When 15-year-old Chelsea Dowdy entered one of Kentucky’s many county fairs in 2009 with El Diamante, she could feel their usual synergy. With all the fun she had, it was an easy decision to enter another. And another. By season’s end, they had not only claimed top honors and a collection of garlands and ribbons—they had amassed a respectable college fund totaling $10,799.31. That hefty chunk of change came courtesy of the Kentucky Breeders’ Incentive Fund (KBIF), earmarked for a...

Photo by ESI Photography (Emma Kennedy, the owner and rider of Summer Hill, captured Sunday's $5,000 Pony Commotion. ) The Ocala Winter Finals wrapped up another exciting week of show jumping that included two of the four remaining qualifying grand prix classes this winter for the Pfizer Million at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, FL. Maryland’s Tracy Magness captured the win in the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, aboard Mr. and Mrs. John Barko’s Tarco Van Ter Moude for...

Kentucky Horse Shows, LLC, the management company for hunter/jumper competitions at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, is pleased to announce that Hagyard Equine Medical Institute will be the proud sponsor of the Hagyard Challenge Series. The 2010 Hagyard Challenge Series consists of five grand prix show jumping competitions at the world-class horse park. These classes start in May at the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows and conclude in August at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. The rider who...

Photo Courtesy Showplace Productions (Ledges Sporting Horses show grounds.) Showplace Productions is pleased to announce that they are now under way with the 2010 Ledges Winter Horse Show Series at their Ledges Sporting Horses Show Grounds. Ledges Sporting Horses is the home of the Ledges Winter Series of indoor shows. Located two hours northwest of Chicago in Roscoe, IL, Ledges boasts a spacious indoor facility, and numerous outdoor arenas for hosting events in the summer. From December to...

Photo by Lauren Fisher/PMG (Mary Ann Grant and Tamaro will perform in the brand new figure skating and dressage exhibition at the 2010 Challenge of the Americas. ) The Ninth Annual Challenge of the Americas is excited to announce a very unique new dressage and figure skating performance to the Challenge lineup. Held in Wellington, FL, on Saturday, March 13, 2010, the evening will get under way at 5:30 p.m. with musical grand prix team quadrilles, four-bar jumping and a figure skating dressage...

Photo by Diana DeRosa (Liza Boyd and Brunello) "He is my Olympic hunter," commented Liza Boyd after she nailed her third victory in the 14th Annual American Hunter-Jumper Foundation (AHJF) Hunter Classic Spectacular in Wellington FL, aboard her seasoned mount, Brunello. She won the very first one riding Monday Morning in 1997 and then in 2008 tasted victory again on Fiyero. Now just 3½ months after the birth of her first child (Ellen) it was important to prove she still had what it takes. Yet,...

Photo by ESI Photography (Laura Pfeiffer on Thorstin on course in the $10,000 U-Dump Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper High Classic) HITS Post Time Farm wrapped up a strong week of AA-rated show jumping this past Sunday, February 14, as the show grounds were buzzing with action for the opening week of the season. The big news for the rated circuit is that HITS Ocala will host a total of 12 qualifiers for the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix that will take place on September 12 in Saugerties, NY. The...

Photo by Diana DeRosa The atmosphere at the fourth annual Bowling for Equestrians was electrifying. From the thunder of the bowling balls as they sped down the alleys to the misty fog that made the psychedelic lighting system sparkle. The game room was showered with kids testing their skills while young and old alike threw bowling balls down the alleys in hopes of a spare or strike. The fundraiser, which is the brainchild of the American Hunter-Jumper Foundation (AHJF), was held at Greenacres...

Photo by Robbi Meisel (Eirin Bruheim and NLF Trans Atlantic) Thermometers were up and down, weathermen forecasted gloom and doom with the supposed arrival of three inches or more of snow, and like all good businesses the managers of the Gulf Coast Winter Classics decided to aire on the side of caution by cancelling Friday classes. The good news was that aside from some nasty rain, it truly was a “non event” day as Bob Bell co-chairman had hoped. Saturday saw the return of warmer temperatures,...

Photo by Flying Horse Photography (Keri Potter and Rockford I) The all-new Devoucoux Hunter Derby kicked off with a bang at the 2010 HITS Desert Circuit when one of the top hunter riders in the country, John French, piloted Victoria Komisar’s Over the Moon to the inaugural win in the $10,000 Devoucoux Derby on the West Coast. French of Gilroy, CA, had the highest score in both the first and second rounds of the popular 3'3" class that featured 29 starters on a course set by John Manning, which...