Nayel Nassar and Lordan jump to a win in the $33,500 FEI HITS Desert Classic, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Thermal (Flying Horse Photography) Thermal, Calif. - It all came down to the gallop in the $33,500 FEI HITS Desert Classic, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Thermal on Thursday. With only two horses in the jump-off, Nayel Nassar put the speed of his nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding Lordan to the test and bested Bliss Heers by fractions of a second. Nassar of Santa Clara, California represents...

Part 2 in a five-part series about the exciting new discipline of western dressage More and more western riders are thinking about trying the exciting new discipline of western dressage. While the progressive training principles of dressage can be a benefit to any horse's development, riders will discover that trotting down the centerline of a dressage arena is a very different experience than they may be used to for a western pleasure or reining show. The first and most obvious difference...

A five-part series to learn more about the exciting new discipline of Western Dressage Part 1: What is Western Dressage? When most equestrians think of "dressage", they envision the graceful harmony of beautiful horses with riders clad in top hats and tails, dancing together through musical freestyles in an Olympic stadium. But now, an increasing number of competitors entering dressage arenas will be wearing Western hats and boots with their horses outfitted in stock saddles. What's going...

Becky Gochman and Sambalino (Shawn McMillen Photography, www.shawnmcmillen.com) Washington D.C. - The Amateur-Owner Hunter divisions concluded their second day of competition on Wednesday and awarded championship honors as well. The Grand Amateur-Owner Hunter 3’6” championship was awarded to Becky Gochman of New York, NY, riding David Gochman's Sambalino. The pair earned the Frank Counselman Memorial Perpetual Trophy donated by Friends of Frank Counselman. Gochman was also...

Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville (Jenni Autry) Unionville, PA - The sixth annual Plantation Field International Horse Trials weekend concluded Sunday with an exciting finish in the CIC3*, as Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville smoked the course to finish double clear and 13 seconds inside the time. Halpin led wire to wire all weekend, and she won the event on a very impressive dressage score of just 37.8. While Halpin said Saturday she didn't intend to go for time Sunday and...

John Pearce and Chianto jump to a win in the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, making it two in a row for Pearce at HITS Saugerties this week (ESI Photography) Saugerties, NY – On the heels of a win in Friday’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix with Son of a Gun, John Pearce of Bermuda Dunes, California jumped his way to another blue on Sunday in the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented, by Zoetis, this time aboard Forest View Farm’s Chianto. Celebration, however, soon...

John Pearce and Son of Gun jumping their way to a win in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis (©ESI Photography) Saugerties, NY - With hopes of million-dollar success, John Pearce of Bermuda Dunes, California made his way east this week and piloted Forest View Farm’s Son of a Gun to the top of the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Saugerties on Friday. Pearce is one of several West Coast riders who are in Saugerties preparing for next...

Lillie Keenan rode Levistano 2 to victory in the Sam Edelman Equitation Championship, presented by The Chronicle of the Horse, at the Hampton Classic. (Shawn McMillen photo) Bridgehampton, NY - Lillie Keenan won the two-round Sam Edelman Equitation Championship, presented by The Chronicle of the Horse, at the Hampton Classic, scoring 175.5 points. Charlotte Jacobs finished second (171), and McKayla Langmeier finished third (170). Keenan, 16, was disappointed in her first-round performance,...

Bridgehampton, NY - Lillie Keenan rode her Londinium to a narrow victory in the $20,000 Hampton Classic Time Challenge at the 38th Annual Hampton Classic Horse Show. Her time of 57.08 seconds barely eclipsed the time of Todd Minikus on Tuxedo, who stopped the clock in 57.51 seconds. Shane Sweetnam rode Cyklon 1083 to third place in 58.47 seconds. Keenan, 16, New York, N.Y., said she'd watched Minikus go on Tuxedo, and she knew that replicating his performance would be the key. Minikus went...

Jared Petersen and Titus 2:11 on their way to a win in the $40,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Culpeper (ESI Photography) Culpeper, VA - Twenty-one-year-old Jared Petersen of Archer, Florida and fellow Legacy Farm rider Jordan Coyne of New Port Richey, Florida went one-two in Sunday’s $40,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Culpeper, posting the only double clear rounds of the day. In a field that included grand prix veterans such as Laura Linback, Tracy...