California's Steffen Peters with his new star "Weltino's Magic". (Photo by Jennifer M. Keeler.) Burbank, CA - Riders who dream of competing at the Pan American Games began their quest at the Mid-Winter Dressage Fair CDI*/Y/J in Burbank, CA, February 24-27, 2011. As the first official qualifying competition on the West Coast, horses and riders vied for scores in front of FEI judges Jayne Ayers ("I" USA), Natalie Lamping ("I" USA), and Lorraine MacDonald ("I" CAN). In addition, this competition...

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...

Wellington, FL - February 21, 2011 - The sixth week of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) has concluded at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, and another week of fantastic competition was held. The FTI WEF hosts the best that the sports of show jumping, hunters, and equitation have to offer in 12 rings of competition. In addition to competition, the FTI WEF hosts many exciting activities. In an unusual class on the opening morning of week 6 at the FTI Winter Equestrian...

Beezie Madden and Prima. (Photo by Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - Two-time Olympic gold medalist Beezie Madden scored her second win this week at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in the $50,000 G&C Farm Palm Beach Jumping Derby. She and Prima, owned by Neapolitan Holding Co., LLC, were the fastest over a challenging derby course on the grass field at The Stadium. The FTI Winter Equestrian Festival's sixth week concluded today and was sponsored by Fidelity Investments. The 2011 WEF will continue...

LA Pomeroy (IHSA Executive Director Bob Cacchione.) Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation and The EQUUS Foundation are pleased to announce the winner of the EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award. Bob Cacchione, Executive Director of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), was selected from more than 20 nominees to receive this distinctive honor. The award will be presented January 22, 2011, at the USEF Pegasus Awards Dinner during the Federation's Annual Meeting...

American Fans Are Ready for WEG (Shannon Brinkman/USEF) Lexington, KY - There are 101 different athletes (some nominated on more than one horse) from 22 different states nominated to represent the United States at the biggest equestrian event in US history. The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games is the first opportunity to see all eight disciplines: Dressage, Endurance, Eventing, Driving, Jumping, Para-Equestrian Dressage, Reining and Vaulting in one place at the same time when these games come...

It's not like Rachel Boggus has time on her hands. In addition to riding and showing three horses across all the divisions, the amateur rider who trains with Michael Dennehy also is completing the last year of her anesthesiology residency at the University of Colorado Medical Center. "I don't have a lot of free time," Rachel admitted. "When I do, I am riding and showing. It's really hard for me to stay away and sometimes that means very long days with very little sleep, but I wouldn't have it...

Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo (Erin Cowgill Photo) USEF Names Team for Meydan FEI Nations Cup Team Aachen, Germany – Sitting in the final spot of a nine horse jump-off, Olympic Gold medalist Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY, had the small luxury of knowing the time that she had to beat. With that knowledge, Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo were able to best the time of 50.07 seconds set by Sweden's Rolf-Göran Bengtsson and Ninja La Silla by two seconds. Their time of 48.27 seconds and a...

Hunters had a big week at the High Prairie Farms Spring Final. More than 20 horse-and-rider combinations competed in the $2,500 United States Hunter Jumper Association National Hunter Classic on a perfect May evening in the main hunter ring. When it was all over, Libby Copeland claimed the championship riding Remember When (Jennifer Wallen, owner). Copeland, a Kansas City native, rides and trains out of Michael Dennehy’s Bridlewood Farms. She has been there for a little more than a year after...

The wind tried to take center stage during the High Prairie Spring Classic, but nothing could unseat Bjorn Ikast, who continued to take the High Prairie jumper division by storm. A virtual fixture at the Colorado Horse Park, Ikast brought back a stunning six horses to the jump-off in the $10,000 Riders Choice High Prairie Grand Prix on Saturday. “I am very pleased to have eight grand prix horses to ride now,” Ikast said. “They are all going very well. It’s great!” Of the 16 horse-and-rider...