Winner Matthew Metell riding Pioneer, owned by Heritage Farm (James Leslie Parker ) Gladstone, NJ - It was a picture perfect ending to a picture perfect weekend for the 2009 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals – East in Gladstone, NJ. Matthew Metell, riding Pioneer (owned by Heritage Farm) captured the prestigious win at the Finals – East. This year the Finals – East had a record number of entries with 97 riders completing all three Phases. The weekend...

Sunday is not end of show -- After congratulations are given, ribbons handed out and horses in the boxes, the work continues. Horses are washed, the barn broken down and the camps are disassembled. Slowly competitors start to leave and the feeling of the win gets lost in the rush to get packed. It's a strange feeling to be a member of a team that just won the most prestigious driving event leading up to the world games. It feels almost surreal. The team was turned out in flawless fashion...

“Excited and overwhelmed,” were how Gallop in the Glen co-chair Kim Burnett Mitchell described the opening week. "I feel the show was a success due to the GREAT exhibitors, GREAT parties every night, GREAT music each night, a GREAT staff, and GREAT officials!” an exuberant Mitchell said. Even Saturday’s downpour of rain didn’t dampen spirits or good times. “Everyone still kept telling me how thrilled with the show they were. Actually this facility can handle an unbelievable amount of rain, and...

In a major new initiative, the American Hanoverian Society (AHS) is pleased to announce a new foal life recording partnership with the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). The USEF, which serves as the National Governing Body for Equestrian Sport in the U.S., licenses equestrian competitions of all levels across the United States each year and maintains the points and standings for the annual USEF Horse of the Year (HOTY) Awards in its comprehensive database. Through cooperative efforts...

Dr. Cesar Parra and Lori Washton’s 13-year-old KWPN gelding, Olympia proved that good things come in threes at the 2009 New England Dressage Association Fall Festival CDI-W/Y/J. The pair went three for three winning the Prix St. Georges, Intermediaire I, and the Intermediaire Freestyle. Parra and Olympia finished the weekend with an exciting victory in the Intermediaire Freestyle with a score of 74.5%. The freestyle performance was fun, and the spectators showed their appreciation by clapping...

Dressage trainer Todd Flettrich and his mount, Otto, owned by Cherry Knoll Farm, made their competitive debut in the United States this weekend at the New England Dressage Association's (NEDA) Fall Festival, held September 9-13, in Saugerties, NY. After spending three months in Germany training with Olympic Gold medalist Hubertus Schmidt, Flettrich and Otto returned to Cherry Knoll Farm's Pennsylvania location just one week prior to the Saugerties competition, and went on to win the CDI Grand...

Former United States Equestrian Team (USET) Chairman Finn M.W. Caspersen, whose competitive nature paid off in a shining multitude of medals for America, died September 7 in Rhode Island. He was 67. "His leadership over his 20 years with the team was extraordinary. It brought the team to an entirely new level and we can't be anything but forever grateful to Finn," said Jane Forbes Clark, the USET Foundation's president and CEO. During Caspersen's tenure, which began in 1982 when he was elected...

Jeffery Welles Claims $7,500 Prudential Douglas Elliman 1.45m Open Jumper Win Jeffery Welles did it again, winning his second major class this week at the Hampton Classic Horse Show. Welles, of Wellington, FL, piloted Tango to top honors in the $7,500 Prudential Douglas Elliman 1.45m Open Jumper class. On Tuesday, he won the $7,500 1.40m Open Jumper Class aboard his veteran mount, Armani. The 34th Hampton Classic, one of the nation's premiere show jumping competitions hosted hunter/jumper...

Renowned trio of George Morris, Ian Millar, and Courtney King-Dye team for "first time" educational opportunity in Syracuse An equestrian dream team of George Morris, Ian Millar, and Courtney King-Dye will lead an educational clinic "How It's Done—Dressage and Jumping, Presented by Practical Horseman Magazine " to highlight the opening night of the 2009 Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament featuring the 126th National Horse Show, on October 28. It is the first time the three, each...

HITS, Inc., is excited to announce that they will offer a $1-million United States Grand Prix League (USPGL) Grand Prix at the HITS Saugerties Summer Show Series on Sunday, September 12, 2010. The grand prix will be the culmination of qualifying opportunities in grand prix events at all of the 2010 HITS horse shows, including Thermal, Ocala, Arizona, Culpeper, and Saugerties. "This is something we've been looking to do for some time now and the opportunity has finally presented itself," said...