Lexington, KY - The 2011 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Final - West is well under way at the L.A. International Jumping Festival, September 21-25, in Burbank, CA. The flat phase, first of the four phases took place Thursday night. The judging team of noted judge Sue Ashe and her daughter, international jumper rider Molly Ashe, tested the riders on their mastery of the skills needed to properly prepare a jumper for flatwork, including a demonstration of haunches in and a...

Bjorn Ikast and Amore Claim 1st Place in the $10,000 Open Welcome at Summer in the Rockies 1 (Flying Horse Photography). Parker, CO - A thrilling summer at The Colorado Horse Park debuted this week with nearly $1,000,000 in cash and prizes during the inaugural edition of the expanded Colorado Summer Circuit, June 8-July 24, 2011. For 20 years this circuit has attracted some of the continent's best hunter and jumper competitors, and this year it expands from four to six weeks. With...

Scott Stewart and Empire at the Kentucky Spring Classic (Photo by Heather Bellock). Lexington, KY - It was a dreary first day at the Kentucky Spring Classic, but that's not keeping the competitors from boasting the beautiful courses here at the Kentucky Horse Park. Today, the Kentucky Spring Classic kicked off with the second week of the Kentucky Spring Series. This week features World Champion Hunter Rider Week. Riders will have the opportunity to earn quality points in various hunter...

Aaron Vale and Paparazzi. (ESI Photography.) Ocala, FL – Aaron Vale won the $25,000 Ocala Horse Properties, LLC Grand Prix on Saturday, April 9, during the Ocala International held at Sharn Wordley Equestrian in Ocala, FL. Just as Canada’s Francois Lamontagne had done the week before during the Ocala Jumping Classic, Vale won the $10,000 Blue Gate Farm Open Welcome on Thursday, April 7, as well as Saturday’s $25,000 Ocala Horse Properties, LLC Grand Prix during the Ocala International. Having...

Steffen Peters and Weltino's Magic. (Photo by Jennifer M. Keeler) Burbank, CA - In sunny California, the competition for a coveted spot on the U.S. and Canadian Pan American Games teams heated up during the Festival of the Horse CDI-W/Y/J, held March 31-April 3, 2011, at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank. Despite a large and talented group of international competitors, there was no stopping Steffen Peters with what the judges deemed his new "super horse", Weltino's Magic. Peters and...

Andre Thieme and Coco 135. (ESI Photography©.) OCALA, FL - On a perfectly beautiful afternoon at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, FL, German show-jumping icon Andre Thieme riding Seth Vallhonrat's Coco 135 captured the victory in Sunday's $50,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, to close out the Ocala Finals. Thieme's win marked the first time this season that a rider captured more than one victory in a Sunday Grand Prix, his first being aboard his own Cesar three weeks...

LA Pomeroy (IHSA Executive Director Bob Cacchione.) Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation and The EQUUS Foundation are pleased to announce the winner of the EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award. Bob Cacchione, Executive Director of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), was selected from more than 20 nominees to receive this distinctive honor. The award will be presented January 22, 2011, at the USEF Pegasus Awards Dinner during the Federation's Annual Meeting...

American Fans Are Ready for WEG (Shannon Brinkman/USEF) Lexington, KY - There are 101 different athletes (some nominated on more than one horse) from 22 different states nominated to represent the United States at the biggest equestrian event in US history. The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games is the first opportunity to see all eight disciplines: Dressage, Endurance, Eventing, Driving, Jumping, Para-Equestrian Dressage, Reining and Vaulting in one place at the same time when these games come...

It's not like Rachel Boggus has time on her hands. In addition to riding and showing three horses across all the divisions, the amateur rider who trains with Michael Dennehy also is completing the last year of her anesthesiology residency at the University of Colorado Medical Center. "I don't have a lot of free time," Rachel admitted. "When I do, I am riding and showing. It's really hard for me to stay away and sometimes that means very long days with very little sleep, but I wouldn't have it...

Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo (Erin Cowgill Photo) USEF Names Team for Meydan FEI Nations Cup Team Aachen, Germany – Sitting in the final spot of a nine horse jump-off, Olympic Gold medalist Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY, had the small luxury of knowing the time that she had to beat. With that knowledge, Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo were able to best the time of 50.07 seconds set by Sweden's Rolf-Göran Bengtsson and Ninja La Silla by two seconds. Their time of 48.27 seconds and a...