USA is off to a great start in Bonheiden! Meg O'mara won the first Junior class and Victoria Birdsall placed only a few spots behind. Yesterday Meg O'mara was winning again all the way until the end of the class and then got bumped to second. It wasn't the end of the world, I think all the other riders were getting sick of only hearing the US National Anthem being played at the end of every class!!! Meg Victoria Reed Kessler won the first young riders class, Catherine Pasmore (I)...

Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister. Photo by Shannon Brinkman. Lexington, KY - There was one new name added to the top three riders after the dressage at the 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bridgestone, but it was an important one. Tiana Coudray made the trip from California worth the effort when she wowed the judges in the Rolex Stadium with Ringwood Magister. Their score of 40.8 leaves them with a narrow margin over Mary King, from Great Britain who lies second on 41.7....

Lexington, KY - Eric L. Straus. (Photo courtesy Eric L. Straus) The National Horse Show Association of America Ltd. announced today that Eric L. Straus has been appointed to the Board of Directors to fill out the term held by the late Eugene R. Mische. Straus brings a wealth of talent and experience to the National Horse Show Board of Directors. Straus is a recognized USEF judge, steward and FEI show jumping steward. Recently, at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Straus served as...

Lebanon, OH-based Wilhelm Genn has done it again, winning both the $25,000 Nordic Lights Grand Prix and the $25,000 Budweiser Grand Prix during the fifth week of the 2010 Gulf Coast Winter Classics. International great Dave Ballard took up the reins of course designing for the double prix week. For Thursday’s $25,000 Nordic Lights event the co-creator of the 2008 Olympic layouts built a 15-effort test full of curves that had some riders struggling to keep the horses balanced, add to this...

Thursday at the 2010 USEF Annual Meeting saw a blizzard of meetings and attendees rushing from one conference room to the next in an attempt to cover as much ground as possible and to share in ideas and opinions on a vast slate of topics. Licensed Officials, Connemara/Welsh, Roadster, Arabian, Eventing, Dressage, Hackney, Breeders, National Show Horse, Morgan, Western and Carriage Driving were just some of the breeds and disciplines of equestrian sport that had committee meetings during the day....

Tracy Fenney earned top honors in the $25,000 Grand Prix of Dallas on Sunday riding MTM Centano, owned by MTM Farm. Sunday's victory marks Fenney's third consecutive Dallas Harvest Grand Prix win, as well as her eighth time winning the class overall. The 2009 Dallas Harvest Horse Show concluded on Sunday following a successful week of competition at the Texas Rose Horse Park in beautiful Tyler, TX. The Dallas Harvest Horse Show is a very active supporter of Habitat for Horses, one of the...

Team Gold medalists—Zone 8—from the Team Jumper competition. (USEF Archive/Randi Muster) Lexington, KY —Last night the joint was, as they say, jumpin’. Day three of the five-day USEF Pony Finals National Championships kicked off this morning with Phase I for the Regular Pony Hunters (model and under saddle), moved on to the Small Pony over fences class, and segued by sunset into the rousing 2009 USEF National Pony Jumper Team Championship. This year’s Small Pony Hunter title...

Nicole DelGiorno and Lamborghini Dane (Flashpoint Photography) Lexington, KY—The Junior dressage riders were back in the arena this morning for the Individual medal tests. Some gusty wind and impending storms made for some excitable horses, but the riders rose to the challenge and produced some lovely tests for the judges during the USDF/Platinum Performance North American Junior & Young Rider Dressage Championships. In the end, less than one whole point separated first place from...

Rebecca Hart (John Stevenson) By Joanie Morris Hong Kong, China – The venue was lively today as the freestyles got underway in the main arena at Sha Tin. All kinds of music were showcased in two sessions. Two US riders went to task in the morning sessions on the penultimate day of competition at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Equestrian. In the Grade II Individual Freestyle, Rebecca Hart (Erie, PA) finally had the performance she knew she was capable with Norteassa at these Games. The...

Authentic (Shannon Brinkman) Hong Kong, China – Under the unsettled skies of the impending typhoon the individual medals were decided by not one but two jump-offs. America’s Beezie Madden and Authentic out ran six other combinations to be the fastest of the four faulters to win her first Indivdual medal. “In the Olympics there is usually a jump off for medals,” said Madden. “So we expected it. When it ended up being seven to jump off for the bronze it made for a...