Lexington, KY- The driving championship season comes to a close this weekend, as competitors will vie for National Titles in pair horse and ponies divisions at the Kentucky Horse Park. Held in conjunction with the Kentucky Classic CDE, October 4-7, USEF National Champions will be crowned in Pairs, Single Pony, Pair Pony and Pony Team competition. Competition gets underway Thursday, with the vet check at 9am and the dressage phase beginning at 11:30am. On Saturday, all National Championship...

London, England, United Kingdom - In London, there is always one conversational topic that a stranger can depend on to relieve an awkward situation, the weather. On Thursday August 30th, at the 2012 Paralympic Equestrian venue in Greenwich Park, the weather transitioned from rain, to wind, on to more rain, and brisk temperatures. As the opening day of the Para-Dressage Team Test competition transpired the weather became accommodating to some riders and unpleasant to others. Jonathan Wentz (USA)...

Paige Johnson and Chiron S won the $40,000 Bluegrass Festival Grand Prix Victory at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. (Kendall Bierer/PMG) Lexington, KY - t was the final day of the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show, and the excitement was high as the $40,000 Bluegrass Festival Grand Prix got underway in the Rolex Stadium. It was a bittersweet finale to the fourth week of the Kentucky Summer Series, with 41 entrants competing for the top prize. Paige Johnson and Chiron S were one of only four to...

The Kentucky Horse Park Welcomes Pint-sized Mounts to a Fierce Competition Tomorrow begins the Green Pony Hunters Over Fences, Medium Ponies Compete in the Under Saddle Phase Lexington, KY – August 7, 2012 – The Walnut Ring was alive with families and friends supporting young competitors and their pony mounts, as the 2012 US Pony Finals and the US Hunter Pony Championships presented by Sallee Horse Vans got underway with its first day at the Kentucky Horse Park. Today, the top...

Little Emir and Shane Sweetnam. Traverse City, MI - As Shane Sweetnam walked into the ring aboard Spy Coast Farm LLC's Little Emir for the jump-off of the $30,000 Grand Traverse Bay Grand Prix, he was weighing his options. With just two riders to follow him in the 17-horse jump-off, Sweetnam was figuring out his odds. At the moment, he held the lead aboard his other mount, Rolette, and he was currently sitting on one of his most experienced grand prix partners, the 14-year-old German-bred...

The third in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder I promised you last week I would share more about the informal surveys that have helped give Western Dressage a voice through NAWD, and given me good stuff to share with you. While we believe there is much common ground to be found between western and dressage, there are differences between Western Dressage and BOTH parent disciplines. As Western Dressage continues to develop into a unique discipline in this country it is imperative...

Caroline Roffman and Pie (Susan J. Stickle) Gladstone, NJ - The 2012 USEF Dressage Festival of Champions came to a close Sunday with National Champions being crowned in Intermediaire I and Young Adult “Brentina Cup” competition in the Dick and Jane Brown Arena at the USET Foundation Headquarters. Intermediaire I Freestyles and the FEI Young Rider Grand Prix were presented to the Ground Jury of Lois Yukins, Hilda Gurney, Jane Weatherwax, Axel Steiner and Janet Foy. Caroline Roffman...

Gladstone, NJ - While the Dick and Jane Brown Arena at the USET Foundation Headquarters belonged to the Grand Prix riders Saturday morning, the afternoon session was all about the up-and-coming stars of the sport at the USEF Dressage Festival of Champions. In the National Intermediaire I Dressage Championship, Caroline Roffman and Pie maintained their strangle-hold on the lead. While, Young Adult "Brentina Cup" competitors got their first taste of competition in Gladstone with Brian Hafner...

Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo (Shannon Brinkman) Devon, PA - All eyes will be on the Devon Horse Show this week as 13 of the top jumping combinations in the U.S. compete in the third of four 2012 U.S. Show Jumping Team Observation Events. Horses and riders on the USEF Long List for the U.S. Show Jumping Team for the 2012 Olympic Games will jump in Thursday's Wells Fargo Grand Prix of Devon and Saturday's Open Jumper Stake. Beezie Madden will be extremely busy this week as she...

Rich Fellers & Flexible (Rick Osteen Photography) Del Mar, CA - An international field contested the $50,000 Surfside Grand Prix presented by ShowBiz Magazine Friday evening at the Del Mar National Horse Show. Of the 26 entries in the class, six combinations were members of the USEF Long List for the U.S. Show Jumping Team for the 2012 Olympic Games. The prestigious California horse show, held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, serves as the first of four 2012 US Show Jumping Team Observation...