Photo by Flashpoint Photography (Elizabeth Boyd and Brunello.) The summer season arrived early with plenty of sunshine and blue skies to kick off two weeks of heated competition at the Georgia International Horse Park. “This has been some start-up week—great weather, exciting competition, and new class debuts!” said Bob Bell, president of the Classic Company. Week one was designated a World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) event and as such hosted both the United States HUnter Jumper...

Photo by Lauren Fisher/PMG (Lisa Goldman and Morocco won the $10,000 SJHOF High Junior/AO Jumper Classic.) It was a fantastic day for 21-year-old Denise Wilson of Oconomowoc, WI, and Blue Gate Farm LLC's Life is Life 15 when the pair raced to victory in Saturday afternoon's $30,000 Showplace Productions Grand Prix. Held in the beautiful Grand Prix Ring at the Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, IL, the grand prix was the first of three in the 2010 Showplace Spring Spectacular Horse Show...

Nevada Bay and Will Coleman (www.stockimageservices.com) Driving At the CAI Saumur in France US drivers Katie Whaley and Laurie Astegiano gave a strong showing against international competition. Astegiano and her Pony Team were second after an impressive clean go through the cones and finished fourth overall. Whaley competed in the Pony Pairs, she had a solid dressage phase, and was third after a strong performance in the marathon - she finished fifth overall. For complete results please click...

Cinder Lakes Ranch and Reproduction Center Manager Rick Ford will head up the 2010-2011 Southwest Reining Horse Association (SWRHA) Online Stallion Auction. Implemented in 2006, the Online Stallion Auction is one of the most successful in the reining industry and has helped the Futurity become the eighth largest added-money reining event, according to Quarter Horse News . SWRHA President Jack Covington, who was the driving force behind the creation of the auction and managed the auction since...

Photo by James Leslie Parker (Georgina Bloomberg and Metropolitan jump to victory in the the $75,000 Empire State Grand Prix.) The two weeks of world-class equestrian competition held at the Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows attracted crowds of spectators eager to watch many of the nation's best horses and riders in action. Impeccably groomed horses, stylish and talented riders and the pristine facilities at Old Salem Farm all merged together to make the Spring Horse Shows two of the best weeks...

Photo by CapturedMomentPhoto.com (John French and Crown Affair.) The beautiful grass grand prix field at Showpark set the stage for two main events this week at the Ranch & Coast Tournament horse show. On Friday afternoon, the hunters were the stars as they competed in the $10,000 Chronicle of the Horse/USHJA International Hunter Derby and on Saturday afternoon, the jumpers took the spotlight in the $50,000 Grand Prix of California presented by Mary’s Tack & Feed. Thirty-eight horses hunted...

Tucker Johnson at the Royal Windsor Horse Show (RWHS/Peter Nixon Photo) Dressage In Germany at the CDI3* Hamburg, US riders Catherine Haddad and Susie Dutta put in very respectable performances in the Grand Prix. Finishing with a solid score in the Grand Prix on Friday, Dutta and Currency DC executed a beautiful test in the Grand Prix Special to finish in second with a score of 68.667%. Haddad, with 10-year-old Hanoverian Winyamaro, her newest Grand Prix partner, were second in the Freestyle...

Sappire Wins Again for McLain Ward (Erin Cowgill) Lexington, KY and La Baule, France – McLain Ward topped off a phenomenal week for the United States show jumpers with a brilliant win in the Grand Prix Longines de la Ville de La Baule at CSIO La Baule with his superstar mare, Sapphire. He topped teammate Mario Deslauriers on Jane Clark’s Urico by nearly a second. There were 13 first round clears out of 50 starters, and Ward went last in the jump-off. Riding for Tom Grossman’s Blue Chip...

Lexington, KY and La Baule, France - Ten teams were in the hunt at the first CSIO of the 2010 Meydan FEI Nations Cup including Poland, a team taking the huge step from the FEI Promotional League to the Meydan Nations Cup, who led off the jumping in La Baule, France. As the show celebrated its 50th anniversary before a capacity crowd and six clear trips out of the first 10 horses made it look as though the course would be soft. That form didn't hold however and as the class unfolded, the rails...

Photo by James Leslie Parker (Philip Richter and Glasgow.) Philip Richter returns to the Devon Horse Show to defend his championship on Glasgow in Amateur Owner Jumpers on Friday and Saturday, June 4-5. The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair, May 27-June 6, benefits the Bryn Mawr Hospital, to which it has donated almost $14 million. New footing in the Dixon Oval at Devon has been installed by Equestrian Services International, which has provided the footing for the 2008 Olympics in Hong Kong,...