Cincinnati, OH – For the first time ever, the USEF crowned two horses with its highest honor, one from an International Discipline and one from a National Discipline. Neville Bardos and Sjoerd were named 2011 Horses of the Year at tonight’s USEF annual Horse of the Year celebration. Honored for their accomplishments in 2011 their roads through the last 12 months, while both exceptional, have been very different. Videos of all of the Horses of Honor are available here: https://www....

For the Laughter and Meredith Darst. Shawn McMillen Photography. Washington, D.C. - The 53rd Washington International Horse Show concluded competition at Verizon Center in downtown Washington D.C. today with the presentation of championship awards in the pony hunter divisions. For The Laughter, owned by Dr. Betsee Parker of Middleburg, VA, won the Large Pony Hunter championship for the second year in a row and earned the coveted Grand Pony Hunter Champion award with Meredith Darst in the irons....

Paragon He’s only eight years old but he’s the talk of the dressage world. Yesterday people came to watch him school because they had seen him on YouTube and they wanted to see him in person. Luckily for the U.S. he’s on our team at the 2011 Pan American Games, after claiming reserve championship honors at the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions. Owned and ridden by Heather Blitz, the lanky 18- plus-hand chestnut gelding has jaw-dropping movement in...

Wayne, IL - As many people on the East Coast braced for Hurricane Irene, those at the Lamplight Equestrian Center enjoyed another day of sunshine and beautiful temperatures. Medals were awarded in the USEF Dressage Seat Medal Finals presented by Dressage Today 13 & under division and champions crowned in the Markel/USEF National Young Horse Dressage Championships 4- and 5-year-old divisions. Bronwyn Cordiak & Sarasanna GP (Photo: Chuck Swan/Swan Studios, LLC). The USEF...

Liza Boyd & Brunello (Flashpoint Photography). Conyers, GA - There’s more than one reason exhibitors use the phrase “I’m showing in Hotlanta.” Just ask Elizabeth Boyd, who picked up some “hot” cash in Friday evening’s $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby or Chasen Boggio who’ll be depositing a big check from Sunday’s $35,000 Adequan Grand Prix. Kicking off a huge week at the Georgia International Horse Park, the Hunter riders took...

Ken Borden with his mare Shirly and site-champion foal Sir Flemmingh, now a licenced stallion, at Little Bit Farm's 2007 ISR/Oldenburg inspection (Fire & Earth Photography). Wilmington, IL – Turn the drive through the green gate and there’s the pink crabapple tree, in bloom against the white-and-gray siding of the barn. To the left is the front pasture, soon to be home to a group of mares and foals. To the right is the approximately 100-year-old farmhouse – from its...

Maddy Darst with Mom Mindy Darst at Horse Shows by the Bay (Photo courtesy Horse Shows by the Bay). Traverse City, MI - Opportunities are endless for hunter riders attending Traverse City, Michigan's Horse Shows by the Bay this summer. Besides being located in the ultimate vacation destination of the Midwest, the varied festival schedule will be featuring new events and awards, ensuring participants that important items like earning lots of points, capturing coveted ribbons and winning big...

Canadian Olympian Jill Henselwood couldn't have imagined a better way to finish the 2010 HITS Desert Circuit than to win the blue and a first-place check of $90,000 in the $300,000 Lamborghini Grand Prix of the Desert, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, aboard Bradon Construction's Bottom Line. The decorated grand prix rider has won a Team Silver medal at the Olympics, a Gold medal at the Pan Am Games, and now she can call herself the champion of the richest grand prix in the history of...

McLain Ward and Miss Liberty 7 Wind Their Way to The Winners Circle McLain Ward showed the crowd that he deserves his many accolades, as he piloted Miss Liberty 7 to a perfectly planned and executed round to win the $10,000 Gem Twist Sprint Gambler's Choice at the 64th Pennsylvania National Horse Show. The Gambler's Choice competition is very different from the standard style of classes offered at horse shows. In the Gambler's Choice, the course designer places fences around the...

Diana DeRosa (2007 Pan American Games Bronze medalists Todd Minikus, Laura Chapot, Cara Raether and Lauren Hough) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—It was a battle between the host country—Brazil—and the teams from Canada and the United States for the team show jumping medal today at Deodoro Stadium outside Rio de Janeiro. Fittingly, it was the host country’s most popular equestrian athlete—Rodrigo Pessoa—that was the last to go in the two-round series of Nations Cup...