Springtown, Texas - It was a tale of two teams in Texas on Saturday as No.7 Baylor and No.8 Texas Christian met in an early season in-state clash. TCU had the better western team, and Baylor was the dominant hunt seat team. But the TCU reining team was the only squad able to secure an outright, 5-0, sweep. In doing so they made the difference in a hard fought 11-9 win. Baylor won equitation on the flat 3-2 and TCU edged out an equal 3-2 victory in horsemanship. TCU was able to pick up one point...

Leslie Berndl (Pics of You) Lexington, KY – A good crowd turned out at the Kentucky Horse Park Saturday to watch the marathon phase of the Kentucky Classic CDE. When the driving was done and the spectators had left Leslie Berndl had taken a big step into the lead in the single horse division. Berndl (Newcastle, California) started off hot Saturday morning with Dutch Warmblood gelding Umico and her consistent driving over the entire course helped her take the lead in the division. Berndl...

Last week I posted a virtual show entry video from an amazingly brave woman who continues to allow me to use her material for examples in this blog. Her courage and generosity inspire me and I hope that her open heart and willingness to be visible inspire you too. I hope that some of you readers are able to identify with her as a peer, a rider struggling to understand riding and training her stock horse and that you professionals at least respect her courage. Reaction to the video has been...

Lillie Keenan and Pumped Up Kicks jump their way to a win in the $125,000 Purina Animal Nutrition Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Saugerties over the weekend (©ESI Photography) Saugerties, NY – Lillie Keenan and Pumped Up Kicks were pumped up just enough Sunday afternoon to win the $125,000 Purina Animal Nutrition Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis. The 15-year-old rider and Chansonette Farm, LLC’s Pumped Up Kicks closed out three weeks of spring shows at HITS-on-the-Hudson...

Kaitlin Campbell on Rocky W Devon, PA - This evening's open jumper class was the Idle Dice Open Jumper Stakes class. The class was named after famed jumper horse Idle Dice. Idle Dice was originally bred as a thoroughbred race horse, but he was discovered and retrained by Bernie Traurig who showed him as a hunter. He was later purchased by Harry Gill and shown as a jumper by Rodney Jenkins. Idle Dice won over $400,000 in his career (an amount that would triple if adjusted to the value of...

It's official. NAWD has applied for recognized affiliate status with the USEF. Supporters have until June 11th to let the USEF know that North American Western Dressage is the right choice of organizations to build the future of Western Dressage. NAWD President Jen Johnson states: “Western Dressage is coming. Over the past 3 years we have watched it grow at warp speed from the hint of an idea to not just one but three major organizations with very different ideals. Throughout, NAWD...

Carlos Munoz and Klouseau (SusanJStickle.com) Wellington, FL - Carlos Munoz (ESP) and Klouseau had a perfect end to their weekend with a first place finish in the FEI Intermediare Freestyle, presented by Peacock Ridge. Munoz and Klouseau, a twelve-year-old Trakehner gelding owned by Karen Blank, were the last pair to go in the class and scored an impressive 73.550% to leapfrog to the top of the rankings. Evi Strasser (CAN) and Rigaudon Tyme finished second with a score of 70.800%, Shelly...

Tim Gredley and Unex Valente jump 7'6" (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - The $10,000 Puissance high jump competition was held on Friday evening at The Stadium at PBIEC prior to the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle presented by Horseware Ireland for the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. Great Britain's Tim Gredley and Unex Valente and Germany's Johannes Ehning and Salvador V went head to head over the wall in four rounds of competition with Gredley winning at a final height of 6'11" (2.10m). The...

I have been promising to update readers on current trends in the Western Dressage world. One way of keeping track of what WD is doing, where it is going and who is doing it is to track events. NAWD, CD and WDAA all maintain calendars of clinics and shows around the country. By analyzing those calendars we have a simple method of tracking what is happening. The information is limited by the fact that show and clinic organizers must report their event to the organization for inclusion on these...

Lisa Wilcox and Pikko del Cerro HU. (SusanJStickle.com) Wellington, FL - The 2013 Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) carried on Saturday with the third day of competition of the Wellington Dressage CDI-W presented by The Dutta Corp. The morning's classes featured the FEI Grand Prix Special and the FEI Intermediare 1. Judges for the FEI Grand Prix Special were Janet Foy (USA) at E, Lorraine MacDonald (CAN) at H, Sandy Phillips (GBR) at C, Wojek Markowski (POL) at M, and Jennie Loriston...