The ninth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder Western Dressage is a new and growing discipline in the horse world. People are talking about it everywhere. At North American Western Dressage we answer questions every day about what it is, how you do it, what you wear, what your horse wears, bits, reins, helmets, levels of tests and competition, movements and how you do them and a myriad of other things. Answering these questions could be a full time job for any one of our...

Peter Leone and Tuvalu (Tammy Hardy Photography.) Hampton Falls, NH – Speed was the word of the day at The Jumper Classic®, presented by Fidelity Investments® and Audi of America. In the $3,500 DG Ventures Speed Derby, Olympian Peter Leone piloted Tuvalu, owned by Alison Finger, to the fastest clear round for victory. Located in the beautiful town of Hampton Falls, NH, The Jumper Classic is New England’s premier equestrian event. This elite level competition attracts the...

Rich Fellers and Flexible (Shannon Brinkman) Greenwich, UK - Rich Fellers and Flexible put in a valiant effort in the Individual Show Jumping Final at the Olympic Games and came up with a top 10 finish on just five faults. Swiss rider Steve Guerdat put forward an immaculate effort to take Gold on Nino des Buissonnets while Gerco Schröder's clear jump-off round meant he takes Individual Silver home to Holland with the appropriately named London. Irishman Cian O'Connor would have...

Devin Ryan and Roman Saluut won the $30,000 Mount Equinox Grand Prix on Saturday, July 28, at the 2012 Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT. (David Mullinix Photography) East Dorset, VT – Devin Ryan of Long Valley, NJ, scored his second consecutive grand prix victory at the 2012 Vermont Summer Festival by winning the $30,000 Mount Equinox Grand Prix, sponsored by Hand Motors, on Saturday, July 28. The six-week Vermont Summer Festival, held at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, VT,...

Boyd Martin and Otis Barbotiere (Shannon Brinkman) Greenwich, UK - The first day of Eventing Dressage at the 2012 Olympic Games featured three of the five American horses. Boyd Martin was the very first rider in the ring on Otis Barbotiere and made the most of his first Olympic experience, having the best test of the horse's career so far. The venue is stunning and although the arena proved full of atmosphere, the three U.S. combinations handled the occasion admirably. Judged by the Ground...

Cosmo and Laura Pfeiffer. Traverse City, MI - Although Laura Pfeiffer has collected many blue ribbons during the Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival, there was one that had eluded her since the series started: the $10,000 Open Jumper Welcome Prix. Her wait ended today, however, when she guided Fox Meadow Farm's Cosmo to the top and bested a field of 30 horse-and-rider combinations to capture the $10,000 Open Jumper Welcome Prix, sponsored by Positive Step Farm. "I've been...

Kerra Goldstein and Krystall won the Hunter Championship at the Brass Ring Horse Show. (Rebecca Walton/PMG) Devon, PA - Blue skies welcomed the Pennsylvania natives as they took center stage at the Brass Ring Horse Show, a local competition included with the Brandywine Valley Summer Series, presented by Taylor Harris Insurance Services. Riders from the surrounding area gathered for a chance to compete at the prestigious Devon Horse Show Grounds. The equitation competitors were the first to be...

Louise Serio and Corvine won the $5,000 Get Real Get RAW USHJA National Hunter Derby at the Brandywine Valley Summer Series (Rebecca Walton/PMG) Devon, PA - For the second time this year, Louise Serio piloted the five-year-old gelding Corvine to a National Hunter Derby victory. During their first derby at the Kentucky Spring Horse Show, Serio and Corvine held the leading score from start to finish, and during the Brandywine Valley Summer Series' $5,000 Get Real Get RAW USHJA National Hunter...

Donald Cheska and Ad Fundum. Traverse City, MI - Sun and a light morning breeze set the stage for the $10,000 Open Jumper Welcome Prix today at Horse Shows by the Bay, as 30 competitors eagerly challenged the Evie Frisque (Ontario, Canada)-designed course. Sponsored by Positive Step Farm and Patrice Schreiber, today's competition is the first of four $10,000 Open Jumper Welcome Prix classes to be hosted by the Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival throughout the month of July in scenic...

The fourth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder Every day I head out to the barn to work. Like other trainers, I work outside in temperatures from 0 to 100 7 days a week, almost 365 days a year, from dawn till dark and sometimes longer. As a professional trainer and riding instructor I am called on to muck stalls, fix fence, buck hay, dump grain, rake footing, fill water buckets, sweep the aisle, clean tack, change bandages, medicate, lead beginners, longe riders, heft children...