Alexandra Lawson is a 19-year-old freshman at Purdue University from North Salem, Indiana. She is a member of the three-gaited section of the 2012 U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup Team. I've spent most of my life in the small farm communities of Danville and North Salem, Indiana. My parents and maternal grandparents are grain farmers - farming about 5,000 acres in the surrounding area. When you grow up in farm country, you just naturally get involved with FFA and 4-H, and it was through 4-H that...

Margie Engle and Ashland Farms' Lord Spezi on course in Friday's $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, NY (ESI Photography). Saugerties, NY — With competition taking place in 10 different show rings and more than 1,600 horses on the premises, the opening week of the HITS-on-the-Hudson summer series is going like gangbusters, proving that Saugerties, New York is the place to be this summer. Olympian Margie Engle...

Ravel rocked last night. Plain and simple. It was the best I have ever seen him go and I have been lucky to see him go really well quite a few times. Steffen agreed today when I saw him, he said he felt it and was really excited about the work he was doing last night, but when he arrived here and Anne Gribbons saw him, he was convinced. The horse somehow keeps getting better. After the class last night I went to Del Ray Beach where I am staying with some friends and I got to catch up with a...

Bridgehampton, NY - Samantha Schaefer captured top honors in the $10,000 Sam Edelman Equitation Championship at the Hampton Classic Horse Show on Thursday. The 17-year-old student from Westminster, MD, received the highest score of 182 points riding Pioneer, owned by Heritage Farm. "It's a big deal to win here," said Schaefer. "I rode in the class last year on a young horse and made it into the Top 10, but this is really great." Schaefer has only shown Pioneer three times at the suggestion of...

Last year when two-time Horse of the Year John Henry passed away at the age of 32, five hundred fans from across the country attended his memorial service, thousands watched that same service on a live television broadcast, and thousands of others sent letters of condolence. On October 8, the one-year anniversary of John Henry’s death, the Kentucky Horse Park and the organizers of the John Henry Memorial Fund will dedicate a permanent memorial to one of the Thoroughbred racing industry’s...

Just sitting watching some dressage, as the best 15 horses and riders in the world groove before a packed house. These days have been incredibly long, and different from any other championship I have ever been to because even though it is home turf, it is such a big venue – getting around getting things done takes seemingly longer than anticipated. The jumpers have arrived. Sapphire, Cedric, Quick Study, Urico and Davos walked off the truck like they owned the place. Cedric is very, very flea...

This past weekend, Canterbury Farm in Hampshire, IL, hosted a clinic for the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) Emerging Athletes Program. Held on Saturday, September 5, and Sunday, September 6, the clinic was conducted by renowned equestrians Melanie Smith Taylor and Ray Texel. Diane Carney of Hampshire, IL, was the on-site coordinator for the event, which was a Level II Training Session. The clinic was part of the Emerging Athletes Program, an educational program that focuses on...

Richard Spooner and Cristallo. (Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - The FTI Winter Equestrian Festival's seventh week of competition continued on Thursday afternoon with round seven of the $31,000 WEF Challenge Cup Series. Held in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, the class saw a total of 59 entries with 16 jumping clear to return for the jump-off. After arriving in Wellington just three days ago, California's Richard Spooner and his top mount Cristallo...

Tracy Fenney and MTM La Costa. (ESI Photography©.) Ocala, FL - In a weekend that saw a record number of entries in several divisions, including two record-setting highs for Grand Prix entries, Sunday’s $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix was the icing on the cake. An outstanding 70 pairs started on a course designed by Tim Hott of Tennessee, as a mix of Professionals, Amateurs and Juniors were awarded the top ribbons. Tracy Fenney of Flower Mound, TX, brought her Sunday best when she took home the...

Photo by Jon Kassel (Grand Prix Course at the sold out Alliant Energy Center Arena .) The 10,000 seat John Deere Coliseum at Madison's Alliant Energy Center was standing room only Saturday night as five of 38 entries passed the course's first test and were asked back for the tie-breaking round. Ultimately it was the feisty chestnut mare Happy Z and Ohio's Wilhelm Genn who laid down an unbeatable jump-off track for the win. Laura Linback and As di Villagana, competing last, also put in a...