Entries for the 2010 HITS Desert Circuit are up nearly 10% over last year for the 2010 HITS Thermal Circuit, for "an impressive leap in a down economy," said Tom Struzzieri, President and CEO of HITS. Struzzieri attributes Thermal's 2010 growth to discounted circuit rates for stabling prices, 16 Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix Qualifiers, four FEI World Cup Qualifiers, and the $300,000 Grand Prix of the Desert, which will take place on Sunday, March 14. "All of the indications we've had for the...

Brazilian superstar Rodrigo Pessoa headed the winning line-up of international riders in Sunday's $75,000 Grand Prix de Penn National on the final day of the 64th Pennsylvania National Horse Show. Pessoa, Olympic Gold medalist and three-time World Cup winner, aboard Let's Fly, was the eighth rider on course and the first to navigate the course designed by Steve Stephens without a rail down. "I have been riding him for a little over a year and a half," said Pessoa. "I started him in the bigger...

The 2009 Capital Challenge Horse Show was a great success this year with fantastic competition in hunters, jumpers, and equitation. The show was held at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD. Equitation Weekend Highlights, presented by BigEq.com Cayla Richards of Calabasas, CA, was a big winner on the first day of Equitation Weekend after she took the 15-Year-Old Equitation Championship and outlasted top riders to win the Flat Championships. Richards won the North American Junior Flat...

Rising star Daniel Bluman added another impressive line to his resume when he bested a star-studded field aboard Fatalis Fatum to secure the top prize in the $100,000 United States Grand Prix League (USGPL) Invitational Grand Prix at HITS Commonwealth Park in Culpeper, VA. Bluman and his impressive mount have now won three grand prix events in a row, including a victory in the $100,000 class at The Hampton Classic. "I am very proud of my horse," said Bluman. "He is proud to do his job. When I...

The Showplace Fall Classic Championship Horse Show came to a close on Sunday at the Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, IL. Saturday morning began with an exciting victory going to Maggie Jayne and Thomas Edison in the $25,000 Tapestry Farm Leading Rider Series Final Grand Prix. The top three open jumper riders in the 2009 Showplace Leading Rider Series battled against the clock as the only entries to qualify for the jump-off, and Jayne was the fastest by almost four seconds to take the top...

Perfect Qredit Claims Young Horse Championship on Day One Dressage at Devon, one of the most prestigious dressage and sport horse breeding shows in North America, kicked off its opening day with an impressive roster of some of the continent's best sport horses. Topping the select group of youngsters was Perfect Qredit, a yearling stallion by Quaterback, who claimed the Young Horse Championship and the Colt Championship, as well as the Yearling Colts and Geldings class. The trip to Dressage at...

Rinaldo de Craen/decraen.com (Larry Poulin is competing in his final World Championships in Hungary.) Lexington, KY - Team USA is currently in fourth position after two days of dressage at the FEI World Pair Driving Championship in Kecskemet, Hungary. Larry Poulin, Keady Cadwell and Lisa Singer are just 0.1 point behind German drivers who are defending their Gold Team medal. Mieke van Tergouw, the 1995 World Champion lady driver from The Netherlands, won the dressage, ahead of Switzerland’s...

On Sunday at HITS Culpeper Tracy Magness was back to her winning ways riding Tarco Van Ter Moude to the blue in the $30,000 HITS Grand Prix to conclude the Winston National at HITS Commonwealth Park in Culpeper, VA. Magness got the best of 19 pairs that challenged course designer Jerry Dougherty’s first-round course and the additional six that advanced to the jump-off en route to collecting $9,000 in first-place prize money. With the victory, Magness and Mr. and Mrs. John Bartko’s Tarco Van Ter...

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is pleased to announce that its Board of Governors has awarded the 2010-2012 USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) to Chattahoochee Hills Eventing in Fairburn, GA. This will be the third site to host the championships, which began in 2004 at the Carolina Horse Park in Raeford, NC, and moved to Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, IL, in 2007. "We are very excited and energized by our partnership with Carl Bouckaert and his team,” said Kevin...

Six-year-old Bijoux, owned by Janet Rolfs and ridden by Missy Fladland, is off to a phenomenal start to her young dressage career. Among her many honors, her most recent victory includes taking the reserve champion title at the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Central Selection Trials. The young Hanoverian mare (Bugatti Hilltop x Whimiscal L), bred by Margaret Drury, started her performance career only a year and a half ago as a coming five-year-old in the fall of 2007. After seven months of...