In one of the deepest fields assembled in recent memory, Wimpys Little Chic, owned by Arcese Quarter Horses USA, Weatherford, TX, dominated a field of impressive four-, five-, and six-year-old reining horses with a decisive win in the 2008 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby. Ridden by NRHA’s Leading Money Earning Rider Shawn Flarida, the team accomplished what no other combination has—winning the NRHA Futurity, NRBC, and the NRHA Derby consecutively! Andrea Fappani piloted...

Kirk Webby and Brando Du Rouet (Emily Riden/Phelps Media Group) Littlestown, Pa. - The win in Saturday evening's $25,000 Swan Lake Fall Festival Grand Prix all came down to the wire - and at the wire it all came down to just over a second in time. It was the last pair in the ring, Kirk Webby and Brando Du Rouet, who won the race against the clock to claim the victory in an exciting finish to the highlight event at the Swan Lake Fall Festival. In addition to Webby and Brando Du Rouet, four...

Margie Engle and Ashland Farms' Lord Spezi on course in Friday's $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, NY (ESI Photography). Saugerties, NY — With competition taking place in 10 different show rings and more than 1,600 horses on the premises, the opening week of the HITS-on-the-Hudson summer series is going like gangbusters, proving that Saugerties, New York is the place to be this summer. Olympian Margie Engle...

Silvio Mazzoni rides to victory aboard his own Remonta Habano in the $40,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix at HITS Culpeper (ESI Photography). . Culpeper, VA – Silvio Mazzoni of Leesburg, VA, and his own Remonta Habano captured their second Grand Prix victory at HITS this year by winning Sunday’s $40,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS Culpeper. The duo also won the blue in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal...

Ocala, FL - Joe Yoder driving Jack Wetzel’s pair of Gelderlanders won his first USEF National Pair Championship Sunday at the CAI Live Oak. After finishing second in dressage and winning the marathon, Yoder went into the final Cones phase with a 15-point lead over Katherin Dancer. Three balls down incurred 12 penalties for the young man who just recently relocated from Bozeman, Montana, to Aiken, SC, to drive for Wetzel. Yoder squeaked in just under the 3 minute time allowed to secure his win....

Manuel Torres and Chambacunero. (ESI Photography©.) Saugerties, NY - The HITS winter show season just passed the mid-way point for all three of its circuits in Ocala, FL, Tucson, AZ, and Thermal, CA. As the leading show management company in the sport, HITS hosts 35 weeks of competition each year, with 58 Grand Prix and some of the biggest prize money purses offered anywhere in the world, including the historic Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix. At its peak, HITS hosts six Grand Prix events a week...

Rebecca Hart and Kazan (Fire and Earth Photo) Wayne, IL - Three days of competition for the USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championship concluded on Sunday at the stunning Lamplight Equestrian Center which has hosted this event for each of the past three years. "This is the largest number of riders we have ever seen," said Sandy Raferty, Chairman of the USEF Para-Equestrian High Performance Committee, "We are thrilled with the turnout." Eighteen riders competed in either a Long Course...

Dressage It was Dressage Week in San Diego, CA as part of the Del Mar National Horse Show. The Del Mar National CDI3* featured some of the top riders on the West coast including Steffen Peters who dominated both the Grand Prix and Intermediaire-I. Aboard Akiko Yamazaki's superstar Ravel, Peters won the Grand Prix and put in a near flawless effort in the Grand Prix Freestyle to win by 10 points with a score of 81.300%. Susan Blinks and Robin Hood were first in the Grand Prix Special with a score...

The 2009 Cinch® National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Non Pro Futurity Finals were the featured competition on Friday at the NRHA Futurity & Adequan® North American Affiliate Championship (NAAC) Show in Oklahoma City, OK. Nearly two dozen countries have been competing at the show over the past nine days with nine riders from four countries advancing to the $120,000 added Cinch/NRHA Non Pro Futurity Finals. In draw two in the second section of the Non Pro finals, reigning champion and NRHA’s...

Former United States Equestrian Team (USET) Chairman Finn M.W. Caspersen, whose competitive nature paid off in a shining multitude of medals for America, died September 7 in Rhode Island. He was 67. "His leadership over his 20 years with the team was extraordinary. It brought the team to an entirely new level and we can't be anything but forever grateful to Finn," said Jane Forbes Clark, the USET Foundation's president and CEO. During Caspersen's tenure, which began in 1982 when he was elected...