At exactly 8:08 p.m. on August 8, the official one-year-to-go countdown to the 2008 Olympic Games was launched. Eight is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture. In general, eight is an auspicious number for Buddhists. In front of 10,000 people gathered on Tianan’men Square, with the Forbidden City as a backdrop, a sumptuous ceremony took place where Chinese culture and traditions were clearly on show. The International Olympic Committee President handed out the official invitations to the...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – And then there were five. The gold medal eventing and dressage teams shipped out early Monday morning, leaving the five show jumpers alone in the U.S. wing of the stables at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With 17 countries represented, the most of the three disciplines, the show jumping will be very competitive. Florida’s Lauren Hough and Casadora are riding the crest of a very successful wave, having just won the valuable CN Reliability Grand Prix at...

Further tickets are on sale for the FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, for 2006. Tickets are even available for the extremely popular dressage and show-jumping finals. Up-to-date information can be obtained at www.aachen2006.de and tickets can be ordered from the hotline +49-(0)241-917-1111. "The web details are updated several times a day, so all of the information there really is completely up-to-date," explained Michael Mronz, member and spokesman of the Organizing Committee for...

Sally Ike has been named Managing Director of Show Jumping Sport Programs for the USEF. She will continue to be based at the Gladstone, NJ, office and will report directly to Jim Wolf, Executive Director of Sport Programs. In addition to being an experienced international competitor, Ike has 17 years of experience as a discipline director and Chef de Mission with the international teams programs. She competed for the U.S Equestrian Teams in three-day eventing, and was a member of the 1968...

With the only clean round in the jump-off, Molly Talla won the $50,000 World Cup Grand Prix, presented by Antares Saddlery, on Camaron Hills Shanroe, owned by Camaron Hills Farm of Temecula, CA, at the Second Annual Palms Classic Horse Show CSI-W to Benefit Casa de Amparo. Course designer Guillherme Jorge of Brazil created a variety of challenges for the five-day show held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, but his CSI-W course proved a challenge indeed to 25 horses in the grand prix. With 13 fences...

There was only one clean round, and it was ridden by Richard Spooner on Quirino in the $50,000 HBO World Cup Grand Prix of Del Mar presented by Mary’s Tack and Feed, a World Cup qualifying event. Spooner rode three horses in the grand prix, but it was his outstanding clear round on Quirino, owned by Oscany, Inc., of Los Angeles, which won, and also gave Spooner valuable points towards a spot representing the United States in the World Cup Finals to be held in Malaysia in 2006. Mariano Alario on...

The Westfalian-bred stallions Damon Hill and Florencio won the World Breeding Federation Sport Horses (WBFSH) World Championships for young dressage horses, held July 1-3 in Verden, Germany. Five-year-old Damon Hill (Donnerhall x Rubinstein), ridden by Helen Langehanenberg, scored a 9.02 in the finals, just ahead of half-brother Donnerball (Donnerhall x Alabaster) and FBW Dejavu (Dacaprio x Glueckspilz). In the six-year-old division, last year's five-year-old champion Florencio (Florestan x...

Santa Fe will host the second annual New Mexico Grand Prix on Memorial Weekend 2005, May 28-29. The event takes place on the Polo Fields of the Santa Fe Horse Park. A huge step toward the goal of making Santa Fe a premiere equestrian destination, this major sporting event will feature top riders from all over the country who will compete for prize money. The event will attract equine professionals, amateur exhibitors, horse lovers, owners and riders, tourists and spectators. Proceeds from the...

The West Coast Active Riders (WCAR) organization has many members competing at the Indio Desert Circuit horse shows in Indio, CA. Richard Spooner is currently one of the most successful West Coast grand prix riders, and he is the original founder of the West Coast Active Riders organization. The Indio Desert Circuit is only in its third week of competition, but Richard Spooner has won the majority of prizes in the grand prix competitions. In the $30,000 Ariat Grand Prix on Friday, February 4,...

Lexington, KY — After jumping a clear round followed by a clear jump-off Friday, Olympian McLain Ward (Silver Team medal, Athens 2004) and Goldika 559 (Holstein, Cor de la Bryere – Zelena II) claimed a first place victory during the World Cup Show Jumping Qualifier at the CSI-W Lexington Grand Prix. Closely following in second place was Lauren Hough (Alternate, Athens 2004) on Casadora (Dutch Warmblood, Indoctro – Kadora) with four faults on the final jump off. In a three-way...