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...

The 2009 title-holders from France hold the lead as the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series moves to Rome this week where the host country makes a guest appearance on home ground. This brings the total of competing nations to 11 for the second leg of the prestigious eight-round tournament which concludes at Dublin in early August. And it promises to raise the competitive temperature considerably, as Italy is already making a spirited comeback to the top level of team sport through good results...

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...

The final shows have been posted and the 2009 Performance Horse Registry’s (PHR) Silver Stirrup Award winners have been announced. One of the Hunter winners include Krishna Buyalos’s beautiful two-year-old filly, Outstanding. This bay filly is by Popeye K and out of Delilah. She was bred in California by Leslie Nelson. She is the winner of the Hunter Breeding Award. The Anglo-Trakehner gelding Unbelievable (Zarr x Rhapsody II) took home the award for the best Green Working Hunter. The Jumper...

Elkton, Md . – The second day of dressage had lovely fall weather at the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill presented by Brown Advisory, much different from Thursday’s rainy conditions. Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol HIM moved into the lead in the USEF CCI3*-L Eventing National Championship, while Woods Baughman and C’est La Vie 135 maintained their top spot on the CCI5*-L leaderboard. USEF CCI3*-L Eventing National Championship Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol HIM (Shannon...

Molly Baumhoff and Esteban La Paz jump in the $1,500 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix (ESI Photography) Thermal, Calif. - After her own success in the Devoucoux Hunter Prix, Hope Glynn’s day just got better when her student, Molly Baumhoff, riding Lauren Henry’s chestnut gelding, Esteban La Paz, took the blue ribbon in the $1,500 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix. With scores of 84 and 86 for a total of 170, theirs was a dominating performance to win $450. Natalie Templeton took...

Karen Jenkins in Spain with Jenson, Ofendido VII's sire. (Photo courtesy Karen Jenkins.) Ocala, FL - When Karen Jenkins demanded her own pony at age five, her unsure parents insisted on riding lessons. Years of instruction and various horses later, they knew horses were in her blood – and not going anywhere. “My parents insisted that if I had a horse, I had to take care of it myself,” said Jenkins, who now is 73. “I think they became resigned to the fact that I was dedicated to making horses a...

Whitney Campbell/PMG (Lauren Crooks and Cincinatti La Silla took top honors in the $50,000 CSI-W Hagyard Lexington Classic at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. ) Lexington, KY - Another incredible crowd turned out at the new Indoor Ring tonight, this time to watch riders compete for the top prize during the $50,000 CSI-W Hagyard Lexington Classic at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. It proved to be an interesting night when the first four riders all completed clear rounds to start, but as the...

"What a mare, huh?" said Penny Brennon of her winning mount in the $5,000 Speed Derby. The mare in question is Cowgirl, an eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood that owner Debi Connor imported from Holland several years ago. With Brennon in the irons, Cowgirl won the $5,000 Speed Derby during the Rocky Mountain Classic (July 14-18, 2010) at the Colorado Horse Park. It was the second week in a row the pair topped the Speed Derby. "This is an amazing horse," Brennon said. "I didn't think we could have a...

Richard Spooner and Cristallo at CSIO La Baule (Sophie Durieux) Lexington, KY - The following horse/rider combinations have been named to represent the US in the Nations Cup at CSIO Roma- Piazza di Siena SNAI Show Jumping in Italy on Friday May 28. Mario Deslauriers on Jane Clark’s Urico Beezie Madden on Abigail Wexner’s Mademoiselle Richard Spooner on Show Jumping Syndications’ Cristallo McLain Ward on Blue Chip Bloodstock and his own Sapphire These four riders will take on the ten other teams...