Karl Cook and Farrari Del, Mar, Calif. - Kicking off the spotlight classes at Showpark Summer Festival, the $25,000 Markel Insurance Grand Prix welcomed an impressive 51 entries to compete for the top prize. With both green and seasoned horses in the class, course designer Linda Allen built a technical track that asked many questions at the 1.40m height. Featuring 17 efforts in a time allowed of 90 seconds, the intricate track required both speed and endurance from competitors to jump clean...

Julie Welles and Twan won the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix on August 9 (David Mullinix Photography) East Dorset, Vt. - Julie Welles of Wellington, FL, and Twan triumphed in the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix on August 9 during the final week of the Vermont Summer Festival horse show in East Dorset, Vt. The six-week equestrian competition runs July 2 through August 10 at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, Vt. A total of 10 entries found their way to a clear round...

Josephina Nor Lantzman and Chello Z (Captured Moments Photography) Del Mar, Calif. - The competition was fierce in Friday's $25,000 1.40m Markel Insurance Grand Prix at the Showpark Summer Festival. Thirty-nine entries competed for the top prize, with horses and riders ranging from seasoned competitors to greener mounts looking for experience. As the course required universal appeal while retaining grand prix technicality, veteran course designer Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela built a track...

Leaders in the CCI2* Individual Standings (left to right) Nicole Doolittle (Area III), David Ziegler (Canada/Alberta), and Hannah Bundy (Canada/Ontario) (Brant Gamma Photography) Lexington, Ky. - Eventing CCI1* (Junior) and CCI2* (Young Rider) riders started their journey to the medal podiums today with the dressage phase of the USEA North American Junior and Young Riders' Eventing Championship. The CCI2* riders finished their dressage tests in the evening with Canada/Ontario jumping into...

Lucy Davis & Barron Were Double Clear in Thursday's Nations Cup at CSIO5* Aachen (Shannon K. Brinkman Photography) Aachen, Germany. - The four members of Hermès U.S. Show Jumping Team, all of them also on the Hermès U.S. Show Jumping Short List for the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, impressed the capacity crowd attending the Mercedes-Benz FEI Nations Cup at CSIO5* Aachen on Thursday with a hard fought second-place finish. Though they had a few missteps in the...

Lexington, Ky. - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has updated the entry for the CDIO5* Aachen. Due to being hospitalized with pneumonia, Steffen Peters has withdrawn Four Winds Farm's Legolas 92 from the U.S. team for Nations Cup competition at CDIO5* Aachen and Four Winds Farm's Rosamunde from Aachen's CDI4* Small Tour. Peters and Legolas 92 have been replaced on the CDIO5* team by Caroline Roffman and her own Her Highness O, who originally were slated to compete in...

Lexington, Ky. - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will be represented in both Large and Small Tour dressage competition at the CHIO Aachen, July 11-20, in Aachen, Germany. Four members of the Short List for the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games U.S. Dressage Team will compose the U.S. team in the CDIO5*, with a further four contesting CDI4* competition. Big Tour competition at CHIO Aachen will serve as the second Mandatory Outing for the Short List for the 2014 Alltech FEI...

Courtney Calcagnini and Elementary (Phelps Media Group, Inc.) Parker, Colo. - Consistency is crucial for success in the hunter ring, especially when the horses are required to jump several courses over multiple days. In a sea of many capable professional hunters, one particular bay gelding captured the judge's eye. The powerhouse duo of Courtney Calcagnini and Elementary won all four First Year Green Hunter over fences classes over the past two days of the Summer in the Rockies IV at the...

Chris Pratt and Vanotrouska (Captured Moments Photography) San Juan Capistrano, Calif. - On a beautiful day for a grand prix in Southern California, it was Chris Pratt and Vanotrouska (Luce del Sole, owner) for the win in the $30,000 Markel Insurance 1.40m Grand Prix. Second to last to go in the jump-off, Pratt slipped in a slick and smooth ride, narrowly beating the leading time. With twenty-six entries, nine were clean and five double clean. Second in the jump-off, Nathalie Manning and Con...

Lexington, Ky. - The United States Equestrian Federation has named three horse-and-rider combinations to the U.S. Dressage Team for the 2014 Rotterdam CDIO5* taking place during the CHIO Rotterdam in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, June 18-22. Additionally, the U.S. will be represented by one individual in the CDI-U25 competition. The following combinations have been named to the U.S. Dressage Team for the Rotterdam CDIO5* (listed in Alphabetical Order): Susie Dutta (Wellington, Fla.) will ride Tim...