ESI Photography. (McLain Ward and Sapphire in the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix. ) Saugerties, NY - Two-time U.S. Olympic Gold medalist McLain Ward of Brewster, NY, and his majestic, "million-dollar" mare, Sapphire, owned by Ward and Blue Chip Bloodstock, won the inaugural Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix on Sunday, September 12 at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties. The legendary duo of Ward and Sapphire proudly added their names to the show jumping history books once more when they bested a field of...

Meagan Davis and Bentley (SusanJStickle.com Photo) Gladstone, NJ – The second Saturday of the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions proved to be one of the busiest days of the six day championship. Three different USEF National Championships took place in the Dick and Jane Brown Dressage Arena at the USET Foundation Headquarters. The National Young Rider Dressage Championship kicked it off and three superstar Young Riders swept into the top three places after the first half...

Photo by David Mullinix (Hillary Dobbs and Marengo.) Hillary Dobbs of Sussex, NJ, and Marengo won the $30,000 Battenkill Grand Prix, presented by The Equinox Resort, on Sunday, July 18, at the Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT. Dobbs are Marengo are no strangers to the winner’s circle at the Vermont Summer Festival, having won two grand prix events in 2009. This year, the pair faced off against 23 other challengers. In the first round, a total of four horse-rider combinations were able...

The Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) has officially announced that saddle seat is approved as an emerging discipline of the IEA, and teams are starting to form all over the United States. Hundreds of teams and thousands of members have enjoyed participating in IEA hunt seat and Western competitions for the past eight years, but this will be the first year for the saddle seat offerings. The mission of IEA is to introduce students in private and public middle and secondary schools...

A dramatic win by Darragh Kenny of Ireland in the $75,000 Hermès Grand Prix CSI 2* for the Whitney Perpetual Challenge Trophy highlighted the 41st Annual Lake Placid Horse Show. Only five entries from the starting field of 24 succeeded in completing the 16-jump, first-round course designed by Olaf Petersen, Jr., of Germany without penalty. They returned for the nine-jump jump-off at the North Elba Showgrounds. First to go was Callan Solem of Chester Springs, PA, who set the mark to beat by...

Photo by James Leslie Parker (Philip Richter and Glasgow.) Philip Richter returns to the Devon Horse Show to defend his championship on Glasgow in Amateur Owner Jumpers on Friday and Saturday, June 4-5. The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair, May 27-June 6, benefits the Bryn Mawr Hospital, to which it has donated almost $14 million. New footing in the Dixon Oval at Devon has been installed by Equestrian Services International, which has provided the footing for the 2008 Olympics in Hong Kong,...

Colombian dressage rider Marco Bernal lived every rider’s dream during the 2010 Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI, when he heard his country’s national anthem played three times for three great wins. Bernal’s success came aboard his Westphalian stallion Farewell IV, the same stallion that he set the world record on at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in 2005 when they scored a record high score of 85.385%. “This was the best show for me so far. It is nice when you work so long with a horse and...

The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) was full of top competition during week eight, held March 3-7, 2010. The week featured the USEF Selection Trials for the U.S. Show Jumping Team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games #3, #4, and #5, presented by Fidelity Investments, and the $75,000 FEI Nations Cup, presented by CN, along with a full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. The week eight title sponsor was CN. The $150,000 CN U.S. Open Grand Prix, CSIO**** was...

The Morgan horse breed was celebrated in Lexington, KY, at the 2010 American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) Annual Convention, held February 17-20. "The true measure of a successful convention is the satisfaction and feedback the Board and staff hear from attendees," said AMHA Executive Director Julie M. Broadway. "By all accounts, the 2010 convention was not only successful in terms of being educational and informative, but fun too! The convention committee did a great job with fabulous farm...

The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) continued a strong circuit of competition in its fourth week on February 3-7. The week featured the $75,000 Adequan Grand Prix, CSI** and the €100,000 Exquis World Dressage Masters Palm Beach, along with a full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. The week four title sponsor was Adequan. Along with their week four title sponsorship, Adequan® was the title sponsor of the $75,000 Adequan® Grand Prix, CSI** on Sunday, February 7, and is...