Round. Jenny Karazissis piloted Martel (Star Lane Farms, owner) with poise, winning both rounds for the top prize. The first round included 11 efforts, with four 4’ options. The course flowed smoothly, not too many trouble spots,...

Tucker Johnson at the Royal Windsor Horse Show (RWHS/Peter Nixon Photo) Dressage In Germany at the CDI3* Hamburg, US riders Catherine Haddad and Susie Dutta put in very respectable performances in the Grand Prix. Finishing with a solid score in the Grand Prix on Friday, Dutta and Currency DC executed a beautiful test in the Grand Prix Special to finish in second with a score of 68.667%. Haddad, with 10-year-old Hanoverian Winyamaro, her newest Grand Prix partner, were second in the Freestyle...

The Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix has been the talk of the town this winter as the excitement amongst the world's top riders is on the rise in anticipation of qualifying for this unprecedented event. Over the course of the HITS Winter Circuits, 159 top Grand Prix riders took advantage of 35 HITS Pfizer Million Qualifiers as they vied for $1.5 million in prize money and one of 40 coveted slots on the Pfizer Million Eligible Rider Rankings List. The Winter Circuits in Thermal and Ocala produced 45...

Sappire Wins Again for McLain Ward (Shannon Brinkman/ USEF Archives) Wellington, FL - March 27, 2010 - Tonight's $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix, CSI 5* drew the largest crowd in the history of equestrian sport in Wellington. More than 9,000 spectators came to see who would win one of the biggest show jumping purses in North America. Sapphire, ridden by McLain Ward (USA) and owned by Ward and Blue Chip Bloodstock, came home with the win and repeated their victory from last year over...

Richard Spooner and Cristallo (Randi Muster/Mustphoto.com ) Wellington, FL – More than halfway home in the USEF Selection Trials for the US Show Jumping Team for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and clear rounds are at a premium. McLain Ward and Rothchild won the Third Selection Trial presented by Fidelity Investments with the fastest time, but Richard Spooner found himself on top of the Selection Trials standings after a masterful round in blustery conditions with Cristallo....

Photo by Flying Horse Photography (McLain Ward and Phillipa) Two-time Olympic Gold medal winner McLain Ward raised the roof during the $50,000 Strongid® C 2X CSI-W Grand Prix when he rode Sagamore Farm's Phillipa to the triumph before an enthusiastic crowd that filled the indoor arena at the HITS Desert Horse Park in Thermal, CA. Ward traveled from Brewster, NY, to get a jump start on qualifying for the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix that will take place at HITS-on-the-Hudson, in Saugerties, NY,...

Denise Wilson and Elenor (Photo by Flashpoint Photography ) The opening week of the 2010 Jacksonville Winter Series kicked off with a warm welcome to competitors, especially Denise Wilson of Dousman, WI, and her brilliant mare For Elenor who won Saturday evening’s Naders $10,000 Jumper Classic. Wilson and the nine-year-old flashy Hanoverian chestnut For Elenor are no strangers to winning, with more than a dozen top five placings in 2009, including the victory lap of the $20,000 Showplace...

Faye Wuesthofen aboard Kiss of the Zodiac (Photo by Howard Schatzberg) In what many are describing as a historic event, the United States Equestrian Federation’s (USEF) Saddle Seat Medal Final came down to a workout of the top two riders—Faye Wuesthofen and Ellen Medley Wright—on exchanged horses. Add to that the fact the top two riders shared the same trainer, DeLovely’s Lillian Shively, and it was one for the record books. The arena erupted with excitement and...

Clare Balding, one of the world’s most respected sports broadcasters, will present the new FEI Awards in Copenhagen on November 19. Balding, 38, has been part of the BBC’s presenting team at the past three Olympics and Paralympics, as well as fronting all its live racing coverage. A former champion amateur jockey herself, Balding also evented and show jumped in her youth and has a wide experience and knowledge of equestrian sport. She headed up the BBC’s coverage of this...

Twenty-nine of the most promising young stars of the eventing community competed in the 2009 East Coast Irish Draught Horse Society of North America (IDHSNA)/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Future Event Horse (FEH) Finals in Lexington, VA, at the Virginia Horse Center. Held in conjunction with the popular Virginia Horse Trials, the classes for yearlings, two-, and three-year-old young horses were quite competitive as an array of well-bred horses were presented to judges Carter Bass...