Kenya and Caitlyn Shiels topped the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby, sponsored by Walgreens (Tricia Booker Photography) Traverse City, MI - July 15, 2013 - Caitlyn Shiels gave Kenya a pep talk before heading to the R.L. Polk Family Main Hunter Ring for the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby, sponsored by Walgreens. After collecting a bountiful array of ribbons during Horse Shows by the Bay Series II, Kenya had one more important outing on Sunday afternoon, July 14. "I told him, 'Today is...

Emily Chapman, the winner of the 2013 USEF Saddle Seat Adult Amateur Medal Final, riding CH EQ One Night Stand (Howard Schatzberg) Lexington, KY – A sunny day at the historic Red Mile Race Track in Lexington, Kentucky provided the backdrop for the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Saddle Seat Adult Amateur Medal Final, held during the Lexington Junior League Charity Horse Show. The judges made a unanimous decision to crown Emily Chapman the 2013 winner of the USEF Saddle Seat...

Show season keeps moving forward and the scores keep coming in. At the last WSH show, the high score rider, Linda Coates-Markle, received a whopping 76% on NAWD Level 3 Test 1 (that is the western equivalent of USDF First Level) riding her Quarter Horse mare. Once again, this last weekend, shows featuring Western Dressage classes were held all over the country and WD riders on both sides of the nation received the highest Phyllis Ray and Starr in the warm-up (Darcia Drapeau) scores recorded at...

Thanks to everyone who took the time to send emails to USEF and for sharing your thoughts and feelings about the direction Western Dressage should take. It is so important to hear and listen to different ideas from all directions as the discipline develops. At this point all there is to do is continue to ride and train and show, and most important, to have fun with our horses. With another show coming up this weekend for us, I have put a lot of thought into the questions the last show brought...

A couple weeks ago a friend and I attended a WSH Dressage Show halfway across the state to ride the NAWD tests. The weather was gorgeous, the drive uneventful, the horses well behaved. The show was at a beautiful facility, with a qualified judge I trust to evaluate our western dressage horses. My stallion was perfectly behaved even in the warm-up area with the little ponies and their tiny children. Sounds like a perfect horse show weekend huh? It was, but for one thing. I was confused! For the...

Sacramento, CA – Dressage athletes from around the country and close to home have arrived at Murieta Equestrian Center in Rancho Murieta for four days of competition from June 13 to 16, including the Golden State CDI3* Y-J-U-25 – CPEDI3* and the Golden State Dressage Classic. National and international organizations recognizing this week’s competition are the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), United States Dressage Federation (USDF), California Dressage Society...

John Pearce and Chianto (Flying Horse Photography) Parker, CO - The Kathy and Brad Coors Family Grand Prix Arena was christened on the first week of the Colorado Horse Park's Summer in the Rockies in a ceremony during the $30,000 Kathy and Brad Coors Family Grand Prix. A field of 12 horse and rider combinations accepted the challenge of Hector Loyola's technical track, but it was Canadian John Pearce who expertly navigated the jump-off round, besting the rest with long-time partner...

Silva Martin and Fortissimo B (Picsofyou.com) Lexington, KY – The best young dressage horses on the East Coast delivered top performances at the 2013 Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Eastern Selection Trial in Leesburg, Virginia. Held in conjunction with the VADA/NOVA Summer June Dressage Show, these five- and six-year-old horses aimed for a spot to represent the U.S. at the FEI World Breeding Championships for Dressage Young Horses in Verden, Germany in August, as well as a spot on the...

Birmingham, AL - From an early age, the importance of sportsmanship has been impressed upon Georgia equestrian student-athlete Carly Anthony. Her mother, Cara, is the head trainer at Potcreek Meadow Farm in Redmond, Wash., which, for the past 14 years has sponsored the Junior Sportsmanship Award at the Thermal Horse Show, and recently began supporting the award at the World Equestrian Festival. Anthony felt it would be equally important to bring a similar award to the National Collegiate...

(Lindsay McCall) Lyman, ME - One term often used in reference to future medal winning U.S. high-performance equestrians, is the word 'development'. By further educating and integrating the athletes, judges, trainers, and supporters from all levels will help develop and evolve each discipline. The 2013 U.S. Para-Equestrian Dressage Symposium created the platform to accomplish this task. At the Carlisle Academy Integrative Equine Therapy & Sports in Lyman, Maine, internationally...