Diederique Van Der Knaap and Clive won the $10,000 SJHOF High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic on Sunday, August 5, at the 2012 Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT. (David Mullinix Photography) East Dorset, VT – Week five of the 2012 Vermont Summer Festival concluded on Sunday, August 5, with two exciting Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classics featured in the grand prix ring at Harold Beebe Farm. Diederique Van Der Knaap, of New York, NY, rode Clive to victory in the $10,000 SJHOF...

Blythe Marano and Urban won the $50,000 Rood & Riddle Grand Prix at the Kentucky Summer Classic. (Kendall Bierer/PMG) Lexington, KY - The applause and excitement could be heard resounding throughout the Kentucky Horse Park [yesterday night] as the $50,000 Rood & Riddle Grand Prix got underway in the Rolex Stadium. It was the fifth day of the Kentucky Summer Classic, and the nation's top riders gathered to show under the bright lights of the stadium for a share in the prize money,...

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...

Zana Wofsi and Taylor Schmidt. Traverse City, MI - July 22, 2012 - Even though Taylor Schmidt has only been competing in the jumper ranks for little more than a year, when she went into the ring to jump off for the $7,500 NAL Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic she had confidence in her mare Zana Wofsi. Knowing that Wofsi's strength is turning, Schmidt said she made her winning plan with the knowledge that they could master Michel Vallaincourt's jump-off test. He challenged riders...

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...

Kathleen Fisher and North Shore won the Junior Hunter Grand Championship at the Brandywine Valley Summer Series. (Rebecca Walton/PMG) Devon, PA - It was all about the juniors during the fourth day of the Brandywine Valley Summer Series presented by Taylor Harris Insurance Services (THIS). The riders were thrilled to showcase their mounts in the Dixon Oval at the prestigious Devon Show Grounds. After laying down beautiful trips with her talented mount North Shore in the Junior 16-17 Hunters,...