Annville, PA - Summer is here, and with warm air and sunshine flooding horse shows across the country, competition in the 2011 North American League (NAL) has heated up. The NAL's two year-end finals are just months away, and riders are continuing to put in stellar performances in the show ring with the hopes of qualifying for one of both of the finals. The NAL will maintain its traditional year-end Finals in six divisions – Children’s Hunter, Adult Hunter, presented by...

Lexington, KY - Building on the success of National Helmet Awareness Day 2010, the popular helmet awareness campaign Riders4Helmets.com has announced plans to host International Helmet Awareness Day 2011 on Saturday, June 11. Riders4Helmets has teamed up with leading helmet manufacturers to offer discounts on helmets to equestrians via participating retailers globally on this day. More than 300 retailers in the U.S. and eight retailers Internationally offered discounts on helmets from eight...

Louise Serio and Phillipa at the Kentucky Spring Classic (Photo by Holly Whiteman). Lexington KY - Hunter riders at the Kentucky Spring Classic enjoyed a day without rain at the beautiful Kentucky Horse Park. Today was the second day of the Kentucky Spring Classic, which is the second week of the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows. This week features the World Champion Hunter Rider Week, which gives riders the opportunity to earn fabulous prize money along with quality points toward year end awards...

Annville, PA — Spring is in full swing, and so is the 2011 North American League (NAL). With the NAL's two year-end finals just months away, riders are continuing to turn up the volume in the show ring with the hopes of qualifying for one of both of the finals. The NAL will maintain its traditional year-end Finals in six divisions – Children’s Hunter, Adult Hunter, presented by Practical Horseman, Children’s Jumper, Adult Jumper, Pony Jumper, and Low...

Chesterfield, SC - The riders couldn’t say enough nice things about Heart of the Carolinas Three-Day Event in Chesterfield, SC, at Southern Eighths Farm. They loved the facility, the organization, the footing, the courses, the jumps - everything. Anne Lane-Maunder and Penny Lane (photo by Diana De Rosa). When it was all over Jim Baker and Wings claimed the victory in the Beginner-Novice division (58.30). “The format and the organization were topnotch. I can’t say enough about...

Award-winning course designer Anthony D'Ambrosio. (Photo by Kenneth Kraus.) Hampton Falls, NH - A new course designer at the 2011 Fidelity Investments Jumper Classic, featuring the $75,000 Grand Prix, will challenge competitors this year on the grass Grand Prix and Derby field. Award-winning course designer Anthony D'Ambrosio will be testing the top riders in the high performance classes to be held at Silver Oak Equestrian Center, Hampton Falls, NH, September 14-18. A sanctioned FEI course...

Todd Minikus and Pavarotti. (Photo by Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - After missing the beginning of the 2011 show circuit due to a shattered collarbone, Todd Minikus (USA) made his return to the winner's circle at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) today riding Pavarotti to a victory in the $31,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 10. This was the pair's second time back in the ring this season and they made it look easy with two fast and faultless rounds. The FTI WEF's tenth week of competition,...

Gulfport, MS A very positive-minded 23-year-old Sarah Mechlin of Cincinnati, OH, partnered with Yes Indeed took the top spot over 50 competitors in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby during the fourth week of the Gulf Coast Winter Classics. Fifty equine athletes were being braided before dawn and began lunging at 5:30 Friday morning in preparation for their first big test, the official presentation and jog before the panel of judges- Mike Rosser, Ray Francis, Betsy Perry, Tucker...

Nick Skelton and Big Star. (Photo by Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - February 13, 2011 - The fifth week of competition at the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival concluded on Sunday with the $25,00 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Classic, and it was Nick Skelton (GBR) and Big Star, owned by Beverly and Gary Widdowson, who proved victorious over a field of 65 entries. Alan Wade of Co. Tipperary, Ireland, designed today's courses and set a first-round track that 11 combinations would clear....

January is time for new beginnings. A fresh start. It's also the time each year when the administrators, movers-and-shakers, the USEF general membership and the media gather together for a long weekend of meetings, discussions, debates and several of the year's most anticipated galas. It's known as the USEF Annual Meeting, and it's now underway in Louisville, KY. As is tradition, Wednesday night serves as the Welcome Reception where everyone has a chance to party before the real...