Courtesy of Karina Benish (Karina and Hawkeye) He was the ugliest male I had ever seen in my life. He had a bloody wound on his nose, hair six inches long on his chest, and he weighed about 700-800 pounds—400 shy of his best weight. His name was Hawkeye, and he was my partner for more than 14 years. Hawkeye was a mustang horse, and it was he who taught me what it is to trust. Horses, in my opinion, given good care and a little attention, are high up in Maslow’s hierarchy. Since...

Gladstone, NJ – After two days of rigorous testing, topped off with a final-four ride-off, 16-year-old Brianne Goutal surpassed even her own expectations with a well-earned, but nonetheless, surprise victory. “I was never expecting to get into the top four,” Goutal says. “I asked my trainer before the last round what score I would need and she wouldn’t give me an answer. She just said ‘ride well.’” And ride well, she did. Give her a few years, and...

San Juan Capistrano, CA - Robert Dover and FBW Kennedy were even better today than they were last weekend. Just prior to Dover’s ride, Guenter Seidel on Aragon and Steffen Peters on Floriano had exceptional rides creating a super-charged atmosphere, but Dover and Kennedy marched down the center line, saluted and never looked back. Their score of 78.917% kept them firmly in the lead. Seidel and Aragon were second with 74.167%, Peters and Floriano were third with 71.875%, Leslie Morse and...

San Juan Capistrano, CA – Veteran Olympic Judge Axel Steiner was doing color commentary at the trials today and described Robert Dover’s ride on FBW Kennedy as “one of the nicest Grand Prix rides in the United States.” The enthusiastic applause of the knowledgeable crowd indicated they agreed. Their score of 76.292% leads Gunter Seidel on Aragon, who had a score of 72.375%. Seidel was also third on Nikolaus 7 with a score of 71.458%. Steffan Peters on Floriano was fourth with 71.333%. “You...

Two of the world’s most prestigious and glamorous equine events are coming to the United States in 2005! For the first time ever in international competition, two World Cup Championship events will be held concurrently in one location, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 20-24, 2005. The 2005 World Cup Champions in both jumping and dressage will be crowned in Las Vegas. Following its previous hosting of two World Cup Jumping finals, the highly-acclaimed Budweiser World Cups in 2000 and 2003, Las Vegas...

McLain Ward, Beezie Madden, Lauren Hough, Nicole Simpson Lurking Close Behind Ward San Juan Capistrano , CA - It was a perfect day in Southern California . Perfectly blue sky, perfect temperature, perfect setting for an Olympic Trials, and perfect green turf in an impressive Show Jumping arena at Oaks Blenheim in San Juan Capistrano . For PeterWylde and Fein Cera; Todd Minikus and Gardenio; and Beezie Madden and Judgement; it got even better when they turned in prefect trips in the fourth round...

Mill Spring, N.C. – With a huge number of entries, the final day of competition at the 2021 Tryon International Three-Day Event was just as full and exciting as the days that preceded it, with show jumping taking place from the cool morning into the evening under the lights. By the end of the day, a new four-star national champion emerged, and the victors of the inaugural Adequan®/USEF Eventing Youth Team Challenge were crowned. The Dutta Corp./USEF CCI4*-L Eventing National...

Gladstone, New Jersey – Natalie Jayne (Elgin, Ill.) and Charisma secured a win in the prestigious Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals – East after three days of intense competition at the historic United States Equestrian Team headquarters in Gladstone, New Jersey. Jayne rode to a final phase four score of 365 to earn the victory ahead of Dominic Gibbs (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who finished in second place with a final score of 359. Audrey Schulze (Saddle...

Wayne, Ill. – Combinations from three divisions headed down centerline on Wednesday to begin an exciting week of competition at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. Dawn White-O’Connor and Hudson M won the FEI Prix St. Georges Test for the first class of the day. Chase Shipka and Gladstone Zee T were the next combination to claim a blue ribbon in the FEI Intermediate II Test, then Christian Simonson and Zeaball Diawind took top honors in the FEI Young Rider Team Test. USEF...

President Murray Kessler and President-Elect Tom O’Mara delivered the 2021 General Session presentation on Saturday afternoon celebrating the new heights equestrians have achieved in recent years and laying out the ambitious plans for continued growth and collaboration in the future behind the theme of Listen, Learn and Lead Together. Kessler looked back at how far US Equestrian and equestrian sport have come in the past four years, even with the challenges posed by 2020. O’Mara...