Though the mantra of the day seemed to be "rain, rain, go away," eventers proved once again that they were more than fair-weather fans. The horses were beautifully turned out, rid of the manure stains they incurred overnight, and the crowd was bubbly in spirit. The day started out with the in hand portion for the four- and five-year-olds competing in the United States Eventing Association (USEA)/Spalding Labs Young Event Horse (YEH) Competition. The handlers were told by judge Charles Musco to...

Lexington, KY – The Kentucky Cup Endurance Test Event for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will bring Athletes from around the World to the Kentucky Horse Park October 14, 2009. Along with the Test Event, the USEF is hosting the North American Endurance Team Challenge (NAETC). The NAETC features riders from five US Zones and two Canadian Zones competing against each other. Thirty US Athletes and 12 Canadian Athletes will compete along with Athletes from more than 20 other...

Lexington, KY – It wasn’t easy, but Chester Weber never wavered and netted his seventh straight USEF National Four-in-Hand Driving Championship at the Kentucky Cup and Lexington Driving Classic. Weber’s win also bodes well for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, as this event served as the test event for next year’s WEG also to be held at the Kentucky Horse Park. Weber beat long time teammate Tucker Johnson (and another driver going for a record seven wins) by 10 points, but the...

Lyman, Maine - Paulien Alberts, a Dutch FEI competitor, trainer, judge and musical freestyle specialist, will be the featured clinician at a dressage, Para-Equestrian and musical freestyle clinic at Spring Creek Farm in Lyman, ME, October 23 to October 25, 2009. Organizers of the clinic are creating this opportunity to make the clinic accessible to all riders and horses from a variety of disciplines and ability levels: dressage riders; Para-Equestrians; people struggling to develop a good...

Succeed® and Wellington Classic Dressage will be hosting an exciting Holiday Gala Fundraiser, December 11-12, 2009, to benefit the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation. The gala will feature some of the biggest names in the equestrian world from a unique combination of disciplines, all coming together for a good cause and some holiday fun. In addition to raising money for the USET Foundation and supporting the future of equestrian sport, the Holiday Gala will also help families in...

Effective December 1, 2009, English Pleasure will now be a recognized division with the United States Equestrian Federation. The new division rules can be found on the USEF website at www.usef.org/documents/rules/ruleChanges/2010/RE12109.pdf . This means that you have the opportunity to offer "rated" English Pleasure classes to your exhibitors. The Federation is excited to add this division to encourage and reward yet another venue of equestrian sport. The English Pleasure division has three...

Dressage trainer Todd Flettrich and his mount, Otto, owned by Cherry Knoll Farm, made their competitive debut in the United States this weekend at the New England Dressage Association's (NEDA) Fall Festival, held September 9-13, in Saugerties, NY. After spending three months in Germany training with Olympic Gold medalist Hubertus Schmidt, Flettrich and Otto returned to Cherry Knoll Farm's Pennsylvania location just one week prior to the Saugerties competition, and went on to win the CDI Grand...

The Buffalo International Horse Show (BIHS) began its first day of competition on September 9 for the 63rd annual show. The BIHS is held at the Buffalo Therapeutic Riding Center (BTRC) and runs from September 9-13 in downtown Buffalo, NY. The horse show will host a number of special classes in their large indoor arena, including hunter classics. The BIHS is pleased to welcome trainers Sandy Lobel and Amanda Steege and amateur rider Penelope Ayres, who have traveled the farthest to come to the...

The final day of the FEI European and Open Para-Equestrian Dressage Championship had Freestyle to music on the program. It was another great day for Great Britain and Germany, sharing the five gold medals between—three for Great Britain and two for Germany. Performance manager for the British team David Hunter explained their success. “We are lucky in England to have the national lottery that channels funding towards the paralympic sports," he said. "We’ve had two new riders, Sophie Wells...

Dressage trainer Todd Flettrich is currently in Germany training with Olympic Gold medalist Hubertus Schmidt at his Paderborn farm and has begun competing with Cherry Knoll Farm’s horses, 13-year-old Otto and nine-year-old Danseur, in national competition. At a recent show at Hof Bettenrode, Flettrich qualified both Otto and Danseur for the Grand Prix Special after very successful qualifying tests. The Wellington-based trainer was very pleased with both of the horse’s performances. “This was...