Lexington, KY - Open Jumper action at the Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition, wrapped up on Saturday night with a fast-paced jump-off during the Alltech National Horse Show $250,000 Grand Prix CSI-W. Richard Spooner and Cristallo set the pace with tidy inside turns and a clear effort, beating Great Britain's Nick Skelton aboard Carlo 273 by just three-tenths of a second. Jessica Springsteen and Cincinatti Le Silla rounded out the three as the fastest four-fault combination during...

Olympic Champions Eric Lamaze and Hickstead. Photo: Cealy Tetley, www.tetleyphoto.com. Verona, Italy – Hickstead, the horse that Canada’s Eric Lamaze rode to the Individual Gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has died at the age of 15. Lamaze of Schomberg, ON, and Hickstead were competing in the World Cup Grand Prix in Verona, Italy, on Sunday, November 6. Upon completion of their round, the pair were walking out of the arena when Hickstead collapsed and died. An autopsy...

The U.S. Dressage Team's Gold medal never looked in doubt today at the 2011 Pan American Games. They started off confidently and with each ride, the margin improved. They stormed to victory and won their fourth consecutive Pan American Games Team Gold medal - a first in the sport of Dressage. Their combined average score of 74.421% left them well clear of the Canadians who won Silver with a combined average of 70.413%. Colombia put in a valiant late effort to surge into the top three with...

Gladstone, NJ – The 2011 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals-East concluded on Sunday afternoon with an exciting victory for 18-year-old Samantha Schaefer of Westminster, MD. Showing over two beautiful autumn days at the USET Foundation Headquarters in Gladstone, NJ, eighty-four hopefuls came out to show this weekend in the 30th annual competition. Schaefer earned the win with high scores across the board in a head-to-head final four jump-off. Judges Jimmy Lee and...

The following changes have been made to the 2011 Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team for the Boekelo CCI3* running in The Netherlands, October 5-9, 2011. Michael Pollard (Dalton, GA) was added to the entry last week on DV8, an 11-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred gelding owned by Carl Bouckaert, Nathalie Pollard and Michael Pollard. In addition, Ali Slusher has withdrawn Last Call and Jules Stiller has withdrawn Charlie Weld leaving the following athlete/horse combinations contesting the CCI3*. Boyd...

Dublin, Ireland - The British pipped their old rivals from Ireland in the seventh leg of the FEI Nations Cup™ 2011 at the Disc Great Britain won the seventh leg of the FEI Nations Cup™ 2011 in Dublin, Ireland today. Pictured (L to R): Michael Whitaker, Robert Smith, Chef d'Equipe Rob Hoekstra, Nick Skelton and Scott Brash (Photo: FEI/Tony Parkes). over Ireland Dublin Horse Show in Dublin, Ireland today. Just a week after the exciting jump-off at Hickstead (GBR) in...

Another eventful day in Smartie’s world. It all started off pretty well, with me and Smartie both in a great mood. Smartie was especially happy because we got to graze her for a really long time. Since her middle name tends to be “Piggy,” she was very happy with her clover-filled breakfast. As the day went on, I began to get very excited. This made for a very long time of excitement since our class did not even start until 10 o’clock at night, but that didn’t stop...

Albuquerque, NM - It was devilishly hot when the trainers and horses arrived and unloaded their vans for the 19th Annual Arabian Youth National Championships Tuesday and Wednesday, just a few short days before the beginning of the show. As the horses and tack trunks were walked or lifted off of the vans the temperature poked its nose over the 100-degree mark, leaving man and mount sweating and equally eager for a drink of water and a cool spot in the shade. After nearly 20 years in the...

We arrived at the venue today! Our horses had already arrived, so we dove into our first day at the Kentucky Horse Park! We arranged team shirts, walked out our horses, and began organizing for the race this Friday. It was hard work, since we had just come back into the humidity, and I’d done a 120 kilometer race two days before, not to mention the jet lag! But the trip with the United States Endurance Team for the Trial Run of the Endurance World Championship was worth it! I ended up in...

Julie Curtin and Vince (Flashpoint Photography). Johns Island, SC — The final week of the Charleston Summer Classics held at Mullet Hall Equestrian Center was much like an adventure packed vacation itinerary, one moment you’re enjoying the sport with friendly competitive rivals- then shopping together for the social gatherings. This was also the week where the Wee Warriors of the Pony divisions battled for the coveted titles of Grand Pony Kahuna and the glory of being named Most...