Chesterfield, SC - For the first of three days for the Heart of the Carolinas Three-Day Event, taking place at Southern Eights Farm in Chesterfield, SC, April 29-May 1, three divisions were featured: Beginner-Novice, Novice and Training. In the Dressage, Jim Baker and Wings are leading the way in Beginner-Novice with a score of 42.3. Anne Lane Maunder and Penny Lane are leading in Novice on a score of 29.3 and Sarah Morton and Conference Call head up the Training level riders with a score of 29....

Badminton, UK - A trio of British girls head the leaderboard after the Dressage phase at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR), the first leg of the HSBC FEI Classics™ 2011. Ruth Edge (GBR), in pole position with the excellent score of 33.3 penalties on the 17-year-old Two Thyme, winner at Luhmühlen in 2007, is no stranger to the limelight in this phase – indeed, she regularly wins national titles in this discipline. “There’s always a lot of pressure on...

Wellington, FL - The Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) Spring Circuit continued last week with week 5 on April 13-17. ESP was very pleased to see that exhibitor numbers at the show increased 25% from 2010. The horse show offered a full schedule of hunter/jumper competition, with three classes featured: the $10,000 Pennfield Feeds Open Jumper Welcome Stake, the $7,500 Reist Industries High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Stake at The Stadium, and the $30,000 ESP Spring 5 Grand Prix. The winner of...

So here it is, my 13th time at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Who would have thought that when I went to my first Rolex in 1997 that I would end up only missing one between then and now (the 2009 event). My Rolex experiences started out as a day-trip jaunt from Western Kentucky University where I was attending school. It was my first year of college and an equine photographer that my friend, Laura, and I had met told us about the event. Since I was studying photojournalism at the time, I...

Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos (Shannon Brinkman) Elkton, MD – Mother Nature wouldn’t quit but smart riding prevailed at the 2009 Dansko Fair Hill International as Boyd Martin flew to the lead in the USEF National CCI*** Championship with Neville Bardos. Newly an American citizen after changing citizenship from Australia earlier in the year, Martin and the nine-year-old Australian Thoroughbred literally skipped over the muddy ground making Derek DiGrazia’s course look easy....

Chris Hickey and Cabana Boy (Photo by Mary Phelps ) Wayne, IL – Crowds hurried to the entrance of Lamplight Equestrian as the day started early with the first phase of the USEF National Developing Horse Dressage Championship presented by the Dutta Corporation and Performance Sales International. Christopher Hickey and “Cabana Boy” did not disappoint, and were rewarded by judges Linda Zang, Hilda Gurney and Maryal Barnett for their efforts. This two-time Young Horse National...

Gladstone, NJ - The rain just couldn’t help itself. After a dry day on Friday, the 2009 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions at the USET Foundation Headquarters – like much of the rest of the country, was again, drenched. The Grand Prix Freestyle, which was expected to be the highlight of the weekend – didn’t disappoint. But Adrienne Lyle surprised a few (including herself) by ending up on top of the leader board with Wizard. “Basically,...

Amy Tryon and Coal Creek (Shannon Brinkman) Elkton, MD – It’s nice to be right about a horse, and Amy Tryon proved to the world what she always knew about Coal Creek. He lived up to Tryon’s expectations when he jumped up from sixth after the cross country to win the 2008 USEF National CCI*** Eventing Championship at the Dansko Fair Hill International on the strength of his clear show jumping round. “He was fantastic, I was thrilled,” said Tryon of Coal Creek....

Hong Kong, China – It was an interesting cross-country day at the Beas River venue today as 70 horses took on Mike Etherington-Smith’s eight minute cross country course. Not one horse achieved the optimum Gina Miles and McKinlaigh (Shannon Brinkman) time, and Australia’s Shane Rose (riding All Luck) was the only pair to have single digit time penalties. The Germans, on 158.10, took a slim lead over dressage winners, Australia (162.00), in the team portion of the competition....

Lexington, KY – Driver Chester Weber continued his stellar European campaign over the weekend with a convincing win at the German Fahrderby in Riesenbeck, Germany. The Fahrderby (Driving Derby) is a unique competition which consists of six separate phases. It began with each competitor driving a pair the first morning - a class that is equivalent to a show hunter class. Four drivers enter a standard driving arena and are directed by the judges to perform specific movements from letter to...