Today’s post comes from Sin City, Las Vegas Nevada. Since I am here in the region of Southwest Western Dressage, I decided to write the blog as an interview with someone from the Las Vegas equestrian community who was doing Western Dressage. So I opened up the phone book to call a local barn. Every barn number but one was disconnected or no longer in service. The one that was working was a casino! So I called a feed store, thinking that at the feed store would be someone who knew someone...

Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda (Josh Walker/US Eventing) Eventing The Galway Downs International Three-Day Event in Temecula, CA was a busy place over the weekend. Robert Kellerhouse and his team hosted a CCI3*, a CCI2*, CCI1* and a long-format CCI1*. Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda made their trip from the East Coast well worth it, winning the inaugural CCI3* on their dressage score of 46.0. The California native enjoyed her homecoming. Second after the dressage, the pair had near flawless trips...

Steffen Peters and Ravel Won the 2009 FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas (Shannon Brinkman/USEF Archive ) Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has announced the seven horse/rider combinations that have been named to represent the United States at the Exquis World Dressage Masters in Wellington, FL February 4-6, 2010. The group of seven includes Steffen Peters and Ravel, the 2009 USEF Equestrian and Horse of the Year and the reigning FEI World Cup Champions and Leslie...

2009 USEF Farnam/Platform Horse of the Year (Shannon Brinkman/USEF Archives) Louisville, KY – Annually, five of the USEF’s 130,000 registered horses achieve so much in a year that they are named USEF Horses of Honor and enter the running for the title of Farnam®/Platform™ Horse of the Year. In 2009 all five of these horses were nothing short of remarkable. But one forever changed the face of his sport, and with that, Ravel was voted the 2009 USEF Farnam®/Platform™ Horse of the Year. It began in...

Chris Field, 59, of Shelbyville, KY, passed away Monday night, April 6, 2009, after an eight-month battle with cancer. Field was born on December 9, 1949, in Salt Lake City, Utah. After graduating from Olympus High School in 1968, Field attended the University of Utah. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, she married the love of her life on August 9, 1974, and would have celebrated her 36-year anniversary with her husband, William (Bill) Field, this year. Field was...

International competitors from several nations hoping to ride at the FEI World Cup Final in dressage in Las Vegas next month get their last chance at the WEF Dressage Classic CDI-W at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) on Saturday night, March 14. The Grand Prix Musical Freestyle will start at 7 p.m. under lights in PBIEC's centerpiece International Arena as part of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Tables of six in the International Club can be reserved for $600 or $100...

Stadium Jumping, Inc.'s Tampa Equestrian Festival will feature three weeks of world-class equestrian competition at the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center in Tampa, FL, March 18-April 4. As the conclusion of the 2009 winter show season, the festival is set to host some of the top horses and riders from all over the country for big-money classes and prizes. The competition is divided into three weeks, with the Suncoast Internationale, March 18-22, the Tampa Classic CSI***-W March 25-29, and the...

California dressage rider Jan Ebeling and the 11-year-old Oldenburg mare Rafalca won the dressage World Cup qualifier at Saugerties CDI-W show in upstate New York this past weekend with a score of 71.700%. This result came after their victory in the grand prix on Saturday. Ebeling was delighted with the mare who, "didn't really have any mistakes," in the grand prix freestyle. "She was really, really super, and it was definitely a confidence builder." The test, which is ridden to music from the...

McLain Ward and Sapphire tackling a tough course at the 2007 Rolex FEI World Cup in Las Vegas. (Doug Prather) Las Vegas, NV - The show jumpers returned to the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on Friday evening for the second round of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Final, and it was a blistering jump-off performance by American expatriate Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum aboard Shutterfly that left the crowd cheering. In 29.38 seconds, the pair scorched the six-obstacle round ahead of eight others...

Tish Quirk ((l-r, top to bottom) Nicole Simpson, Joie Gatlin, Richard Spooner and Gabriella Salick.) Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to present the four West Coast show jumpers who will represent the nation during the 2005 FEI World Cup Show Jumping Final in Las Vegas, April 20-24. They are: Nicole Simpson of Thousand Oaks, California, Joie Gatlin of San Juan Capistrano, California, Richard Spooner of Burbank, California, and Gabriella Salick of...