Richard Spooner riding Tuxedo (Spruce Meadows Media Service) Clagary, Alberta - Competition kicked off in the Chinook Ring Friday morning with the $8,000 Francis Family Cup 1.45m where Richard Spooner (USA) got his third win in a row this week. Held in a faults converted format, the competition saw 30 entries jumping a course set by Manuel Esparza of Mexico. About halfway through the order, Spooner and Tuxedo cleared the course in a time of 66.44 seconds that would hold on for the win. The...

Saugerties, N.Y. - Quality Girl is no stranger to clean rounds with Todd Minikus of Loxahatchee, Florida and at the top of her game as of late. Highlighted by their Open Jumper success at Devon last weekend and Friday, winning the HITS $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix the 11-year-old Oldenburg mare continues to shine. Todd Minikus and Quality Girl were the top pair in Friday’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix presented by Zoetis at HITS Saugerties (©ESI Photography) “She’s turning into a...

Lane Clarke & Kiss The Sky (Del Mar National Horse Show Facebook Page) Del Mar, Calif. - Friday’s $25,000 Surfside Grand Prix speed class at the 2014 Del Mar National horse show was a r for Saturday’s Grand Prix of Del Mar. That inspired more than 50 horse and rider combinations to enter the class, with the top 30 horses earning qualification. Leading the field were Lane Clarke & Horsemanship Unlimited’s Kiss the Sky. They were the fastest of the combinations that were...

Tiffany Foster and Melody des Hayettes Z (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - he final week of competition at the 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) kicked off on Wednesday with a dual victory for Canada's Tiffany Foster and Germany's Daniel Deusser in the $34,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.45m speed class. Due the large number of entries, the class was held in a 'California Split', and awarded two sets of placings with $34,000 for each section. Foster and Artisan Farms...

Shane Sweetnam and Solerina (Sportfot0 Wellington, Fla. - Week 10 of the 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) kicked off on Wednesday with a win for Ireland's Shane Sweetnam with Sweet Oak and Spy Coast Farms' Solerina in the $34,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class. Sweetnam has had an outstanding winter circuit so far with wins in four very competitive FEI World Ranking classes, among other top finishes. FTI WEF week 10, sponsored by Horseware Ireland, runs March...

Ben Maher and Urico (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - Week eight of the 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF), sponsored by G&C Farm, concluded on Sunday with another big win for Great Britain's Ben Maher in the $150,000 CSIO 4* Grand Prix, presented by Wellington Equestrian Realty. Maher guided Jane Clark's Urico to victory over USA's Laura Kraut and Nouvelle in second and Ireland's Cian O'Connor aboard Quidam's Cherie in third. Also showing at the...

Audrey Coulter and Acorte (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - The 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) concluded its seventh week of competition on Sunday with a fantastic line-up of international show jumping and back-to-back wins for 21-year-old Audrey Coulter (USA) of San Francisco, CA. The day kicked off with the $280,000 Adequan® Grand Prix CSI 4* with a win for Coulter and Acorte. The pair beat out the world's number one and two ranked riders, Scott Brash and Ben...

Kent Farrington and Blue Angel (Shawn McMillen Photography) Washington, D.C. - The 2013 Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) continued on Thursday with the first day of classes for the Junior Hunters and several International Open Jumper and Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper classes at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The International Open Jumpers had two classes with a win for Kent Farrington (USA) and Robin Parksy's Blue Angel in the $33,000 International Open Jumper Welcome Stake. Top...

Ashlee Bond (Flying Horse Photography) Sacramento, California - Gusty winds threatened tents, show set-ups, and anything not tightly secured during Day Two of Sacramento International's World Cup Week. The stakes were high in the $33,000 Welcome Grand Prix as 55 entries including international stars Will Simpson, Nayel Nassar, Susan Hutchinson, Duncan McFarlane, Ashlee Bond, and Harley Brown as well as local favorites Joie Gatlin, Macella O'neil and Carol Wright navigated a formidable...

Burbank, CA - Judges Jimmy Torano and Mandy Porter wasted no time posing questions to the 33 riders who tackled the Gymnastics Phase of the Platinum Performance/ USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals West. The course started with a canter rail to a vertical with a landing rail, and the rail fell often. Riders then had to trot into a grid comprising a trot rail to a vertical then 23 feet to an oxer followed by 21 feet to another oxer. Hannah Von Heidegger (Will Simpson, trainer) found the best...