Thermal, Calif. – Grace Belmont (Watsonville, Calif.), closing out the final two weeks of her junior career, entered the 2021 USEF/NCEA Junior Hunt Seat Medal Final on a whim with her mount Quirin, and surprised herself with an impressive two round score of 174. The duo took the win over 27 other entries and finish out their junior equitation career with one final win. Belmont and her own Quirin, a 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding, have been partnered for several years and originally...

Daniel Clasing and Olney Uncle Sam. ©Leslie Potter/US Equestrian Elkton, Md. – The final 25 combinations completed their dressage tests on Friday morning at the 2021 USEF CCI3*-L Eventing National Championship, and the top three from Thursday held their ground on the leaderboard with Kurt Martin and D.A. Lifetime keeping the lead. In the Maryland 5 Star, Great Britain’s Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class kept the top spot, but Friday brought a shakeup to the rest of the top...

The first day of the Individual Final competition at the Gotham North FEI North American Youth Jumping Championships, presented by USHJA, took the form of the Children’s Individual Final and the Pre-Junior Individual Final. After an exciting jump-off, Mexico took the top podium position in the Children’s Individual Final as Jimena Carrillo Watanabe donned the gold medal around her neck. In the Pre-Junior Individual Final, it was the United States’ Mia Albelo to ride away with...

Gotham North FEI North American Youth Jumping Championships, presented by USHJA, saw its third day of competition in Traverse City, Michigan Friday, August 13. Junior and Young Rider athletes took to their second day of team competition as they battled it out for their shot at the top of the podium. The United States’ Zone 4, led by Chef d’Equipe Kim Land, continued to rack up the gold medals, as they topped both the $35,000 Junior Team Final, presented by Grand Traverse Resort and...

The first podium day for Gotham North FEI North American Youth Championships for jumping, presented by USHJA, took the form of the Children’s and Pre-Junior Team Competition. It was the combined Zone 8/9/10 team who claimed gold in the Children’s Team Competition, including teammates Lilah Nakatani, Leila Diab, Jordan Gibbs and Reagan Tomb. Emerging at the top of the podium during the Pre-Junior categories inaugural year, the United States’ Zone 4, made up of Mia Albelo, Caia...

Traverse City, Mich. - After a year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Gotham North FEI North American Youth Jumping Championships (NAYC) presented by USHJA, made its debut in Traverse City, Michigan at Flintfields Horse Park. Despite inclement weather, children and pre-junior athletes rallied together for an exciting day of individual qualifying events Wednesday, August 11, each hopeful to emerge with individual and team medals at the conclusion of the week. It was a day for the...

Tokyo, Japan – The U.S. Jumping Team fielded the maximum of three athlete-and-horse combinations in the Jumping Individual Qualifier at the Equestrian Park in Tokyo, Japan, with the three combinations narrowly missing the cut for a return for the Individual Final tomorrow evening, and all focus shifting to preparations for the Jumping Team Qualifier on Friday. Jessica Springsteen and Don Juan van de Donkhoeve were the first pair to test the Santiago Varela (ESP) 1.65m track under the...

Tokyo, Japan – The U.S. Eventing Team finished in sixth place out of 14 nations on the final day of competition at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and end the competition with a team total of 125.80 faults. Doug Payne and Vandiver added four jumping faults to their overall score to finish the team phase with a 43.80, and Phillip Dutton and Z added eight jumping faults to their total for a final score of 43.30. The anchor combination of Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg added a single rail to their...

Wellington, Fla. – The 14 athlete-and-horse pairs on the U.S. Dressage Olympic Short List took their final trip down the centerline tonight at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Fla., contesting the FEI Grand Prix Special Test at the U.S. Dressage Mandatory Observation Event. The U.S. Dressage Mandatory Observation Event served as the final opportunity for the combinations named to the U.S. Dressage Olympic Short List to compete in an atmosphere...

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z. Photo: Taylor Pence/US Equestrian Ocala, Fla. – The U.S. Eventing Team hosted the first high performance training session of the 2021 competition year in Ocala, Fla. last week, welcoming athletes from the Elite and Pre-Elite Training Lists to an intensive four-day camp focused on individualized training with Erik Duvander, the U.S. Eventing Team’s High Performance Director, and the program’s new show jumping coach, Peter Wylde. The training...