Tara Metzner and Fabricio (Captured Moment Photography) Del Mar, Calif. - Some of the region's top hunters competed under the lights tonight in the last qualifying Grand Prix Hunter Derby before the Final next week. Twenty-three entries took on the Autumn-themed course in the Haley Farms LLC Grand Prix Hunter Derby, Presented by Fleeceworks. Tara Metzner and Davlyn Farms' Fabricio wowed the judges and the crowd with a nearly flawless round, earning an average score of 99 to come out on...

Giavanna Rinaldi and G.P.S. BRILLIANT DISGUISE (AlCookPhoto.com) Harrisburg, Pa. - Giavanna Rinaldi, of Wayne, Illinois, beat a field of 25 starters in the $5,000 North American League (NAL) Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Final on her own G.P.S. BRILLIANT DISGUISE at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show today. Rinaldi, just fourteen years old, was one of only eight riders to make it to the jump-off round, setting an unbeatable time of 34.993 seconds as second rider into the ring. Madeline...

More showing chronicles. Not to bore you or to toot our horns, but to make you think. To ask questions. To reflect. Dressage training should make our horses more rideable, more comfortable in their bodies as riding horses, better in their minds, and keep them sound longer as our partners. At least that is what my trainers have taught me.Our rescue organization takes in horses, some with long histories of lameness, and through proper training, conditioning and development over time, return them...

Reprinted with permission from Cowboy Dressage Newsletter: August 2-4, 2013 “Build It and They Will Come” “Cowboy Dressage Competition debuted at Rancho Murieta Gold N Grand Horse Show Aug 2-4. Gold N Grand is known on the west coast for being the premier open horse show at one of the west’s top equine facilities. A record number of 183 entries for one discipline made history. It was Cowboy Dressage. This does not happen by accident. It happens because of hard work, a...

Welcome to the third installment of 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...

Catherine Tyree secured her first career grand prix victory with Sandor de la Pomme in the $30,000 Manchester and the Mountains Grand Prix, presented by Purina Horse Feed, held August 8 at the Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT (David Mullnix Photography) East Dorset, VT - Nineteen-year-old Catherine Tyree claimed the first grand prix victory of her young career in the $30,000 Manchester and the Mountains Grand Prix, presented by Purina Horse Feed, held August 3 at the Vermont Summer...

East Dorset, Vermont — Mark Bluman clinched another victory in the $10,000 Not Your Daughter’s Jeans Welcome Stake, presented by Manchester Designer Outlets, with G&C Blue during week five of the Vermont Summer Festival. The pair was also victorious in the same class during the 2012 Vermont Summer Festival. Bluman was thrilled with his win, especially after he and G&C Blue, a 10-year-old selle francais gelding owned by Gustavo Mirabal of G&C Farm in Wellington, FL,...

Dressage Young Rider Team Gold Medalists from Region 7: Teresa Adams, Ariel Thomas, Jamie Pestana, and Jaclyn Pepper (SusanJStickle.com) Lexington, KY – The first day of competition at the 2013 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC) featured the top up-and-coming talent in the sport of dressage. Team medals were presented in the Junior and Young Rider divisions in the USDF/Platinum Performance North American Junior and Young...

Show season keeps moving forward and the scores keep coming in. At the last WSH show, the high score rider, Linda Coates-Markle, received a whopping 76% on NAWD Level 3 Test 1 (that is the western equivalent of USDF First Level) riding her Quarter Horse mare. Once again, this last weekend, shows featuring Western Dressage classes were held all over the country and WD riders on both sides of the nation received the highest Phyllis Ray and Starr in the warm-up (Darcia Drapeau) scores recorded at...

Houston, TX – In the saddle is a natural place to be for Keely McIntosh, a vibrant young woman with a passion for horses, equestrian sports, and a full life ahead of her. Keely has ridden since before she could walk and competed in Pony Club before she could read. Older girls had to read her the written Pony Club ratings tests, and her family jokes that Keely learned her letters from the dressage arena. By age 6, Keely was showing in the Hunter ring in Welsh Pony classes. Her riding...