Canada’s Olympians had a rough go of it in the $50,000 Weston Canadian Open for International Jumpers at Toronto’s Royal Horse Show on November 14th. Americans McLain Ward and Laura Kraut, hot off their Team Gold at the Olympics, took first and third respectively, with Britain’s Michael Whitaker narrowly edging into the second position. Ward, with his 16-year-old veteran campaigner Goldika 559, executed the course in style, taking almost the identical route that teammate Kraut had taken 15...

Rodrigo de Matos is a Principle Rider of L'Escola Portuguesa d'Arte Equestre, and the Chief Instructor at Morgado Lustiano in Portugal. He represented Portugual at the recent Paris Symposium where all four of the great classical European schools of riding were invited to a joint performance and exchange of ideas. Participants included the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, the Cadre Noir, L'Escola Portuguesa, and the Spanish National School. As a representative of L'Escola and Morgado Lusitano,...

History repeated itself as Kent Farrington and Upchiqui won the $75,000 Budweiser Prix de Penn National for the second time on closing night of the 2008 Pennsylvania National Horse Show. Suspense is the essence of competition. Farrington faced 28 very tough competitors to repeat this win. The seventh of 10 clean trips in the first round, Farrington knew speed would be a prime factor in the jump-off. “Upchiqui is an exceptionally fast horse,” said Farrington, 20. “ He’s a great horse. He covers...

The Royal Winter Fair is thrilled to announce its line-up of international riders set to compete at the Ricoh Coliseum, November 11-15. Nearly half the field of show jumpers participated in this summer’s Olympic games in Hong Kong (where the equestrian events were held), as did two of the five dressage riders. Three of the four members of the Silver medal-winning Canadian team will be competing, including Individual Olympic champion, Canada’s Eric Lamaze, with his Olympic partner Hickstead. It...

Riders from The Oaks of Lake City’s Equestrian Center are already putting the new community in the limelight. Last week, The Oak’s equestrian member and young rider, Hannah Lisec and the five-year-old Oldenburg, Gladiator HU, swept all four of their classes at the Fall Classic Dressage Horse Shows in the Park in Newberry, FL. Lisec’s dressage scores ranged from 68-76%. Along with winning all of her classes, Lisec topped two divisions, winning both the First Level Championship and Junior...

Nineteen-year-old Western Star Galaxy (Georgetown Starlight x Cedarvale Splendora) won big at last week's Eastern States Exposition Big E Horse Show in West Springfield, MA. In a class of nine, "Alex" won the New England Horseman's Council's Junior Western Reining Seat Medal Finals with Stephanie Miranda of Assonet, MA, in the saddle. Alex is the only Morgan to ever win the finals to date. Owned by Michelle Cravenho of Kingston, MA, Alex was the only Morgan in the class that included Paints,...

Lexington, KY — The United States Equestrian Federation, Inc. (USEF) is pleased to announce that they will now accept American Express, which will allow USEF members to pay for memberships and other services both online and through downloadable forms. USEF’s customers will be able to enjoy the speed and convenience of payment with the American Express® Card, and will also have the opportunity to earn a variety of types of rewards with every purchase. “We are very pleased to now offer our...

At the 2008 Stallion Service Auction, the American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) raised over $150,000 to help breed promotions, the World Morgan Futurity, and AMHA regional shows. The Marketing and Promotions Committee has put its portion of the proceeds to good use and is delighted to share a partial list of the things participation in the auction has done to help promote the breed. In October, AMHA will be launching a new marketing effort and unveil a new graphic. This exciting new icon and...

The “southwest edition” of the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo spreads out this September 19-21, stretching into every corner of the 20-acre Sky Ute Event Center in Ignacio, CO. So many clinicians are in the line-up, the event has added extra venues, and family fun has its very own “Junior Rodeo” arena. Shopping spills out from the indoor arena to a pleasant grassy area, complete with picnic tables. Horses for private treaty sales, breed presentations and stallion and mare demonstrations are stabled...

Pfizer Animal Health is pleased to announce their support of the New Canaan Mounted Troop, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to building leadership, responsibility and confidence in youth through sound horsemanship. As part of the growing relationship, Pfizer Animal Health and the troop will work together to help foster good health for the organization’s horses, while providing a hands-on learning experience in equine care for its young members. New Canaan Mounted Troop (NCMT) has used...