Another day, another waste of time setting the alarm clock; a forlorn hope that I would make it to 5:30 a.m. There are still many loose ends to sort so the “get your lazy arse (aka butt) out of bed” side of my brain is winning the nightly joust with the “go on..be a lazy walrus” side of the aforementioned, alcohol preserved grey matter: I will not pretend that I am not extremely nervous about the arrival of the horse flights and also how we are going to make the...

Lexington, Ky. - The World Equestrian Festival held from May 29 – May 31, 2015 at the renowned Aachen, Germany equestrian venue was an exciting display of excellence in the disciplines of dressage, driving, and jumping. The United States held their own on the international stage with excellent placings by American participants in all three disciplines. Steffen Peters and Legolas 92 (Shannon Brinkman Photo) Dressage The U.S. was well represented in Grand Prix competition by Shelly Francis...

Las Vegas, Nev. - In true Las Vegas style, the final highlight event of the Las Vegas National opened with glitz and glamour. As eager spectators began to fill the stands, forty-four of show jumping's best and brightest prepared to compete in the $75,000 Las Vegas CSI-W Grand Prix. After ten went clean, it was Harrie Smolders (NED) and the speedy Regina Z who outran the rest for the win. Harrie Smolders and Regina Z (Alden Corrigan Photography) The Opening Ceremonies commenced with a Parade...

Saumur, France - The rain that has plagued much of the week at the Saumur CCI3* continued on Friday but the two U.S. entries were undeterred as they slotted into the top 10 at the completion of the first phase. Land Rover Competition Grant recipient, Doug Payne, leads the American effort standing fourth heading into the cross country, with Elisabeth Halliday-sharp lying eighth after the dressage. Doug Payne and Crown Talisman (Eric Knoll) Payne (Apex, N.C.) and his own and Larry and Amelia...

Richie Moloney and Slieveanorra - (Cealy Tetley) Bromont, Quebec - Irish rider Richie Moloney finishes in first place in the Modified Grand Prix event, on Saturday July 27 at the 38th edition of International Bromont. Venezuelan course designer Leopoldo Palacios' course comprised many technical difficulties, as the participants' results reflect. Of the 34 pairs registered, none succeeded in executing a perfect round: the time allowed of 83 seconds combined with a highly challenging...

Lexington, KY - Eventing started their journey to the medal podiums today with the dressage phase for the CCI1* (Junior) riders. Area V leads the way in the Team competition with 155.9 penalties. Area III is in second with 157.7, while the combined team of Areas VII & VIII is in third on 159.7. Individually, Lauren Clark of Team Canada-Ontario is leading with 47.7 penalties on Yoscha Bosche. Sitting in second is Nicole Doolittle (Area III) on Tops, who has 48.1 penalties. Reagan LaFleur...

The WDAA achieved 501(c)(3) tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service as a recognized educational organization. It is an affiliate of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). It has established Alliance relationships with a number of breed organizations including the American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA), the International Freisian Show Horse Association (IFSHA), the American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA), the Andalusian and Lusitano Show Alliance, and the Pinto Horse...

Since 1906, the National Western Stock Show in Denver has been the Super Bowl of livestock shows. On January 24th at this year’s show, Cliff Swanson, along with the Western Dressage Association® of Colorado , presented a two hour clinic in the basics of Western Dressage. Drawing from his skill set clinics, Cliff was able to demonstrate what he normally teaches in five or six half-day clinics. Cliff explained the history of dressage, as he began with a demonstration of aids,...

The twenty first in a series of blog post from Michelle Binder As this blog has progressed, I have tried to bring awareness about Western Dressage to the equestrian community at large. Now I am going to encourage you to do some research on your own. By now you know that there are several organizations promoting the development of the sport. At this point the question we hear most often from people all over is: “What is the difference?” To some it seems that the differences that...

Wellington, FL - The Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) Spring Circuit continued last week with week 5 on April 13-17. ESP was very pleased to see that exhibitor numbers at the show increased 25% from 2010. The horse show offered a full schedule of hunter/jumper competition, with three classes featured: the $10,000 Pennfield Feeds Open Jumper Welcome Stake, the $7,500 Reist Industries High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Stake at The Stadium, and the $30,000 ESP Spring 5 Grand Prix. The winner of...