Wayne, Ill. – Talented combinations delivered quality performances on the penultimate day of competition at the 2020 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions at HITS Chicago at the Lamplight Equestrian Center. Four titles were determined on Saturday in the Markel/USEF Young Horse Four-Year-Old Dressage National Championship, Markel/USEF Young Horse Five-Year-Old Dressage National Championship, Adequan®/USEF Junior Dressage National Championship, and Markel/USEF Developing Horse Prix St....

Wayne, Ill. – Horse-and-rider combinations have been doing their homework in preparation for the 14 national championships held at the 2020 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions, and it was evident in the first two classes of the show. In the first day of competition at HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center, Endel Ots and Sonnenberg’s Everdance won the FEI Prix St. Georges Test, while Sara Hassler and Harmony’s Boitano took top honors in the FEI Intermediate II Test. USEF...

When fellow equestrians and Paso Fino enthusiasts first suggested that Heidi Young consider riding with a drill team, Young demurred. “I had bought myself a very good-looking Paso Fino, and they said, ‘You should try this, because it’s fun, and your horse would look great,’” recalled Young, a Connecticut native and US Equestrian member who now resides in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho. “I said, ‘Oh, no, I don’t do that kind of thing. I don’t like...

Nicole Aden, Sound Prospect, and Allie Knowles at the 2017 Pau CCI4* (Courtesy of Nicole Aden) Grooms are a vital part of any competition barn. While grooms often are behind the scenes or alongside the ring, some of them also compete themselves. Nicole Aden, Meg Kepferle, and Andi Lawrence are three current or former eventing grooms who have found their own success in national and FEI eventing competitions. A few weeks ago, all three finished in the top 16 in the competitive CIC2* A division at...

Mill Spring, N.C. – The U.S. Para-Equestrian Team presented by Deloitte wrapped up the team portion of competition at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ (WEG) Tryon 2018 on Friday. Rebecca Hart and Roxanne Trunnell performed the Team Tests in their respective grades, which were added to Thursday’s team scores for an overall result of 214.940%. The U.S. placed fifth out of 14 nations, and although the U.S. did not qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics through their participation...

Tessa Divita (Photo by: Shannon Brinkman) U.S. Vaulting Team Individual Female competitor, Tessa Divita comes from a family with many international championship vaulting medals. Divita’s sister Ali and mother Julie have successfully competed in Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) vaulting all over the world. Divita has proven to be a force in her own right. Since her first CVI3* as an individual female in 2016, Divita has placed in the top-three, five out of the six times she’s...

Mill Spring, N.C. - Dan Huss, from Scottsdale, Ariz., is one of five athlete-and-horse combinations on the U.S. Reining Squad for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games™ (WEG) Tryon. He will bring a toughness and certain focus to his pattern in his first WEG. One of the most well-renowned sports in the United States, the sport of reining takes place the first week of the Games beginning tomorrow September 12, with the team competition, continuing on September 13 and 15. Not only is this...

Mill Spring, N.C. - Five horse-and-athlete combinations have been chosen to represent the United States at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ (WEG) Tryon 2018. Cade McCutcheon (Aubrey, Texas) will represent the U.S. in Tryon, riding Custom Made Gun, a seven-year-old Quarter Horse stallion owned by Tim and Colleen McQuay. His father, Tom McCutcheon, will ride The Wizster, an eight-year-old Quarter Horse gelding owned by Turnabout Farm. Cade McCutcheon and Custom Made Gun (Waltenberry)...

North Salem, N.Y. - During the 2017 Adequan®/FEI North American Youth Championships presented by Gotham North (NAYC), Region 4’s Tillie Jones and Apachi, the 13-year-old KWPN gelding she owns with her mom Tish Jones, overcame pre-competition adversity to win the 2017 United States Dressage Federation (USDF) North American Junior Rider Dressage Freestyle Championship. In addition, they anchored the Region 4 team to a bronze medal finish. They return this year as members of the Region...

Tryon, N.C - It was a wet day at the Tryon International Equestrian Center for the second day of dressage competition at the 2017 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Land Rover and Nutrena. Marilyn Little (Frederick, Md.) and Jacqueline Mars, Robin Parsky, and Phoebe and Michael Manders’ RF Scandalous currently lead the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Final Advanced division for the USEF Open Horse Trial National Championship by less than two points on a 27.8. Little and the...