Kevin McCarthy claiming top honors with Jeffrey Welles (left) and Darren Granziano (Alex Lynch) Halifax, Mass. - Friday was speed day at The Silver Oak Jumper Tournament, but although many were speedy, few were clean in our main event. With an exciting Welcome Stake ending the day yesterday, today's featured class was the 1.30m Cross Insurance Speed Derby. Olaf Peterson Jr.'s unique Speed Derby course design made for an exciting afternoon at Silver Oak. In a field of 29 horse and rider...

Shannon Dahmer and Lakota Lace (Phelps Media Group) Parker, Colo. - A horse of a different color has been attracting notice at Dressage in the Rockies for more than just his spots. Lakota Lace, an 11-year-old Appaloosa/Percheron/Quarter Horse gelding, picked up back-to-back wins in the Intermediaire I at the Colorado Horse Park. In his first time out at that level, Lakota Lace scored 68.816 percent on Friday, winning the FEI High Percentage Championship, and 67.895 percent on Saturday. Trainer...

Gabriella Salick and Centuria 2 (Captured Moments Photography) Del Mar, Calif. - A host of talented equestrians came out to play on a crystal clear afternoon at the Showpark Summer Festival, closing out a busy week of competition. Twenty-seven entries vied for the top prize in the $30,000 Summer Festival Grand Prix, presented by Mary's Tack & Feed, on an intricate course designed by Venezuela's Leopoldo Palacios. Featuring a technical layout with many related distances that covered...

Josephina Nor Lantzman and Chello Z (Captured Moments Photography) Del Mar, Calif. - The competition was fierce in Friday's $25,000 1.40m Markel Insurance Grand Prix at the Showpark Summer Festival. Thirty-nine entries competed for the top prize, with horses and riders ranging from seasoned competitors to greener mounts looking for experience. As the course required universal appeal while retaining grand prix technicality, veteran course designer Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela built a track...

Amanda Flint and Superbad (David Mullinix Photography) East DOrset, Vt. - Superbad failed to live up to his name, carrying Amanda Flint to victory in the $30,000 Vermont Summer Special Grand Prix, presented by Johnson Horse Transportation, on July 5 at the Vermont Summer Festival. The six-week equestrian competition runs through August 10 at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, VT. Flint of Long Meadow, NJ, was riding a winning streak into Saturday’s main event, having placed first and...

Laura Linback and Carmina (Phelps Media Group) Wayne, Ill. - Laura Linback and Carmina have not been in a partnership for long, only six months, but they are at the top of their game. Friday afternoon they captured the win in the $5,000 1.30m Open Jumpers, presented by Taylor, Harris Insurance Services, during the Showplace Spring Spectacular I. They vaulted to the top of the leader board in an astonishing 37.416 seconds, more than a second ahead of their challengers in a six-horse jump-off. "I...

Burbank, Calif. - For the second year in a row, Jenny Karazissis led the victory gallop in the $10,000 Memorial Day USHJA International Hunter Derby, this time aboard Undeniable (Kelly Straeter, owner). “I’m so lucky to be able to ride such incredible horses,” Jenny commented. “Undeniable is such a competitor and he’s such a nice mover that it just brings a smile to your face when you ride him.” The judges definitely loved his movement and expression, and...

Vaulting to be featured in the Middle East for the first time Sisters Cassidy and Kimberly Palmer, who placed first in the pairs (pas-de-deux) Vaulting event at the 2013 German Masters in Stuttgart last November, will be among the roster of world-class competitors who will gather in Doha, Qatar in March for the Second CHI AL SHAQAB. The siblings are the first vaulters from the United States to win a World Cup event. The prestigious event takes place at AL SHAQAB, the Arabian Gulf’s...

Glory Days and Katie Dinan clear the Ace Bakery oxer (Ben Radvanyi) Toronto, On. – The phrase “We have a jump off!” is commonly heard around the horse show ring, but it’s rarely, if ever, heard following a speed class at a four-star international event. Friday night the ‘one-in-a-million’ happened. Veteran American rider Laura Kraut (Middleburg, VA) put in an incredible round in what, under normal circumstances would have been the first and only round of the...

Kristi Nunnink and Lod Lombardi won division A of the Training Level Three-Day Event at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event (Amy McCool photo) Temecula, Calif. - Kristi Nunnink and Katie Yozamp won the two divisions of the Training Level Three-Day Event at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event. Nunnink, of Auburn, Calif., won division A on Lord Lombardi (33.6), edging Lindsay Weaver on Sintra (34.1) and Joe McKinley on Lone Tree Farm’s Street Wise (36.8). McKinley also...