Lezirias, Portugal - The United States got off to a quick start at the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles as they stand fourth in the team standings following the first phase of competition with a score of 96.5. Leslie Berndl leads the way for the U.S. after scoring 46.46 in the dressage to stand in sixth place individually. In the Team competition Germany leads on a score of 83.4. While Poland's Bartlomiej Kwiatek leads the Individual championship after scoring 38.53 in the...

The twelveth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder Every day I field calls from people wanting to know more about Western Dressage. What is it? How do I find out more about it? Can anyone do it? Is it hard? Who teaches Western Dressage? Are there shows? Last weekend a few of our riders were invited to do a Western Dressage demonstration at the local dressage show. What struck me was the feeling of being out of place amongst my dressage friends because we were wearing our western...

Wellington, FL - Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP), the management company of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival, is pleased to announce the dates of their 2012 ESP Fall Circuit. The ESP Fall Circuit will be an introduction to the fantastic winter show season at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. The ESP Fall Circuit will feature six weeks of world-class competition on October 5 through November 18, 2012. The official prize list can be found online and...

Scott Stewart riding Enjoy, one of the horses that helped him earn the Leading Hunter Rider title at the Hampton Classic Horse Show. (Shawn McMillen) Bridgehampton, NY - Scott Stewart, of Wellington Fla., was the Leading Hunter Rider of the 37th Annual Hampton Classic Horse Show, winning three hunter championships. He was presented with the Charlie Weaver Memorial Trophy for the second consecutive year and for the sixth time in his career. “This means a lot to me,” said Stewart....

Stamford, UK - The Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team showed that the future is bright claiming two spots within the top ten at The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. Sunday proved to be an influential day of Show Jumping as the leaderboard saw a huge shake-up from top to bottom. Sinead Halpin and Allison Springer put a summer’s worth of training in England, thanks to Land Rover Competition and Training Grants, to the test producing classy efforts throughout the week to claim second and sixth...

Bridgehampton, NY - Allison Toffolon, of Bronxville, N.Y., coolly earned the highest scores in both rounds of the Sam Edelman Equitation Championship, to edge Victoria Colvin and Sylvia de Toledo, on Thursday afternoon at the 37th Annual Hampton Classic Horse Show. Riding her own horse Class Action, Toffolon, 16, scored 90 points in the first round and 89 points in the second round. “I took a lot of deep breaths to stay calm before I rode the second round,” she said. The...

Bridgehampton, NY - I nternational veteran Jeffery Welles of Pound Ridge, N.Y., ruled the Grand Prix Ring on Tuesday at the 37th Annual Hampton Classic. Welles won both the afternoon’s American Eurocopter $7,500 1.45m Open Jumper class and the fist section of the morning’s Newsday $7,500 1.40m Open Jumper class. Welles, 50, won the more difficult afternoon class on Merlin in a time of 61.80 seconds, defeating Darragh Kerins on S&L Farms’ S&L Zeppelin (62.06) and Shane...

The tenth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder The development of Western Dressage as a discipline is very exciting to riders, trainers, breeders and exhibitors alike. North American Western Dressage is dedicated to finding common ground between the two disciplines, educating riders from all backgrounds, and to making dressage concepts accessible to western riders without minimizing the importance of the training pyramid nor sacrificing the principles that are fundamental to...

Bridgehampton, NY - Horses stabled on Long Island had their day in the spotlight on Sunday, competing in the local hunter divisions in the newly renamed Anne Aspinall Ring or in Hunter Ring 2. The brightest star of the day was Mariano, owned by Stephanie Riggio and ridden by Sandra Ferrell. The pair won the Local Hunter Professional Championship on the way to winning the Grand Local Hunter Championship, awarded to the horse who earns the most points on the way to his divisional championship. To...

Bridgehampton, NY - Molly Ashe-Cawley, of Wellington, Fla., rode Kennzo to first place in both rounds of the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, presented by MeadowView Farms, to earn the blue ribbon on the first day of the Hampton Classic. Their total score of 373.5 edged out teenage sensations Victoria Colvin on Inclusive (368.75) and Lillie Keenan on Monterrey (368.0). Colvin also finished 11th on Listen (271.0) and 12th on VIP Z (268.0) in the 35-horse field. This was first time that...