Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos (Shannon Brinkman) Elkton, MD – Mother Nature wouldn’t quit but smart riding prevailed at the 2009 Dansko Fair Hill International as Boyd Martin flew to the lead in the USEF National CCI*** Championship with Neville Bardos. Newly an American citizen after changing citizenship from Australia earlier in the year, Martin and the nine-year-old Australian Thoroughbred literally skipped over the muddy ground making Derek DiGrazia’s course look easy....

Photo by Diana DeRosa (Hunt Tosh and Fine Kiss) Hunt Tosh went into the first round of the 15th Annual Professional World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Finals for the 2009 American Hunter Jumper Foundation (AHJF) Professional WCHR title, as if it belonged to him. He negotiated the highest mark in the first round and never looked back. Four rounds later he won the highest honor for a professional rider for his very first attempt in this prestigious class, which took place on October 2 at the...

Six USEF National Driving Championships Draw Quality Competition to the Kentucky Horse Park Lexington, KY – For the first time ever, all six USEF National Driving Championships are running con Chester Weber Leads USEF National Four-in-Hand Driving Championship (Picsofyou.com) currently, and the first day got off to a fantastic start at the 2009 Kentucky Cup and Lexington Driving Classic which is also serving as a test event for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. All six FEI...

Norwood, NC - There were no ribbons and no winners, but today was as important as any competition day in the lives of the 10 horses preparing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team in Eventing. The horses, along BallyNoe Castle RM (Mike McNally) with five who have been preparing in England, are on the USEF Short List for Eventing, from which the Team for the 2008 Olympic Games will be selected on Monday. The Fork Stables graciously opened its gates to the USEF to allow the horses and riders a...

Elkton, MD – The weather blew through the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday night and cross country/ marathon day at the USEF National Championships at the Dansko Fair Hill International boasted perfect conditions and terrain. Phillip Dutton, the overnight leader in the CCI*** Championships had to wait until the very end of the day to maintain his lead with Ann Jones’ The Foreman and put on a cross country clinic with the 11-year-old Thoroughbred gelding. The Foreman, who won the event...

Diana DeRosa (Karen O'Connor and the pony Theodore O'Connor take the lead after cross-country.) Rio de Janeiro—Cross-country day at the XV Pan American Games dawned clear and sunny July 21 at the Deodoro venue. With five Americans in the top five places after the first phase, and a firm grip on the team lead after the first phase, there was a lot at stake on the 10-minute track. When the dust settled, a pony took on all the horses and rewrote history. Pathfinder Karen O’Connor, from...

Diana DeRosa (Mara Dean and Nicki Henley lead heading into cross-country in Rio de Janeiro.) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – The American event riders got off to a fantastic start on July 20 at the XV Pan American Games taking the lead in the team portion of the competition and sweeping the top five places individually. American combination Mara Dean riding Nicki Henley went to the head of a quality field of 27 horse-and-rider combinations riding before the ground jury of Barry Roycroft, Jo...

Silver medalist Lauren Sammis, Gold medalist Christopher Hickey and Bronze medalist Yvonne Losos de Muniz (Diana DeRosa) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—It was a double-medal day for Team USA at Deodoro Stadium as Maryland’s Christopher Hickey aboard Regent won the coveted Gold medal on a two-day averaged score of 70.725% after performing his freestyle before an appreciative crowd. New Jersey’s Lauren Sammis, who had led the scores at the end of the Team competition, finished in...

Hickey Heads to Brazil (Phelps Photo) Gladstone, NJ – Storms threatened but the sun hung on Sunday June 17 at the final day of the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions and so did Christopher Hickey and Regent making them the final champion of the Festival and putting them at the top of the list of four named for Pan American Games Selection. The top three combinations from today’s competition are named were named to the team pending the USEF High Performance Working...

Wayne, Ill. – Friday brought another warm and sunny day to HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center where seven classes of the 2020 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions showcased a wide variety of horses and riders on their quest for national champion titles. Four divisions concluded and named their national champions on Friday: The USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship; Adequan®/USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship; USEF Pony...