ESI Photography. (McLain Ward and Sapphire in the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix. ) Saugerties, NY - Two-time U.S. Olympic Gold medalist McLain Ward of Brewster, NY, and his majestic, "million-dollar" mare, Sapphire, owned by Ward and Blue Chip Bloodstock, won the inaugural Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix on Sunday, September 12 at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties. The legendary duo of Ward and Sapphire proudly added their names to the show jumping history books once more when they bested a field of...

The 126th National Horse Show was a great success this year with top hunter and equitation competition. The hunters ran their classes on Wednesday through Friday. The highlight event, the ASPCA Maclay National Championship, was held on Saturday, October 31. The 126th National Horse Show is featured at the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament in the War Memorial at the Oncenter Complex in Syracuse, NY. When the 2009 ASPCA Maclay National Championships came to a close, it was 17-year-old...

Rising star Daniel Bluman added another impressive line to his resume when he bested a star-studded field aboard Fatalis Fatum to secure the top prize in the $100,000 United States Grand Prix League (USGPL) Invitational Grand Prix at HITS Commonwealth Park in Culpeper, VA. Bluman and his impressive mount have now won three grand prix events in a row, including a victory in the $100,000 class at The Hampton Classic. "I am very proud of my horse," said Bluman. "He is proud to do his job. When I...

Anne Gribbons is set to take on position of USEF Dressage Chef d’Equipe/Technical Advisor (USEF Archive/PhelpsPhoto.com) The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to announce that pending successful contract negotiations, Anne Gribbons will be named as USEF Dressage Chef d’Equipe/Technical Advisor through 2012. Gribbons will fill the role for dressage that Capt. Mark Phillips and George Morris fill for the Olympic disciplines of eventing and show jumping respectively. The...

Showplace Productions is pleased to announce that the Wachovia Showplace Spring Spectacular II horse show, held from June 19-24, at Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, IL, is part of the $80,000 Rider Bonus series. The highlight of the spring show is the $50,000 Wachovia Securities Grand Prix on Saturday, June 23, which will feature some of the best show jumpers in the Midwest. The Rider Bonus series is divided among three divisions from 12 participating Showplace Productions shows, including...

The five-year-old champion in the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Central Selection Trials was Solaris Hit, ridden and owned by Rebecca Knollman, of Maineville, OH. (PhelpsPhotos.com) Lexington, KY – Some of the most promising dressage prospects in the country were showcased in the quest to qualify for the FEI World Breeding Championships in Verden, Germany, as the 2007 Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program kicked off with two of the three official selection trials. The first...

The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) is pleased to announce NRHA Professional Tom McCutcheon has reached a major milestone in his career. McCutcheon is now part of an elite distinction only a few reiners reach in their lifetime. McCutcheon just topped one million dollars in NRHA Lifetime Earnings. The reiner from Aubrey, TX, becomes the latest to join the NRHA Million Dollar Rider club with $1,004,881.75 in lifetime earnings. McCutcheon’s earnings at the 2006 NRHA Futurity sent him...

Once again, the nation’s best equestrians will converge on Wellington, FL, for the 123rd National Horse Show and Family Festival, beginning on November 29, 2006. The show is proud to host the best of the best, the cream of the crop, from the amateur-owner jumper and junior jumper divisions. The top-ranked riders from the year-long Show Jumping Hall of Fame Series (SJHOF) have once again been invited to compete in a head-to-head battle in Florida in their special year-end championships at the...

The nation’s horse center at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington set the stage for four different USEF eventing championships over the past weekend, October 19-22. The storms that plagued the region in the week leading up to the competitions left portions of the steeplechase course under water. Officials deemed it necessary to eliminate the steeplechase from the event. The national championships were also run concurrent with the ever-popular Mid-South Team Challenge. In the one-star...

Sometimes winning looks easy, and sometimes it just doesn’t. Ask the junior jumper riders about the 2006 Adequan/USEF National Junior Jumper Team Championship - Prix des States. The Zone 2 team representing the best junior jumper riders from New Jersey , New York and Pennsylvania made every jump count as they edged the Zone 1, New England squad, by a single downed rail. The defending champions, Zone 5 (IL, IN, KY, MI, OH) were never better than third where they tied with West Coast Zone 10 (CA,...