Katy Groesbeck and Oz the Tin Man at the winter training session (USEF Archives) Lexington, Ky. - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and its Eventing High Performance Department introduced a redesigned Developing Riders/Eventing 25 Program for 2013, and the participants had impressive performances throughout the season. Selected by application, 17 riders from across the country benefitted from regular access, coaching, and guidance from U.S. Team Coach, David O’Connor. The...

California's Akiko Yamazaki celebrated her success aboard "Matrix" in the Prix St. Georges Adult Amateur Championship on the final day of the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®. (SusanJStickle.com) Lexington, Ky. - Emotions ran high as the final six champions were crowned Sunday at the inaugural US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® in Lexington, KY. Riders who traveled to the Kentucky Horse Park from coast to coast celebrated their championship experience with memorable rides and...

Reed announced her win on Instagram. Oldenburg, Germany - Only days after winning the Longines Rising Star award at the FEI Awards Gala , Reed Kessler showed the form that earned her that recognition by taking a 1.45m winning round compeition at CSI2* Oldenburg. The class was broken into eleven groups with the winners plus three returning for the winning round. Kessler qualified for that winning round and was the penultimate in the order of go. When her turn came around she and her own Ligist...

Waco, Tx. – The National Collegiate Equestrian Association on Friday announced its October Riders of the Month, recognizing outstanding performances from the second month of the 2013-14 collegiate equestrian season. South Carolina’s Katherine Schmidt was named the October Equitation Over Fences Rider of the Month. She posted a 4-0 record in equitation over fences in the month of October with two MVP honors. Three of her four wins and one of her two MVPs came in away meets. On Oct....

Lexington, Ky. - The much-anticipated start of the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® became official today when the first horses trotted down arena centerlines at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. As the inaugural national head-to-head competition for Adult Amateur and Open riders from Training Level to Grand Prix, hundreds of exhibitors from coast to coast have gathered to share in what for many will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Today 16 non-championship "USDF...

Oklahoma City, Okla. – A new discipline will be on display at the 2013 AQHA World Championship Show: para-reining. USA Reining and the United States Para-Equestrian Association (USPEA) announced last month that along with the help of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA), reining would be introduced as a discipline for para-equestrian athletes. With the aim of making para-reining a fully recognized sport in 2014, a clinic and...

Adult amateur rider Krista Nordgren (South Portland, ME) & "Schando" will be competing this weekend for a national title at the inaugural US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan. (Photo courtesy of Krista Nordgren) Lexington, Ky. - Final entries are in and horse vans have already begun arriving at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY for the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®, the first national head-to-head competition of its kind showcasing riders and horses competing for...

Wendy O'Brien (Mary Phelps-phelpsphotos.com) Pau, France - The 2013 FEI Pony World Driving Championships came to a conclusion Sunday with the cones phase and saw the United States secure a seventh place finish on a total of 452.1. The Netherlands capped off a banner weekend earning Team Gold on a score of 332.3, with Germany claiming Silver on 365.9, and Hungary cruised to a Bronze medal on a score of 388.3. In the Single Pony Championship, Tracey Morgan (Beallsville, Md.) led the way for the U....

Pau, France - The United States sent six drivers onto the marathon on Saturday at the 2013 FEI Pony World Driving Championships and finished the day in seventh place on a total of 426.7. The Netherlands leads the field on a score of 326.2, with Germany currently in Silver medal position on 351.9, and Hungary occupies third place with a total of 370.9. Tracey Morgan and Fuego 88 (Mary Phelps-phelpsphotos.com) In the Single Pony Championship, the U.S. was represented by Tracey Morgan and Paul...

Pau, France - At the conclusion of the first phase of the 2013 FEI Pony World Driving Championships, the United States stands in sixth place on a total of 158.60. On Friday, the Single Pony competitors went to task before the Ground Jury of Klaus Christ, Anne-Marie Turbe, Diana Brownlie, and Dot Wilcoxson. Tracey Morgan (Mary Phelps-phelpsphotos.com) On the second day of the driven dressage the United Sates was represented by Tracey Morgan and Paul Maye. Morgan (Beallsville, Md.) drove her own...