In a brilliant display of skill and finesse, Sara Schmitt, of Glen Gardner, NJ, drove her Morgan stallion, High Country Doc, to one of only a few clean and clear rounds in the cones phase at The Laurels at Landhope and her first national championship. The last in the order of go on Sunday, September 11, Schmitt had some wiggle room. Ahead by only four points under the new rules where a ball down is now a three-point penalty instead of five. This gave her a small margin of error, one that could...

Lexington, KY – After the excitement of being in the Bronze Medal position after the dressage phase in the three-phased 2005 FEI World Driving Championship Pairs in Wals-Siezenheim, Austria, fate turned the other way for a moment, leaving the U.S. Driving Team to finish seventh out of 18 teams competing. Combining penalty scores from the dressage, cones and marathon phases, Austria’s home team was destined to win, with a final score of 248.58. “We put on a really good...

Aachen, Germany - Aug. 25 – The United States show jumping team claimed a victory and a fourth place finish Thursday on the eve of the Samsung Super League Nations Cup competition at the World Equestrian Festival. Jeffrey Welles, of Ridgefield, CT, piloted his nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding, Sampras, to victory in the Youngsters Cup, while Laura Kraut of Oconomowoc, WI, finished fourth on the Dutch Warmblood gelding, Anthem, in the Preis von Nordrhein-Westfalen. Welles and Sampras finished in...

From the FEI: At the end of a thrilling Jumping phase, Australia’s Clayton Fredericks came out as the worthy winner of the 2005 FEI Eventing World Cup Final. Performing a magnificent clear round, he retained his overnight score of 42 penalties. The 2nd place goes to yet another Australian, Andrew Hoy, who had one rail down and one time penalty to finish on 44.3. Piia Pantsu follows in 3rd position only 0.1 points behind Hoy (44.4). A total of SEK 630,000 (EUR 68,000) was distributed in prize...

Annie Davidson Wins the 2005 USEF Pony Medal Championship 8 Year Old Lillie Keenan Makes Dreams Come True for Others (Lexington, KY) – In the blistering summer heat, Annie Davidson, age 12 of Newtown, Pennsylvania was named Grand Champion of the 2005 Pony Medal Championship held at the Kentucky Horse Park yesterday. The Championship was held as part of the USEF Pony Finals August 10-13. Annie received the Easter Sunday Memorial Perpetual Trophy, a cooler and tack trunk donated by Oakcroft Tack...

Show jumping legend Margie Goldstein-Engle galloped away with the blue ribbon in the $75,000 Footings Unlimited Grand Prix at HITS-on-the-Hudson II. The 2000 Olympic veteran, and eight-time American Grand Prix Association Rider of the Year thrilled the Sunday crowd aboard Hidden Creek's Wapino, a 17.2 hand nine-year-old Westfalian gelding. "I've been riding him at the grand prix level for a little over a year now. We had some wins in Florida, but this is the biggest in terms of money won," she...

Courtesy of Karina Benish (Karina and Hawkeye) He was the ugliest male I had ever seen in my life. He had a bloody wound on his nose, hair six inches long on his chest, and he weighed about 700-800 pounds—400 shy of his best weight. His name was Hawkeye, and he was my partner for more than 14 years. Hawkeye was a mustang horse, and it was he who taught me what it is to trust. Horses, in my opinion, given good care and a little attention, are high up in Maslow’s hierarchy. Since...

San Juan Capistrano, CA - Robert Dover and FBW Kennedy were even better today than they were last weekend. Just prior to Dover’s ride, Guenter Seidel on Aragon and Steffen Peters on Floriano had exceptional rides creating a super-charged atmosphere, but Dover and Kennedy marched down the center line, saluted and never looked back. Their score of 78.917% kept them firmly in the lead. Seidel and Aragon were second with 74.167%, Peters and Floriano were third with 71.875%, Leslie Morse and...

San Juan Capistrano, CA – Veteran Olympic Judge Axel Steiner was doing color commentary at the trials today and described Robert Dover’s ride on FBW Kennedy as “one of the nicest Grand Prix rides in the United States.” The enthusiastic applause of the knowledgeable crowd indicated they agreed. Their score of 76.292% leads Gunter Seidel on Aragon, who had a score of 72.375%. Seidel was also third on Nikolaus 7 with a score of 71.458%. Steffan Peters on Floriano was fourth with 71.333%. “You...

Two of the world’s most prestigious and glamorous equine events are coming to the United States in 2005! For the first time ever in international competition, two World Cup Championship events will be held concurrently in one location, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 20-24, 2005. The 2005 World Cup Champions in both jumping and dressage will be crowned in Las Vegas. Following its previous hosting of two World Cup Jumping finals, the highly-acclaimed Budweiser World Cups in 2000 and 2003, Las Vegas...