CULPEPER, VA (October 4, 2010)--Kate Conover and Rock Steady were the top pair in Saturday's $10,000 Pre-Green Hunter Classic during the Culpeper Finals at HITS Commonwealth Park in Culpeper, Virginia. Rock Steady is 10 years old and was imported from Europe by Emil Spadone in July. Since coming into the country, the horse has certainly lived up to his name in the show ring, and he put the icing on the cake with a win in Saturday's feature class for hunter riders. "He is so much fun to ride,"...

Disappointment is hard to swallow. I think we are still choking on it after our dreams for a medal in eventing went on the skids when Mandiba slammed on the brakes in the show jumping at a black gate. Becky Holder made the difficult decision to withdraw Courageous Comet while sitting in a very good spot for a medal but Comet will be back to fight another day and Becky and Aubrey really do look after him so well. We were all devastated, especially after Karen had the round of the day on the...

Mario Deslauriers and Urico. (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF.) Lexington, KY - The Jumping World Championships presented by Rolex at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games kicked off today with the speed competition. More than 120 horses would jump through Conrad Homfeld's beautifully designed course before the day was done. This first round of the jumping was the speed competition, so all the riders were aiming to have fast and clear rounds. Coming off a brilliant Team Gold medal win...

It’s funny to watch the jog for different disciplines and how different the horses act. I find the most humorous jogs to be the hunters and the reiners. I expected the jumpers to be quite fresh at the jog just like the event or dressage horses, but they really weren’t—with a few exceptions. There was a horse from New Zealand, a gorgeous stallion, who was being jogged by two people. It was somewhat funny to watch but surely wouldn’t have been if I had been on the other...

Karen O'Connor and Mandiba (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF) Lexington, KY - Sunday's third and final phase of the Eventing World Championship by Reem Acra will be a hotly contested face-off between three nations: Great Britain, the United States and Canada, each separated from the other by only a handful of points on the leader board. The showdown for the Gold Medal is scheduled to air LIVE on NBC Sports at 1:00 PM [ET], as part of a five-hour equestrian sports marathon from the 2010...

Shannon Brinkman (Steffen Peters and Ravel.) Lexington, KY - Simply put, it was the greatest night of dressage action in the history of the sport on American soil. It came down to a dashing Dutchman, a young English woman and the superstar American rider - all who continually broke and set records in a week that saw the world turn its attention to the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY. For the Americans, it was a double-dose of new heights achieved in the sport. Steffen...

Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF) Lexington, KY - The FEI Eventing World Championships, presented by Reem Acra, are officially underway at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Eighty horses passed the veterinary inspections yesterday, and the first forty performed their dressage tests today. With such decorated riders as Mark Todd of New Zealand, William Fox-Pitt and Pippa Funnell of Great Britain, and Ingrid Klimke of Germany taking to the arena today,...

Tom McCutcheon and Gunners Special Nite. (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF.) Lexington, KY - The United States upped its medal count by two today in the FEI Reining World Championship presented by John Deere at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. In the Individual Final, the U.S. took gold and silver when Tom McCutcheon on Gunners Special Nite, owned by Turnabout Ranch, and Craig Schmersal with Mister Montana Nic, owned by the Mister Montana Nic Syndicate, had the two best patterns...

The U.S. Event Team and Team GBR at the Land Rover Test Drive (Glen Davis) Lexington, KY - Today was a day for horsing around at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. In a light hearted competition, the U.K. based Team GBR beat the local favorites from the U.S. as they took top-honors in today’s Land Rover Test Drive Challenge. The two teams swapped their customary single horsepower for an entirely different kind of horsepower, behind the wheel of identical 375 hp Land Rover LR4...

Deborah Reich and DJB Juniper Finish 18th for USA. (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF. ) Lexington, KY - The endurance race at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games kicked off at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday as 108 horse-and-rider combinations headed out on the six-loop track, all hoping to be the first to finish at the end of the day. The day started out cool and breezy but ended up being perfect weather for an endurance competition. Five U.S. endurance combinations started the race. However,...