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...

Shane Sweetnam and Cyklon 1083 (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla . - Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and Spy Coast Farm LLC's Cyklon 1083 earned their second FEI world ranking win of the 2014 season in Friday's $34,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class during week five of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). The pair beat out Darragh Kenny (IRL) and Prof de la Roque and Beezie Madden (USA) aboard Vanilla, who placed second and third respectively. FTI WEF week five, sponsored by Rolex,...

McLain Ward and Wings (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - The 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) began its fifth week of competition on Wednesday with a win for two-time U.S. Olympic Team Gold Medalist McLain Ward and his mount, Wings, in the $34,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.45m speed class. Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and Cyklon 1083 led the way through a large part of the class, but were bested by Ward and Wings at the very end and finished in second place. Week five of the FTI Consulting...

Reed Kessler & Cylana after their win on Friday night in Stuttgart (from the Stuttgart German Masters facebook page) Stuttgart, Germany - A good day became a great one for Reed Kessler Friday night in Stuttgart when she rode a wave of momentum from a morning win into another first place finish. In the Prize of DIW Instandhaltung Ltd. & Co. 1.50m speed class, a qualifier for Sunday's FEI World Cup Qualifier Grand Prix, Kessler (Lexington, Ky.) guided her own Cylana to a penalty free...

Andres Rodriguez and Caballito (McCool) Las Vegas, Nev. - Wrapping up the indoor season, the Las Vegas National offers the final FEI classes on the West Coast until February 2014. Fifty-six horse and rider pairs representing eleven different countries gave it a go in tonight's $33,000 EquiFit, inc. Jumper Classic. The course was technical and the competition fierce. Brazilian Guilherme Jorge set the track. Knowing he had a large field, he intentionally built a course with technical...

Reed announced her win on Instagram. Oldenburg, Germany - Only days after winning the Longines Rising Star award at the FEI Awards Gala , Reed Kessler showed the form that earned her that recognition by taking a 1.45m winning round compeition at CSI2* Oldenburg. The class was broken into eleven groups with the winners plus three returning for the winning round. Kessler qualified for that winning round and was the penultimate in the order of go. When her turn came around she and her own Ligist...

Reed Kessler & Cylana (Karl Heinz Frieler) Munich, Germany - In Munich over the weekend Reed Kessler and Cylana put forward a beautiful double clear effort in the Championat von München at the Munich Indoor CSI3*. With a fault free jump off in 34.78s Reed and Cylana put themselves atop a group of 65 tough international competitors. South Africa’s Oliver Lazarus finished second with Pour Led Poussage. John Whitaker of Great Britain and Argento were third. Full results are...

Andrew Ramsey and Woitcek (Flying Horse Photography) Sacramento, CA - This year's Sacramento International Horse Show saw bigger crowds and greater competitor numbers than ever before. Show Managers Dale Harvey and Rudy Leone put on a smoothly-run, top-notch event from the time the first horse entered the in-gate during Welcome Week until the last fence was jumped Sunday at the close of World Cup Week. Looking back over the last two weeks, here are some of the highlights: World Cup Week saw...

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...

Penelope Leprevost and Dame Blanche van Arenberg (Spruce Meadows Media Services) Calgary, AB , - The Spruce Meadows 'Masters' continued today with two top competitions in the International Ring. Taking the top prize in the $125,000 CANA Cup 1.60m was Penelope Leprevost (FRA) and Dame Blanche van Arenberg. The luck of the Irish was with Conor Swail today when he finished first and second in the $50,000 ATCO Structures & Logistics Cup 1.50m on Martha Louise and Lansdowne. The Spruce...