Photo by SusanJStickle.com (Steffen Peters and Ravel) Wellington, FL – Somehow it keeps getting better. After just collecting the United States Equestrian Federation's Horse and Rider of the Year accolades for 2009, US dressage superstars Steffen Peters and Ravel ran their streak to six major wins with a convincing effort at the Grand Prix at the 2010 Exquis World Dressage Masters. Ravel, a 12-year-old KWPN gelding (Contango-Hautain) owned by Akiko Yamazaki’s Four Winds Farm appeared even...

The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation Holiday Fundraiser, presented by Succeed® and Wellington Classic Dressage, was a great success as spectators had the opportunity to experience the one-of-a-kind equestrian event featuring performances, exhibitions and team competitions with Olympians and many top equestrian stars. A benefit for the USET Foundation, the fundraiser was held at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL, on December 11-12, 2009. Through generous...

During the weekend of November 5-8, 25-year-old Kerry Tracey of Watkinsville, GA, led the victory gallop at the final SmartPak Equine/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Training Three-Day Event aboard her homebred Thoroughbred/Appaloosa gelding Chasing The Music. Although the entries were low for this long-format division, which was held in conjunction with the Rocking Horse Fall Horse Trials (Altoona, FL), the competition was fierce, and Tracey moved up from fourth after dressage to...

Lexington, KY - After a day that tested the will and stamina of some of the world’s best endurance athletes, it proved to be a clean sweep of the medals podium in both the two-star and three-star endurance competitions in the 2009 Kentucky Cup Endurance race. The event, held at the Kentucky Horse Park and neighboring farms, served as the test events for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. In the 100-mile ride (that was shortened to 75 miles due to inclement weather and deteriorating...

The Kentucky National Horse Show was held September 16-20 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Lucille Oken Wins Grand Slam with Land's End Mad Hatter Lucille Oken and Land's End Mad Hatter were unstoppable at this year's Kentucky National Indoor Horse Show. The pair completed a clean sweep of the Large Pony Hunter division, taking home each of the blue ribbons and the championship award. Oken rides at her family's Hi Hopes Farm in Charlotte, NC, with trainers Steve Heinecke and Jeff...

Rinaldo de Craen/decraen.com (Larry Poulin is competing in his final World Championships in Hungary.) Lexington, KY - Team USA is currently in fourth position after two days of dressage at the FEI World Pair Driving Championship in Kecskemet, Hungary. Larry Poulin, Keady Cadwell and Lisa Singer are just 0.1 point behind German drivers who are defending their Gold Team medal. Mieke van Tergouw, the 1995 World Champion lady driver from The Netherlands, won the dressage, ahead of Switzerland’s...

With great sadness, Mo and Jim Swanson of Rolling Stone Farm announce the passing of a World Champion dressage legend on August 11, 2009. The Hanoverian stallion Welcome S (World Cup I-Grebina/Grande) was euthanized in August 2009, due to infirmities of age. He was 22 years old. Welcome was owned by Jan van der Kamp and was managed by his daughter, Patricia Stemerdink of Dekstation de Havikerwaard in De Steeg, The Netherlands. The Swanson’s leased Welcome for breeding after a chance meeting in...

Lexington, KY – U.S. show jumper Hillary Dobbs went to Falsterbo Horse Show in Sweden to jump in Europe for the first time. The 20-year-old Harvard University student may have been looking for some experience. She also found a big win. Riding Corlett, she was one of two US riders to jump in the Swedbank Derby. It was her first attempt at a Derby class in her first European show, but no one would have ever guessed. “She was just brilliant,” said Chef d'Equipe Melanie Smith Taylor. “She was the...

Diamante Farms of Wellington, FL, is pleased to announce that Michelle Gibson will compete Don Angelo, the farm's eight-year-old Oldenburg stallion, at the 2008 USEF National Intermediaire I Championship during the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions. The event will be held in San Juan Capistrano, CA, on June 21-22 and June 27-29, with the Intermediaire I championship scheduled for the second weekend. Gibson, a 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Team Bronze medalist, is head trainer at...

Equestrian Sport Productions, LLC, announced Wednesday a preliminary plan for a new round of major improvements at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) to be completed by the "Celebration of the Horse" event in early December and well before the start of the 2009 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The improvements are the initial next stage in the top-to-bottom rebuilding of the PBIEC that began last December when Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) took over management of the...