A competitor on course in the Purina Mills Horseless Horseshow. (Photo by Sarah Owen.) Ocala, FL - The annual Purina Mills Weekend, which featured exciting classes, a $50,000 Purina Mills-sponsored Grand Prix, and a series of special events, wrapped up the fifth week of AA-rated competition at the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit. Another round of beautiful weather provided picture-perfect conditions, and exhibitors were out in force to take advantage of an action-packed schedule, with several key...

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...

Gladstone, NJ - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has named the following horse/rider combinations to represent the U.S. at the CSIO4* Buenos Aires, November 9-14, 2010. The four horse/rider combinations were selected based on their ranking on the October 1, 2010 Rolex/USEF Ranking List. Michelle Grubb will serve as Chef d'Equipe. The following horse/rider combinations have been named: Name/Age/Hometown/Horse/Age/Breed/Sex/Owner John McConnell/50/Lemitar, NM/Katie...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - More than 100 dignitaries, alumni, donors and students today celebrated the groundbreaking for a new equine center wing, the first-ever addition to the University of Louisville College of Business. The two-story, eco-friendly 7245 sq. ft. addition will cost $3.38 million and will include a green roof and sky garden. “Today we expand the college’s commitment to equine-business education and entrepreneurship, two programs that have distinguished the college internationally,”...

Shannon Brinkman (McLain Ward and Sapphire.) Lexington, KY - The top 30 horse-and-rider combinations going for the Gold medal in the World Jumping Championship presented by Rolex at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games battled it out in the Rolex Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park on Friday night in a two-round competition. The U.S. Team was represented by the world-class grand prix duo and two-time Olympic Gold medalists McLain Ward and Sapphire who have had an exceptional year in 2010....

Lexington, KY - The USEF has named the following horse/rider combinations to the nominated entry for the Adequan US Reining Team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in ranked order: Rider/Age/Hometown/Horse/Age/Breed/Sex/Owner Shawn Flarida/41/Springfield, OH/RC Fancy Step/6/Quarter Horse/Stallion/ Buffalo Ranch Tom McCutcheon/43/Aubrey, TX/Gunners Special Nite/6/Quarter Horse/Stallion/Turnabout Ranch Craig Schmersal/37/Overbrook, OK/Boom Shernic/6/Quarter Horse/Stallion/The Boom Shernic...

Tina Konyot congratulates Calecto V (Susan Stickle) Dressage The second weekend of competition in the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of in Gladstone, NJ at the USET Foundation Headquarters. This week saw National Champions crowned in the Junior, Young Rider, and Brentina Cup divisions. The Grand Prix division, which served as the USEF Selection Trial for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games also wrapped up with a second Grand Prix on Friday and the Grand Prix Freestyle on Sunday....

After a full investigation into the facts surrounding the disqualification of Sapphire (McLain Ward) at the FEI World Cup Final in Geneva, the FEI has determined that the horse was incorrectly eliminated from the second round on 16 April 2010, however, Sapphire’s disqualification from the final round of the World Cup remains in place. McLain Ward will immediately be awarded all ranking points and prize money related to his second place finish in the second round of the FEI World Cup Final. This...

The World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Emerging Pro Division will now be tracked as one group rather than two groups divided by height. Like the other WCHR divisions, riders will earn points on their highest-placed horse at a WCHR member event, regardless of whether those points were earned from the pre-green or rated sections. The top 10 in the National standings after the divisions at Capital Challenge, plus the top six from each region will be invited to participate in the Emerging Pro...

Photo by ESI Photography (Kelsey Hart and Agostino in the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby. ) Two of the most decorated high-performance riders in the country became serious contenders to qualify for the unprecedented Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix after a pair of impressive outings at HITS-on-the-Hudson I in Saugerties, NY. First, in Friday's $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, it was Olympian Margie Engle and Hidden Creek's Pamina L that took the blue ribbon in her first...