Oklahoma City, OK - Michael Pope's 7-year-old horse, Whizota, "tried his heart out" and that determination edged the pair over their competitors into first place. Pope, Elizabeth Cosper and Olivia Hartman were crowned USEF National Youth Reining champions of three separate age groups at Saturday's 2011 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby. The Youth qualified for the USEF Championships by earning points in Qualifying Classes throughout the country in 2010-2011. Pope, a...

Oklahoma City, OK - A highlight of Thursday’s competition at the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby Show was the inaugural $15,000-added 7 & Up Non Pro Derby, which featured 25 entries aboard their experienced reining horses, age seven and older. Samantha Griffin of De Winton, Alberta, Canada, and Dun Playin Tag dominated the 7 & Up Non Pro Derby by scoring a 225 – 5.5 points ahead of the competition. The seven-year-old gelding, owned by her father Lance Griffin...

Bromont, Quebec - Following the major improvements undertaken in 2010 - in particular, the footing in the rings - the International Bromont carries on in order to welcome all riders in the best environment possible. "For 2011, we decided to invest in the hunter division," said Roger Deslauriers, show Manager. He added, "the work done in 2010 has affected the entire site but mostly the show jumping facilities, particularly with the changes of the footing in the rings. This year, we are planning...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has named the following horse/rider combinations to represent the U.S. at the next two shows of the FEI Nations Cup Series. The following horse/rider combinations will compete in Sweden at CSIO5* Falsterbo July 7-10, 2011: Charlie Jayne (Elgin, IL) will ride The London Group's Athena Athena is an 11-year-old Belgian mare Christine McCrea (Windsor, CT) will ride Romantovich Take One Romantovich Take One is an 11-year-old KWPN...

Eastern Selection Trial 5-year-old champion Lauren Chumley and Somer Hit (Photo by Pics of You). The Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Selection Trials 2011 qualifying season concluded last week at the Eastern Selection Trials in Leesburg, Va. The top five 5-year-olds and top five 6-year-olds that earned a minimum score of 7.8 from the three competitions will make up the short list of horses moving forward to the 2011 Markel/USEF Dressage National Championship at Lamplight in Wayne,...

Reims, France - The USEF European Young Rider Tour continued its successful trip through Europe with another second-place finish in the Nations Cup at CSIOY Reims. Runners-up in Belgium the previous weekend, the Young Riders continued their successful European effort. Catherine Pasmore led off the U.S. team, rebounding from a 13-fault first round on My Boy to improve to eight faults in round two. Karen Polle rode With Wings in the second position to a six-fault effort in the first round but...

Saugerties, NY — Equestrians from all over the world are reuniting at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, NY, for the first of three consecutive weeks of hunter/jumper show jumping. The competition begins on Wednesday, May 25, and continues until Sunday, June 12, when the Purina Mills Weekend will wrap up the spring shows with its popular Kids Day and the much anticipated $100,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. For the past several days, horse trailers, RVs, and...

Lexington, KY – Centenary College may have traveled to the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championships with a young team, but their results belied their inexperience. They dominated the event, May 5-7 at the Alltech Arena in Lexington, KY, with victory in the Collegiate Cup team competition and USEF Cacchione Cup individual championship. “We are just thrilled,” said Michael Dowling, who coaches the team in partnership with Heather Clark. “Four of the...

Leipzig, Germany - The Leipzig Exhibition Center hosted the first round of the Rolex/FEI World Cup Final - the speed leg - this afternoon and all 10 American combinations looked to get a head start on the competition. Frank Rothenberger set a scopey yet technical course that tested all 43 competitors in the 2011 Final and allowed for a number of different lines and options to be ridden. With the faults converted format, finding the correct balance between forward and efficient riding and...

Leipzig, Germany – Beezie Madden kicked off the 2011 Rolex/FEI World Cup Final with a win for the U.S. Wednesday morning in the Opening Competition. Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo bested the field of 24 as the only combination to jump faultlessly in the first round. Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo. (Photo by Rebecca Walton/PMG) Madden (Cazenovia, NY) was the first U.S. rider in the ring and set the tone immediately. The Belgian Warmblood mare owned by Coral Reef Ranch jumped...