WELLINGTON, Fla., Mar. 18--Forty of the world's top riders, including 17 Olympians, will jump for $600,000 at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center on Saturday night, Mar. 21. FTI Consulting is sponsoring the $400,000 Finale Grand Prix CSI 5* at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival which is also the final event of the $200,000 FTI Rider Challenge. The Grand Prix is the richest ever held in Wellington and, combined with the Rider Challenge, will make it the richest pay day in USA jumping....

Tickets are selling fast for the Exquis World Dressage Masters to be held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center on Friday and Saturday, January 29-30. Van Grunsven on IPS Painted Black, the USA's Steffen Peters on Ravel, Edward Gal and Hans Peter Mindehoud of The Netherlands, Ashley Holzer of Canada and another 15 riders from Europe and the Americas will compete for an unprecedented €100,000 (US$133,000) in prize money. Most fans from across North America and seven other nations are...

Equestrian Sport Productions announced Tuesday that its Fall Circuit shows will be held at the South Grounds of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. The "A"-rated three-star Jumper Fall Circuit 2 for this Friday through Sunday will be held at the South Grounds, as will Fall Circuit 3, which is scheduled for October 31-November 2 and the Fall Circuit Finale scheduled for November 7-9. Major reconstruction around the International Arena, installation of new footing at several...

A new round of major improvements focused on footing in the competition arenas has begun at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in preparation for 2008/2009 circuits including the showcase Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). Footing created by Olympic provider Bart Poels that was installed in PBIEC's International and DeNemethy arenas last year will be extended to the DeNemethy warm-up ring and the Mogavero arena. Footing in Rings 7 and 8 and the arenas at the South Grounds...

The American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) has announced plans for a new online auction to be held on EBay during early August prior to the Kentucky State Fair. In addition, a new live auction will be held on Friday evening at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds. According to Mary Anne Cronan, President of the ASHA, changes in the association’s schedule of traditional fundraisers at the World’s Championship Horse Show were made because of ongoing remodeling and construction at the Executive...

The Queen City Classic returns April 9-13, 2008, for the spring show season with a new location and USEF AA-rated classes, including a $25,000 Hunter Challenge. This year’s event will be held in Monroe, NC, at the “Why Not an American Ark” Equestrian Facility, located outside of the Charlotte area. “We are delighted to have the Queen City Classic coming to the Ark. To bring such an event to this part of Charlotte is great for the area,” commented Jeff Wylie of the facility. The show grounds...

HITS has announced plans for a special open house event, November 10 and 11, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the HITS Desert Horse Park in Thermal, CA. The event is open to the public and will feature tours of the property to highlight the renovations and refinements that are completed, or scheduled to be completed, for the 2008 HITS Desert Circuit, which begins in early January. Visitors will have an opportunity to see first-hand the new grand prix footing installed by Bart Poels (Footing Specialist...

New Jersey hometown girl Jessica Lehnes riding Lexington Lady was all smiles on June 20 at the Middlesex County Horse Show in Allentown, NJ, after notching a score of 75.769% in Open Training Level Test 4. The impressive percentage earned Lehnes and Lexington Lady a victory in the class and the high score in training level at the one-day dressage show. Lexington Lady is an eight-year-old, 16.3-hand, dark brown Trakhener mare (by Schonfield), owned by Joanne Penso. For her performance, Lehnes...

Michael Matz and Kentucky Derby 132 Winner Barbaro (Anne M. Eberhardt ) Lexington, KY – Imagine having an Olympic Silver medal of your very own. Imagine winning the greatest horse race in the world - the Kentucky Derby. To achieve either is a milestone in any horse lover’s life. To do both is almost unthinkable. That is unless you are Michael Matz, who has created his own exclusive club. And it has exactly one member. The 132nd Kentucky Derby was an exceptional day for this former...

Lexington, KY – The USEF ParaEquestrian High Performance Committee has named the 2005 ParaEquestrian Advanced Rider List based on scores that the riders submitted to fulfill the published criteria. Those riders, in ranked order, are: Robin Brueckmann of Summerfield, NC, and Richmond (1997 Hanoverian gelding, owned by Robin Brueckmann) Barbara Grassmyer of Placerville, CA, and Mibis (1994 Dutch gelding, owned by Barbara Grassmyer) Rebecca Hart of Erie, PA, and Nordkap (1992 Hanoverian...