Jared Petersen and Titus 2:11 were the only pair to ride double clear on Sunday and it earned them the victory in the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Ocala this weekend (ESI Photography) Ocala, FL – Jared Petersen and Hayley Waters both shined as up-and-coming junior riders and are beginning to leave their mark on grand prix competition as well. Petersen and Waters went one-two in the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, this weekend. Success at the highest...

There wasn’t a whole lot of NCEA team competition last week (many teams took the week off while they were represented at the WEF Collegiate Equitation Challenge ), but some top teams are back in action this weekend. Check below for my take on each of the NCEA Matchups that'll be happening in the coming days. No.2 Auburn University vs. No.4 South Carolina University South Carolina heads to Auburn to try and rein in a reeling season. Working with three straight losses, and coming off...

Gramercy Park (Clip Clip Click) Lexington, KY - In 2011, the Peter Wetherill Cup debuted as an award to celebrate a current equine athlete who best exemplifies the qualities of a top-class show hunter. This prestigious perpetual trophy is presented annually at the Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular in Wellington, FL, to the owner of the World Championship Hunter Rider Program's Hunter of the Year. The elegant silver cup was donated by the USHJA Foundation in honor of late horseman Peter...

Andres Rodriguez and Caballito wore a target on their backs throughout the Ridge at Wellington 1.40m Invitational Grand Prix IV at Mida Farm, riding to the victory with a speedy double-clear effort. (Emily Riden/Phelps Media Group) Wellington, FL - Andres Rodriquez and Caballito soared through the jump-off in Friday's class in The Ridge at Wellington's $175,000 1.40m Invitational Grand Prix series in a blazing time of 31.475 seconds. The first to go clean around the immaculate Top's...

Quotable and Holly Orlando (Anne Gittins Photography) Wellington, FL - Quotable and Holly Orlando were named champions of the Sanctuary Regular Conformation Hunter division during the second day of competition for week four of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). Orlando and Quotable have been a formidable pair since the beginning of the FTI WEF, collecting Green Conformation Hunter Champion titles four weeks in a row and earning championship and reserve titles in the...

The Western Dressage world is abuzz with dressage talk. The hot topic of the moment seems to be progressive training, especially as it has to do with pyramids and scales. Pyramids are extremely stable structures that rely on strong, broad foundations and which rise to a point, a pinnacle if you will that represents a point of focus. Without the foundation, the pyramid loses strength. The intrinsic nature of the structure itself necessitates culmination in a point. The pyramid is the perfect...

Lisa Wilcox and Pikko Del Cerro HU (Susan J. Stickle) Wellington, FL - Lisa Wilcox and Pikko Del Cerro HU scored double wins at the Wellington Classic Dressage Sunshine Challenge CDI3* with victories Friday in the Grand Prix Special and Thursday in the Grand Prix. Pikko Del Cerro HU, a 16.2 dark bay Hanoverian stallion owned by Horses Unlimited and Anne Sparks, scored 68.854% in Friday's FEI Grand Prix Special CDI3* USEF HP $1,000 sponsored by Palm Beach Equine and Sports Complex. The pair...

Wellington, FL - The 1.40m $175,000 Grand Prix Invitational Series continued at The Ridge at Wellington on Friday, January 18. The 10-class series culminates in a $24,750 Grand Prix series finale on March 23, 2013. The second class of the series premiered at the Ridge at Wellington on Friday, January 18, with Laura Kraut and Maranonis Is taking the victory. Rodriguez and Elatrice captured the top prize and $15,000 in the first week of the series, yet did not have the same luck this week. The...

Today’s post comes from Sin City, Las Vegas Nevada. Since I am here in the region of Southwest Western Dressage, I decided to write the blog as an interview with someone from the Las Vegas equestrian community who was doing Western Dressage. So I opened up the phone book to call a local barn. Every barn number but one was disconnected or no longer in service. The one that was working was a casino! So I called a feed store, thinking that at the feed store would be someone who knew someone...

Happy New Year everyone! I am glad to be here and since it is obvious that the Earth did not tip over on its axis turning our mountains into oceans and our oceans into mountains, I have to wonder what 2013 will bring to Western Dressage. Maybe the better question is “What will Western Dressage bring to the world?” Indeed it is an intriguing question when put this way. As our fledgling discipline begins to feather out, the directions in which western dressage may fly continue to...