California's Steffen Peters with his new star "Weltino's Magic". (Photo by Jennifer M. Keeler.) Burbank, CA - Riders who dream of competing at the Pan American Games began their quest at the Mid-Winter Dressage Fair CDI*/Y/J in Burbank, CA, February 24-27, 2011. As the first official qualifying competition on the West Coast, horses and riders vied for scores in front of FEI judges Jayne Ayers ("I" USA), Natalie Lamping ("I" USA), and Lorraine MacDonald ("I" CAN). In addition, this competition...

Wellington, FL - Interagro Lusitanos of Brazil, the largest Lusitano export and breeding operation in the world, is pleased to announce that their head trainer, Pia Aragão, will be competing at the Florida winter dressage shows. Aragão will compete horses from Interagro Lusitanos, including several horses that will be taking part in the 2011 Lusitano Collection International Horse Auction in Wellington on February 23–26. Aragão and her horses will be arriving in Florida in late January. “I will...

Dressage Olympia, the London International Horse Show featured a week of world-class competition including a Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Qualifier. Catherine Haddad and Winyamaro performed beautifully in the Grand Prix to place fourth with a score of 69.191%. In the Grand Prix Freestyle the pair produced a strong and elegant test to score a 74.800%, placing them fourth. With the points earned from the freestyle, Haddad became the first American to top the FEI World Cup Rankings in the...

Eirin Bruheim and Qarco V'T Merelsnest (Photo by Connie Kelts) Katy, TX - October 4, 2010 - Nordic Lights Farm continued their streak of success this weekend at the Southwest Fall Classic. Junior riders Eirin and Lene Bruheim showed their talented mounts in the Jumper divisions held at the Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, Texas. Each rider achieved excellent results throughout the weekend and retained their leads in Zone 7. Lene attended the show with NLF Valhall and competed in the High...

Photo by Randi Muster (Katherine Schmidt was victorious in the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search.) The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) had a busy week of competition on February 24-28. The week featured the start of the USEF Selection Trials for the U.S. Show Jumping Team for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games along with a full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. The week seven title sponsor was Fidelity Investments. It was a full night of show jumping and...

For the third year in a row, the National Equestrian Centre in Lake St Louis, MO, was home for a week to some of the best Friesian horses in the world. Judges for the International Friesian Show Horse Association (IFSHA) World and Grand National Championship Horse Show were Lois Heyerdahl for dressage and sport horse in-hand divisions while the carriage pleasure driving horses were pinned by Audrey Bostwick. Three USEF Friesian judges—Gary Mullen, Todd Trushel and Dr. Walter de la...

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...

In addition to being the exclusive financial services partner to the FEI, HSBC, the world’s local bank, has made a commitment to the discipline of eventing on a global basis. This commitment will cover the prestigious four-star events, which will be known as the HSBC FEI Classics. The five four-star events currently on the FEI calendar will make up the HSBC FEI Classics; these events not only have the richest tradition but are also the pinnacle of eventing attracting the best riders and horses...

Iron Spring Farm’s legendary KWPN stallion Contango passed away unexpectedly on April 17, 2007. Retired from competition, the handsome dark bay stallion died peacefully in his pasture. He was 18 years old and the only Preferent stallion in North America. He leaves a lasting legacy of numerous sons and daughters reaching the grand prix ranks in both dressage and jumping. “Even though he was getting older, you’re never ready for something like this,” said Mary Alice Malone, who rode Contango to...

Aachen, Germany - The United States dressage team finished in third place behind a history-making Dutch team that beat Germany on Thursday to win the nations’ team competition at the World Equestrian Festival. The U.S. riders, Steffen Peters of San Diego, CA, on Floriano; and George Williams of Delaware, OH, on Rocher, had led the standings in the grand prix after the first of two days of competition. But, the powerful Dutch and German teams, which included Olympic Individual and Team Gold...