Minikus, Farrington, Johnson, and Kessler in Winner's Circle for Jumpers The 2009 Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) CSI****-W is one of the most exciting equestrian competitions in the country, and it is one of only two shows in North America that offer a puissance, or "high jump" class. Friday night's $25,000 Puissance presented by Chevron Corporation saw a very familiar face for the awards presentation. Seven-time winner McLain Ward of Brewster, NY, was victorious in the class on...

The 64th Pennsylvania National Horse Show will host some of the biggest names in the sport of show jumping when it returns to the Pennsylvania State Farm Show Complex, October 8-17. McLain Ward, who made history at the Hampton Classic Horse Show by winning the $250,000 FTI Grand Prix and FEI World Cup Qualifier for a record fourth time on his two-time Olympic Team Gold-medal horse, Sapphire, and followed that with a win on Sapphire in the $1-million CN International Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows...

The Kentucky National Horse Show was held September 16-20 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Lucille Oken Wins Grand Slam with Land's End Mad Hatter Lucille Oken and Land's End Mad Hatter were unstoppable at this year's Kentucky National Indoor Horse Show. The pair completed a clean sweep of the Large Pony Hunter division, taking home each of the blue ribbons and the championship award. Oken rides at her family's Hi Hopes Farm in Charlotte, NC, with trainers Steve Heinecke and Jeff...

Rinaldo de Craen/decraen.com (Larry Poulin is competing in his final World Championships in Hungary.) Lexington, KY - Team USA is currently in fourth position after two days of dressage at the FEI World Pair Driving Championship in Kecskemet, Hungary. Larry Poulin, Keady Cadwell and Lisa Singer are just 0.1 point behind German drivers who are defending their Gold Team medal. Mieke van Tergouw, the 1995 World Champion lady driver from The Netherlands, won the dressage, ahead of Switzerland’s...

With great sadness, Mo and Jim Swanson of Rolling Stone Farm announce the passing of a World Champion dressage legend on August 11, 2009. The Hanoverian stallion Welcome S (World Cup I-Grebina/Grande) was euthanized in August 2009, due to infirmities of age. He was 22 years old. Welcome was owned by Jan van der Kamp and was managed by his daughter, Patricia Stemerdink of Dekstation de Havikerwaard in De Steeg, The Netherlands. The Swanson’s leased Welcome for breeding after a chance meeting in...

Laura Kraut and Cedric (Shannon Brinkman) by Joanie Morris Lexington, KY – Tomorrow, the first horse in the ring of the very first Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ will be representing the United States in La Baule, France. The 10 best Jumping teams in the world go head-to-head to kick off the prestigious summer tour. Christine McCrea will lead it off for the U.S., the Fairfield, CT rider will ride Candy Tribble and Windsor Show Stable’s Vegas – fresh from a good performance at...

For the second year in a row Friesian horses from all over the United States converged at the very center of the country in beautiful Lake St. Louis, MO. One horse and rider, Bernhard and Christiane Henrichs even traveled all the way from Germany to compete in a variety of classes, winning among others, the Prix St George test in dressage. This year the event was held in honor of International Friesian Show Horse Association (IFSHA) founder and longtime breeder Dr. Genevieve de Montremare who...

Diana DeRosa (Karen O'Connor and Theodore O'Connor at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.) It is with great sadness that the United States Equestrian Federation reports that super pony Theodore O’Connor was humanely euthanized Wednesday, May 28, as a result of an injury sustained in an accident at Karen and David O’Connor’s barn in The Plains, VA. The 13-year-old eventing pony defied odds and gravity throughout his career. Standing only 14.1 hands, the...

Young Horse Finals were featured on the closing day of the 12-week CN Winter Equestrian Festival, presented by Zimmerman Advertising, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. As she had done throughout the circuit, Laura Chapot of Neshanic Station, NJ, continued to dominate the young jumper division. The $20,000 Seven- and Eight-Year-Old Young Jumper Final was the featured class in the International Arena on Sunday, April 6, attracting a total of 48 entries. From the original starting...

Equestrian Sport Productions, LLC, announced Wednesday a preliminary plan for a new round of major improvements at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) to be completed by the "Celebration of the Horse" event in early December and well before the start of the 2009 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The improvements are the initial next stage in the top-to-bottom rebuilding of the PBIEC that began last December when Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) took over management of the...