Welcome to a different kind of blog from WDAA. The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or challenging moments on her journey...

Lexington, KY – The USEF Eventing High Performance Committee has approved the following High Performance Summer/Fall Training Lists for the 2013 season. World Class Combinations that currently possess the ability to be competitive anywhere in the world. The combinations listed on the World Class List will receive Land Rover Training Grants. Will Coleman (Charlottesville, VA) and Four Star Eventing Group’s OBOS O’Reilly OBOS O’Reilly is a 2003 Irish Sport Horse gelding...

Lexington, KY – The top young dressage horses on the east coast will demonstrate their talents this weekend at the VADA/NOVA Summer June Dressage Show which hosts the 2013 Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Eastern Selection Trial. These five- and six-year-old horses will be vying 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 Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Short List. Combinations...

Lexington, KY – The USEF Eventing High Performance Committee has approved the following High Performance Spring Training Lists for the 2013 season. These lists have been redesigned for 2013 and this is a targeted approach to identify talented horse/rider combinations for future championship teams. The Global Talent and World Class combinations will be participating in training sessions with Chef d’Equipe David O’Connor in Aiken, South Carolina, Gilroy and Temecula, California...

54th Annual Washington International Horse Show Hosts Opening Day with Professional and Amateur-Owner Hunters Washington, D.C. – The 54th Annual Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) hosted its opening day on Tuesday, October 23, with a full day of hunter competition at Verizon Center in downtown Washington, D.C. The professional and amateur-owner riders showed throughout the day in the first classes of their divisions and conclude their competition for championship honors on...

Steffen Peters. (Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com) Glenda McElroy, who probably has run more dressage competitions, including four World Cup Finals on the West Coast, than any other show manager in the United States, is excited about the initiative to create a dressage stadium in Palm Beach, FL, as are the top riders competing at her shows. “Anything that can showcase dressage and appeal to a broader audience, bring a brighter spotlight to the sport, is good for dressage,” she said during her...

Temecula, CA — It took a little while to get the final results confirmed but in the end, Alexandra Slusher and Last Call found themselves atop the standings in the CIC3* at the Galway Downs International Horse Trials, with 47.0 penalties. Their perfectly clear cross-country round kept them just ahead of Canada’s Hawley Bennett-Awad, aboard her World Championship mount, Linda Paine’s Gin ‘N Juice (48.2), and James Alliston, aboard Jumbo’s Jake (53.6), who moved in to third with another perfect...

Nick Skelton and Big Star. (Photo by Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - Week 10 of the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) concluded with two great events at The Stadium, the grass field venue at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Nick Skelton (GBR) and Big Star, owned by Beverly and Gary Widdowson, notched another big win this circuit by taking the top prize in the $78,000 Pennfield Feeds Grand Prix, CSI 2*. The FTI Winter Equestrian Festival's feature event, the $500,000 FTI...

Wellington, FL - The World Dressage Masters Palm Beach CDI5* presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach is now just five days away. The American edition of the world's premier dressage series will begin on March 9th with the FEI Horse Inspection, followed by two days of world class competition. Five top European dressage horses arrived in Miami from Amsterdam on March 3. They are expected to move from quarantine to the competition venue, the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm...

Richard Spooner and Cristallo. (Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - The FTI Winter Equestrian Festival's seventh week of competition continued on Thursday afternoon with round seven of the $31,000 WEF Challenge Cup Series. Held in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, the class saw a total of 59 entries with 16 jumping clear to return for the jump-off. After arriving in Wellington just three days ago, California's Richard Spooner and his top mount Cristallo...