Henrik Gundersen and Adlanteur. Photo (Mancini Photos) Wellington, Fla. - Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) hosted its Year-End Awards Show on December 7-8, 2013, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. The week featured a $10,000 Open Stake on Saturday, December 7, as well as the $25,000 ESP Year End Grand Prix and $5,000 USHJA 3' Hunter Classic on Sunday, December 8. The ESP Year End Awards Banquet was also held on Saturday to celebrate some of the year's...

Karl Cook and Banba (McCool Photography) Las Vegas, Nev. - Brazilian course designer Guilherme Jorge is brilliant at asking just the right questions for the field. With sixty-six entries, Jorge created a course that tested the technique necessary to tackle tight turns and tidy tracks. It included an interesting option fence - a skinny 1.40m gate 'winged' by a simpler vertical on each side. Heading home as fence 4, the skinny was the quicker choice to rollback to 5a-b; and later going...

Christian Heineking and NKH Selena are unstoppable in the $50,000 LEGIS Grand Prix of Los Angeles (Flying Horse Photography) Los Angeles, Calif. - Christian Heineking (GER) heard the German national anthem for the second weekend in a row as he clinched another win aboard NKH Selena (NKH LLC, owner) in the fast and furious $50,000 LEGIS Grand Prix of Los Angeles (a World Cup Qualifier). “I definitely rode the momentum from last week’s grand prix win,” Christian commented....

Elkton, Md. - The Dutta Corp Fair Hill International hosts top U.S. combinations this week in Elkton, Md., as competitors vie for national titles at the CCI2* and CCI3* levels. The prestigious competition celebrates its 25th anniversary as it hosts 114 entries at the international levels, with 95 setting their sights on USEF National Championships, October 17-20, 2013. Wednesday afternoon hosted the first Veterinary Inspection; the CCI3* will be contested by 45 competitors, while in the CCI2*,...

The FEI has received formal Expressions of Interest from Great Britain, the USA and Canada to host the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2018, after re-opening the bidding process on 1 July 2013. The USA has identified two potential host cities - Wellington (Florida) and Lexington (Kentucky) - and Great Britain will have to confirm the proposed host city with the FEI before the 15 November 2013 deadline for receipt of Bid Applicant Questionnaires. Canada confirmed its initial bid to host the...

Lexington, Kentucky - A small but mighty field lines up this weekend in the USEF National Open Horse Trial Championship for the Jack Le Goff Trophy to vie for the first eventing National Title of the autumn. Run in conjunction with the Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championships presented by VTO Saddlery, national championship competition will run September 26-28, 2013, at the Texas Rose Horse Park in Tyler, Texas. Twelve elite combinations are set to kick off competition, which is run at the...

The 2013-2014 NCEA begins on Friday when No.5 Kansas State takes a road trip to Blythewood. They’ll meet the No.3 Gamecocks in a marquee non-conference matchup before heading to Dover to face Delaware State. My quick look at both matches is below. No.3 South Carolina University vs. No.5 Kansas State University This trip to Blythewood will be a new experience for the Wildcats, none of whom have been to South Carolina for NCEA competition. The last time they met on the Gamecocks home turf...

Nayel Nassar and Lordan jump their way to Zoetis Million glory at HITS Saugerties during Championship Weekend (©ESI Photography) Saugerties, NY – Nayel Nassar of Stanford, California proved that a 3,000-mile trip across the U.S. was well worth the effort Sunday when he rode Lordan to a hard-fought victory in the fourth-annual Zoetis $1 Million Grand Prix at HITS Saugerties. With the post-competition tunes of Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell playing in the background, Nassar prepared to...

Pablo Barrios leads the 2013 Hagyard Challenge Series Standings with Zara Leandra. (Rebecca Walton) Lexington, KY - With another top placing at the KHJA Horse Show last week, Venezuelan rider Pablo Barrios has furthered his lead in the 2013 Hagyard Challenge Series. He and his talented mount Zara Leandra kicked off the Series by winning the first Hagyard Lexington Classic in May, and they then garnered wins in both the third and fourth events. Most recently, Barrios and Zara Leandra finished...

Chester Weber finished 2nd in the Marathon at CAI Caen on his way to a 2014 WEG test event victory (Madeleine Augustsson/CAI Caen) Caen, France - With Sunday's cones complete, Chester Weber has won the WEG test event at the Caen CAI-4A. Weber (Ocala, FL) led a team made up of his own seven-year-old KWPN gelding Boris W, 13-year-old KWPN gelding Boy W, and 16-year-old KWPN gelding Para, along with Jane Clark's 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Splash, and Koos de Ronde's...