Heather Mason of Tewksbury, NJ is off to a winning start at the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® (SusanJStickle.com) Lexington, Ky. - For the first time in almost 30 years, national titles for adult amateur and open dressage riders from Training Level to Grand Prix were presented Friday at the inaugural US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. A full day of intense competition extended into a festive evening as special celebrations were...

Waco, Tx. – The National Collegiate Equestrian Association on Friday announced its October Riders of the Month, recognizing outstanding performances from the second month of the 2013-14 collegiate equestrian season. South Carolina’s Katherine Schmidt was named the October Equitation Over Fences Rider of the Month. She posted a 4-0 record in equitation over fences in the month of October with two MVP honors. Three of her four wins and one of her two MVPs came in away meets. On Oct....

Frances Land and Vienne (Phelps Media Group, Inc.) Lexington, Ky. - The Chansonette Farm $15,000 Amateur-Owner Jumper class was the first jumper event of the day, where Frances Land of Alpharetta, GA, managed to best a five horse jump-off with Vieanne. Despite adding not one but two strides down the final line, the pair's quick pace and turns to the other obstacles proved uncatchable with a time of 35.428 seconds. The 19-year-old sophomore at Emory University commented, "For the jump-off I...

Candi Aversenti and The Veldt Queen (Jane Jacobs of Jacobs Photography) Lexington, Ky. - The Veldt Queen, owned and ridden by Candi Aversenti, claimed the victory in the Five-Gaited Amateur Stake on Wednesday evening as the American Saddlebred Division, presented by James & Misdee Miller and Elisabeth Goth & Richard Shadwick, got underway at the Alltech National Horse Show. A staple of the National Horse Show in its Madison Square Garden days, the American Saddlebred Division made its...

Stephanie Sedlacko and Jennifer Alfano rode to the first place finish in the American Saddlebred Hunter Challenge (Brooke Jacobs) Lexington, Ky. - It's not every day that you see riders compete over their first hunter course during a national championship, but when four world champion American Saddlebred trainers take the reins of a hunter and grand prix and professional hunter riders take the reins of an American Saddlebred, it makes for a night of fun and excitement. It was a...

Liz Halliday-Sharp with HHS Cooley (Galway Downs Press) Temecula, Calif. - Fifteen years have passed since Liz Halliday-Sharp rode in the inaugural Galway Downs International Three-Day Event, and now she plans to ride HHS Cooley in the CCI3* on Oct. 31-Nov. 3. The Presenting Sponsors of the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event are: Equine Insurance of California, Land Rover, Professional’s Choice, the California Horse Trader and the PRO Tour. Halliday-Sharp, now 34, grew up in...

TDF Board Member Joseph Carr and Fund Creator Janine Malone presenting the Patsy Albers Award to Kathleen Raine and Breanna (Susan J. Stickle) Lexington, Ky .– The Dressage Foundation is proud to announce that Kathleen Raine (CA) is the first recipient of the Patsy Albers Award, established in 2012 in special remembrance of Patsy. The $500 award provides financial support for continuing education and training to a High Performance rider. Kathleen Raine of Murrieta, CA, is a Grand Prix...

Meredith Darst and Soldier in their winning presentation. (Shawn McMillen Photography) Washington D.C. - The 2013 Hermès WIHS Equitation Finals concluded this evening with an exciting win for 16-year-old Meredith Darst of Lebanon, OH. Darst rode Elizabeth Gabler's Soldier, a seven-year-old Holsteiner gelding by Carolus II, through the first two phases of competition finishing with a score of 88.75 in the hunter phase and a 91 point total in the jumper phase. Returning for the final...

Shane Sweetnam and Solerina (Shawn McMillen Photography) Washington, D.C. - The $20,000 International Open Jumper Gambler’s Choice Costume Class is always an exciting event at WIHS, especially with Barn Night and thousands of young fans cheering on the riders. In tonight’s class, Irish rider Shane Sweetnam jumped to victory dressed as a keg of beer riding Sweet Oak Farm's Solerina. The duo earned 960 points over the course and jumped clean over the Joker fence for an additional...

Kent Farrington and Blue Angel (Shawn McMillen Photography) Washington, D.C. - The 2013 Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) continued on Thursday with the first day of classes for the Junior Hunters and several International Open Jumper and Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper classes at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The International Open Jumpers had two classes with a win for Kent Farrington (USA) and Robin Parksy's Blue Angel in the $33,000 International Open Jumper Welcome Stake. Top...