Manuel Torres and Chambacunero. (ESI Photography©.) Saugerties, NY - The HITS winter show season just passed the mid-way point for all three of its circuits in Ocala, FL, Tucson, AZ, and Thermal, CA. As the leading show management company in the sport, HITS hosts 35 weeks of competition each year, with 58 Grand Prix and some of the biggest prize money purses offered anywhere in the world, including the historic Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix. At its peak, HITS hosts six Grand Prix events a week...

Rebecca Hart and Kazan (Fire and Earth Photo) Wayne, IL - Three days of competition for the USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championship concluded on Sunday at the stunning Lamplight Equestrian Center which has hosted this event for each of the past three years. "This is the largest number of riders we have ever seen," said Sandy Raferty, Chairman of the USEF Para-Equestrian High Performance Committee, "We are thrilled with the turnout." Eighteen riders competed in either a Long Course...

Dressage It was Dressage Week in San Diego, CA as part of the Del Mar National Horse Show. The Del Mar National CDI3* featured some of the top riders on the West coast including Steffen Peters who dominated both the Grand Prix and Intermediaire-I. Aboard Akiko Yamazaki's superstar Ravel, Peters won the Grand Prix and put in a near flawless effort in the Grand Prix Freestyle to win by 10 points with a score of 81.300%. Susan Blinks and Robin Hood were first in the Grand Prix Special with a score...

Photo by Ken Braddick (Steffen Peters and Ravel) Lexington, KY – Talk about busy. 2009 has been a whirlwind, new champions of all kinds, title defenders, legends and innovators made headlines this year. The line between winning and losing has become increasingly fine as all the USEF competitors in every discipline continue to up their game, hone their skills and make the US Team proud both locally and across the globe. With the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) looming on the...

The 2009 Cinch® National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Non Pro Futurity Finals were the featured competition on Friday at the NRHA Futurity & Adequan® North American Affiliate Championship (NAAC) Show in Oklahoma City, OK. Nearly two dozen countries have been competing at the show over the past nine days with nine riders from four countries advancing to the $120,000 added Cinch/NRHA Non Pro Futurity Finals. In draw two in the second section of the Non Pro finals, reigning champion and NRHA’s...

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...

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...

Hunters will dominate both rings on Monday, September 27, at the Capital Challenge Horse Show in Upper Marlboro, MD, but it will be the outdoor arena that showcases the industry's future stars. The Future Hunters division has been a great addition to the Capital Challenge since its introduction nine years ago. Future Hunter horses may not be flawless, but that raw talent gives us a hint of what's to come in later professional hunter divisions. The division has provided professionals with an...

Ocala, FL (July 13, 2009) – Kentucky Equine Research (KER) has joined forces with combined driver Chester Weber, becoming the latest Team Weber sponsor to join the championship team as they head toward the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Weber, a force to be reckoned with in the field of four-in-hand combined driving, became the first American to win an Individual medal at the World Championships and his high-profile team includes the now-famous Jamaica, the 2008 USEF Horse of the Year....

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) recently bestowed two distinct horses, Tsarina Bint RII and WH Bodacious, with the honor of being named Arabian ambassadors. The Ambassador Award, presented annually, recognizes Arabians, Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians for outstanding achievement in representing the Arabian Horse community to the general public. Tsarina Bint RII (PRI Ibn Masriyyah x Normandie), owned by McKenzie Rae Jenkins of Gallatin, TN, is a 13-year-old Half-Arabian bay mare. Jenkins...