Wellington, FL - Walk the Line and Lillie Keenan clinched the championship title in the Antarés Large Junior Hunter 16-17 division during week 10 of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). Keenan and Walk the Line were a force to be reckoned with over fences, winning three of four over fences rounds. Keenan and Don Stewart's fourteen-year-old gelding were also fourth over fences during day one of competition for the division. Reserve champion honors went to Norgan,...

I have been promising to update readers on current trends in the Western Dressage world. One way of keeping track of what WD is doing, where it is going and who is doing it is to track events. NAWD, CD and WDAA all maintain calendars of clinics and shows around the country. By analyzing those calendars we have a simple method of tracking what is happening. The information is limited by the fact that show and clinic organizers must report their event to the organization for inclusion on these...

Devon Kane, David Marcus, Mark Bellissimo, Allyn Mann, Matt Varney, and Michael Stone. (SusanJStickle.com) Wellington, FL -The 2013 Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) hosted its opening press conference Wednesday with a crowd of media in attendance to kick off this year's exciting line-up of top level competition. The AGDF circuit starts Thursday with CDI-W competition at the Wellington Dressage presented by The Dutta Corp. and includes another CDI-W, CDI-3*, CDI-5* and a...

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...

Happy Holidays! Tis the season and all my best to everyone. This time of year we are especially grateful for all the perfections we find our lives are blessed with. Wishing all of you the very best of holiday seasons. Thank you for reading and supporting the development of western dressage. It was a very exciting time for representatives from North American Western Dressage to attend the USDF Annual Convention in New Orleans December 5-8. President Jen Johnson and Board member Jennifer Collman...

The twentieth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder This week is all about news, news and more news. Never a dull moment in Western Dressage! This just out via a press release from WDAA: “The WDAA has been guided throughout by the leadership, strategy, and policies of its Board of Directors and Advisory Board, both of which are volunteer positions and provide their services without funding. Each are comprised of distinguished professionals from all facets of the equine...

Washington, D.C. - Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) is excited to announce that the $100,000 President's Cup Grand Prix, CSI 3*-W will be aired on NBC Sports Network on Sunday, October 28, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. EST. The coverage will show competition from one of the most competitive grand prix events in North America and will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network, home of coverage as wide ranging as the Olympics, Major League Soccer and IndyCar racing to name a few. The...

Gladstone, NJ - The prestigious 2012 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East got underway Saturday with the flat phase and gymnastics phase. Held at the beautiful USET Foundation Headquarters in Gladstone, New Jersey, 92 competitors competed in the first two phases of the event, vying for the coveted winning title. Seventeen-year-old Jacob Pope of Columbia, MD, is currently atop the leader board after winning today's gymnastics phase with a score 95.5, and also...

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...

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...