Kassie Barteau Thanks Toscano (SusanJStickle.com) Gladstone, NJ – The 2010 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions got off to a flying start on Friday afternoon as the Intermediaire I National Championship kicked off a competitive two weekends featuring the best dressage riders in the United States. Highlighted by the National Grand Prix Dressage Championship which is also serving as the USEF Selection Trial for Dressage for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, these...

Photo by ESI Photography (Lillie Keenan riding Chansonette Farm’s C Coast Z in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby.) The landscape of the Pfizer Million took a major turn during HITS-on-the-Hudson IV when Olympians McLain Ward, and Margie Engle each reached the eight qualifying Grand Prix classes needed to become eligible for the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix that will take place at HITS-on-the-Hudson on Sunday, September 12. Engle of West Palm Beach, FL, and Ward of Brewster, NY,...

Dressage Competing at the prestigious CDIO Aachen, Tina Konyot put in stellar performances in the Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special and the Grand Prix Freestyle. Starting off on Thursday in the Grand Prix, Konyot and her stallion Calecto V scored a 68.602% for a 14th place finish. In the Special, the pair put in a solid test to finish 10th with a 70.333%. Continuing to progress, Konyot and Calecto performed their Freestyle on Sunday receiving an outstanding score of 73.643% for eighth place. Also...

Photo by ESI Photography (Peter Leone and Nerval de la Batia win their first Grand Prix of the season at HITS Culpeper.) Peter Leone and Nerval de la Batia, owned by the Beaupre Group, are on the road to the Pfizer Million as they took home the victory in Sunday's $40,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, to highlight the Commonwealth National. "It means a lot to me to come here and kick-off the season," said Leone of Greenwich, CT, who competed in his first of eight needed...

Rich Fellers and Flexible Lead the Way (Rebecca Walton/Phelps Media Group) Lexington, KY – American Rich Fellers held nothing back and continued to prove the US domination in the Palexpo Arena at the 2010 Rolex/FEI World Cup Final. Riding Flexible, Fellers (Wilsonville, OR) had the fastest round of the day to take the lead after the first leg of the 2010 Final. Flexible crossed the finish line ½ second faster than teammate (and 2009 runner-up) Sapphire, ridden by McLain Ward. Owned by Mollie...

Photo by ESI Photography (Emma Kennedy, the owner and rider of Summer Hill, captured Sunday's $5,000 Pony Commotion. ) The Ocala Winter Finals wrapped up another exciting week of show jumping that included two of the four remaining qualifying grand prix classes this winter for the Pfizer Million at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, FL. Maryland’s Tracy Magness captured the win in the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, aboard Mr. and Mrs. John Barko’s Tarco Van Ter Moude for...

On Saturday, the best horses and riders from the hunter divisions competed for the top prize in the $15,000 WIHS Hunter Classic Derby at the Washington International Horse Show. After two rounds of competition it was Scott Stewart, of Ocala, FL, and Way Cool that led the victory gallop after they earned a total score of 170.9. Earlier in the day the Washington Pony Equitation Classic Finals were held, with Madeyln Keck and Tango receiving the top call and earning the blue ribbon. The champions...

At the Irish Draught Horse Society of North America (IDSNA)/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Future Event Horse (FEH) classes in Lexington, VA, held in conjunction with the IDHSNA National Show, it was Diane Halpin's Llangollyn LL who trotted away with the Grand Championship at the end of the day. Shown by Bruce Griffin, the stunning two-year-old Hanoverian filly scored a commendable 81.1% in the Two-Year-Old Fillies class before claiming the Grand Championship in the final class of...

www.flickr.com/photos/skodak (Rio de Janeiro) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has elected Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as the host city of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016 during its 121st Session in Copenhagen, Denmark. Rio de Janeiro received 66 votes compared to Madrid’s 32 in the final round of voting. IOC President Jacques Rogge congratulated Rio de Janeiro on its election and praised the high quality of the bid, “I would like to congratulate the city of Rio de...

Wayne, IL – The sun finally emerged at the spectacular Lamplight Equestrian Center to spotlight the nation’s future dressage talent in the six-year-old and developing horse divisions. It was a competition worthy of champions as presented to judges Linda Zang, Jeanne McDonald, and Hilda Gurney. In the Six-Year-Old division, U.S.-bred “Pikko del Cerro HU” made America proud by claiming the Markel/USEF National Championship with an overall score of 7.9. Ridden by Mikala Munter Gundersen of...