Lexington, Ky. - To reach the highest level of excellence in equestrian sport requires talent, perseverance, a tremendous spirit and often, unwavering courage. In 2013, six horses have shown the world these qualities and more. On January 11, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will bestow two of them with the prestigious title of Horse of the Year, the highest honor the USEF awards a horse. Again this year, both a national and international horse will be crowned. The six champions...

Charlie Jacobs and Flaming Star (Mancini Photos) Wellington, Fla. - The $50,000 Holiday & Horses CSI-W 2* Grand Prix was held on Saturday night at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL, with a win for Charlie Jacobs (USA) and CMJ Sporthorse LLC's Flaming Star. In an exciting four-horse jump-off with over 4,000 fans cheering them on, Jacobs and Flaming Star topped Tim Gredley (GBR) and Unex Chamberlain Z, Jessica Springsteen (USA) and Vindicat W, and...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and its Eventing High Performance Department is proud to announce the participants for the 2014 Developing Riders/Eventing 25 Program. For the second year, a Developing Rider will be defined as a rider (25 and under) who has achieved a qualifying result at the CCI2* level. Chef d’Equipe David O’Connor will lead the Developing Riders/Eventing 25 program and coach the accepted athletes. In addition to lessons under saddle,...

Findlay, Ohio - November 18 - After four days of riding instruction, stable management, a written test and the Nations Cup competition, Sunny Drescher stood out among her peers and earned top honors in the USHJA Emerging Athletes National Training Session, presented by Dover Saddlery, November 14-17. "Sunny's the whole package. She's another kid whom we admire in all aspects of her horsemanship," said show jumping Olympic gold medalist and lead clinician Peter Wylde. "She's an...

U.S. Air Force veteran Derrick Perkins and Gallo del Poco Tivio, owned by Luke and Caleb Kelley competing in the Para-Reining competition at the 2013 AQHA World Championship Show (Lindsay Y. McCall) Oklahoma City, Okla. - November 17, 2013- The 2013 American Quarter Horse (AQHA) World Championship Show featured 3,401 entries, a total purse more than $2.4 million, riders from 49 states and 7 countries, and the best Reiners in the business. From November 8-23, equestrians competed in halter,...

McLain Ward and Rothchild charge over the GroupBy oxer to take the $100,000 Hickstead FEI World CupTM Grand Prix (Ben Radvanyi) Toronto, Ont. – In a masterful display of horsemanship, America’s McLain Ward (Brewster, NY) and Rothchild blazed a path to victory tonight in the Ricoh Coliseum, taking top honours in the $100,000 Hickstead FEI World CupTM Grand Prix presented by GroupBy for the fifth time in his career. "The Hickstead class” as it is now known, was renamed to honour...

Buck Davidson and Petite Flower, winners of the CCI3* at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event. (Amy McCool photo) Temecula, Calif. - Almost nothing about the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event worked out like Buck Davidson expected. Except that he came here from Pennsylvania to win the CCI3*, and he did, on Petite Flower, scoring 59.2 penalties. Jolie Wentworth rode GoodKnight to second place (59.7) and Liz Halliday-Sharp rode HHS Cooley to third place (61.6). Davidson also...

Emma Kurtz and True Love (Shawn McMillen Photography) Washington, D.C. - Young riders competed in the WIHS Pony Equitation Finals at the Washington International Horse Show Sunday afternoon with a win going to 13-year-old Emma Kurtz of Hudson, OH, riding True Love. Trained by Amanda Lyerly and Mike Rheinheimer, Kurtz scored an 86 over fences and moved from second to first with her ride in the work-off under saddle to take the lead. She was presented The Jane Marshall Dillon Memorial Perpetual...

Karl Cook and Banba (Captured Moment Photography) Del Mar, Calif. - Wrapping up the very last day of the Del Mar International Horse Show, there was still plenty of excitement to be had as the GGT Footing Grand Prix Series Final got underway. Sixty-five horse and rider pairs entered this class to battle it out for top honors today, and sixteen made it to the jump off. Out of those sixteen, we saw 7 impressive double clear rounds. In the end, Karl Cook and Banba, owned by Signe Ostby, set forth...

Welcome to the fourth installment of a different kind of blog from WDAA! The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or...