In the lead-up to the 2016 SVAG FEI World Reining Championships, the United States Equestrian Federation will feature a four-part series that highlights the athletes, horses, and their owners that make up the U.S. Team. Before Troy Heikes and Denise Bixler met, both were at entirely different places in their reining lives. Heikes wanted to cut back, being selective of his clientele. Bixler was losing enthusiasm and love for the sport. Troy Heikes and RSD One Hot Deal competing in the $25,000...

Grass Lake, Mich. – The 2016 USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championships sponsored by Deloitte and Selection Event for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games continued Saturday with competitors performing the FEI Individual Test, the second of three tests in the competition. Maintaining her position atop the High Performance Division leaderboard is Grade Ia athlete Roxanne Trunnell and Royal Dancer with a score of 72.754%. In the National Division, Grade III athlete Pamela Hardin and...

Grass Lake, Mich. – The 2016 USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championships sponsored by Deloitte and Selection Event for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games continued Saturday with competitors performing the FEI Individual Test, the second of three tests in the competition. Maintaining her position atop the High Performance Division leaderboard is Grade Ia athlete Roxanne Trunnell and Royal Dancer with a score of 72.754%. In the National Division, Grade III athlete Pamela Hardin and...

Pablo Mejia and Reglisse Top on their way to a $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix win. (ESI Photography) Saugerties, N.Y. - As the second weekend of elite show jumping competition continued at HITS-on-the-Hudson II, riders and horses descended upon the Grand Prix Stadium to try their luck in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix. Oscar Soberon of Monterrey, Mexico, designed a challenging course comprised of many roll-back turns, a triple bar, and combinations that tested the navigational skill of each horse...

Heather Caristo-Williams and Cosmopolitan 30 on their way to a $10,000 Brook Ledge Open Welcome win. (ESI Photography) Saugerties, N.Y. - HITS-on-the-Hudson Week II kicked off with the $10,000 Brook Ledge Open Welcome. Thirty horses and riders tested the course designed by Oscar Soberon, but only one team would take home the blue-ribbon title. It was Saugerties, New York, equestrian Heather Caristo-Williams who stole the show on her own turf aboard Cosmopolitan 30, owned by Mr. & Mrs. Ralph...

Kristen Vanderveen and Bull Run's Eternal won the $50,000 Commonwealth Grand Prix at the 2016 Kentucky Spring Horse Show. (Taylor Renner/Phelps Media Group) Lexington, Ky. - May 15, 2016 - The Kentucky Spring Horse Show wrapped up on Sunday in the Rolex Stadium with the featured national classes: the $25,000 Under 25 Grand Prix followed by the $50,000 Commonwealth Grand Prix. Kristen Vanderveen and Bull Run's Eternal outpaced a 15-horse jump-off to grab the win in the $50,000 Commonwealth...

Mill Spring, NC - May 7, 2016 - Kent Farrington (USA) piloted the talented Gazelle to another FEI victory at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC), as the pair finished atop the leaderboard in the $130,000 Kent Farrington and Gazelle (SharonPackerPhotography) Asheville Regional Airport Grand Prix CSI 3* in front of a large crowd of spectators. Farrington and Gazelle demonstrated their efficiency, finishing the short course in 37.367 seconds. Fernando Cardenas (COL) and Quincy Car rode to...

Harold Chopping and Basje on their way to a $30,000 HITS Grand Prix win. (ESI Photography) Culpeper, Va. - One Grand Prix victory was not enough for Southern Pines, North Carolina, equestrian Harold Chopping in the first week of the HITS Culpeper Show Series. Coming off a hot streak with a first and second place finish in the $25,000 Brook Ledge Grand Prix on Friday, as well as a win in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix on Saturday, Chopping closed out the weekend in style by taking home the...

Harold Chopping and Basje on their way to a $25,000 Brook Ledge Open Jumper Prix win. (ESI Photography) Culpeper, Va. - Harold Chopping, of Southern Pines, North Carolina, made a statement to kick-off the HITS Culpeper Summer Series, finishing first and second in the $25,000 Brook Ledge Open Jumper Prix held on Friday. Chopping claimed the blue with Basje, owned by Kendra Bullington, and finished a close second with Contefino 6, owned by Caroline Russell Howe. Five returned for the jump-off in...

April 10, 2016 - San Juan Capistrano, CA - It looked like Karl Cook was going to make it two wins in two days until the final go of the ten horse jump-off. Speed demon Lane Clarke riding Georgy Lane Clarke and Balu U. Photo by McCool Photography Maskrey- FEI Course Designer Peter Holmes of Canada set the 1.50m track for the twenty-eight competitors. Initially it was a ladies' game as the first six to go clean were all female. Ultimately, seven women and three men jumped without fault,...