The United States closed out the Dressage Team Championship at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games on Friday with exemplary performances by a World Championship rookie and a decorated team veteran in the d'Ornano Stadium. Laura Graves and Steffen Peters produced impressive tests before the Ground Jury of Stephen Clarke, Elizabeth McMullen, Isabelle Judet, Susan Hoevenaars, Francis Verbeek, Dietrich Plewa, and Liselotte Fore to lead the U.S. to a fourth-place finish on a score of 222....

Brunello and Boyd during their winning handy round (A Galvin/Phelps Media Group) Lexington, Ky. - -"I feel like it's a bit of a dream, like pinch me. I'm still a little bit in shock." That is what the winner of the 2014 USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals had to say after her finish, and it is no wonder Liza Boyd thought winning derby finals twice in a row aboard Brunello was a long shot. She gave birth to her second child just two and a half months prior to the competition, giving...

Beezie Madden and Cortes 'C' (Jon Stroud Media for Shannon Brinkman Photography) Hickstead, United Kingdom - Beezie Madden added another coveted title to her extensive resume on Sunday when she rode Abigail Wexner’s Cortes ‘C’ to victory in the The Longines King George V Gold Cup at CSIO5* Hickstead. In doing so she also made history as the first women ever to win the prestigious Grand Prix. Madden (Cazenovia, N.Y.) and the 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding were one of 14...

Ashton Alexander & Cafe de Colombia (Captured Moments Photography) Lexington, Ky. – The best junior riders attended the 2014 US Junior Hunter National Championship West Coast July 21-22 in hopes of being crowned the Overall Grand Champion. Over two days of tough competition at the Del Mar Horsepark in Del Mar, Calif., riders competed in three phases: Classic Round, Under Saddle, and Handy Hunter. The Under Saddle phase counts for 20% of the rider's overall score, while both the...

Lisa Goldman & Morocco (Tricia Booker Photography) Traverse City, Mich. - Lisa Goldman is now two-for-two in the featured jumper classes so far during Horse Shows by the Bay Series IV, July 23-27. After taking the blue ribbon yesterday with Centurion B in the $2,500 1.40m Open Jumper Speed class, sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Bertram R. Firestone, she returned today with Morocco for the top check in the $10,000 Positive Step Farm Welcome Prix. With 11 of the 23 competitors jumping first-round...

Pablo Barrios and Zara Leandra (Rebecca Walton/Phelps Media Group) Lexington, Ky. - Pablo Barrios will soon be crowned king of the Kentucky Horse Park, and Zara Leandra will be his queen. Tonight, the dynamic duo notched yet another $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic victory. The Venezuelan native won both of the events during the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows, and that was following his domination of the series in 2013. It appears to be a repeat year, as Barrios grabs a firmer hold on the 2014...

Traverse City, Mich. - July 20, 2014 - Amanda Derbyshire and Attack II left no prisoners during the $40,000 Grand Prix of the Great Lakes. Derbyshire had the luxury of going sixth of the seven competitors who had qualified for the jump-off in the featured jumper class, held during Horse Shows by the Bay Series III. Derbyshire was able to win the battle by leaving out a stride that second-placed Kim Farlinger hadn't. "I did five strides after the double, where most people did six, and I...

Kelley Farmer and Unspoken down the bank to the trot jump. (AnLi Kelly-Durham) Parker, Colo. - Colorado Horse Park got underway with Week V of Summer in the Rockies-their biggest ever with a Derby Day. Spectators crowded around the Derby Field to watch the feature events of the day, the $40,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby sponsored by Serenity Farm and the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby. Derby horses from far and wide travelled to Colorado to compete. Some of the country's finest...

Amanda Flint riding Newlight VDL (David Mullinix Photography) East Dorset, Vt. - Amanda Flint of Long Valley, N.J., took the top two spots to dominate the $10,000 Open Welcome, presented by Manchester Designer Outlets, held Thursday, July 3, at the Vermont Summer Festival. The six-week equestrian competition runs through August 10 at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, Vt.. A total of four horses advanced to the jump-off over the track set by Irish course designer Alan Wade. Two of those horses...

Gladstone, N.J. - The focus of the dressage world will turn to Gladstone, N.J., this week for the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions presented by The Dutta Corp, as it runs June 12-15, in the Dick and Jane Brown Arena at the USET Foundation Headquarters. The annual championship will host the best dressage combinations in the United States across six divisions of competition, including Grand Prix, Intermediaire I, Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup,’ Young Rider, Junior, and Pony Rider...