Yann Candele and Redefin. (Photo by Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) held its second day of competition today with the first of 12 weekly WEF Challenge Cup grand prix classes. Canada's Yann Candele and Redefin, owned by Susan Grange, were the fastest double clear combination to earn the top prize. Held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL, the 2011 WEF will hold 12 consecutive weeks of competition for its winter show...

Nick Skelton and Unique (Photo © Sportfot, Official Sport Photographer of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival) Wellington, FL - The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) began its competition January 12 with opening jumper classes in the International Arena. To start the year off right, Nick Skelton (GBR) was back in the saddle and in the winner's circle with Unique, owned by Beverly Widdowson, in the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m Jumpers. The first week of the FTI WEF runs through January 16. The...

Wellington, FL - The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), which has 12 weeks of competition from January 12 to April 3, will once again host the Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series this year, which will now feature a $50,000 bonus. The $25,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Classics are held weekly through week 11. The final class, the $30,000 Suncast® 1.50 Jumper Championship, will be held on Sunday, March 27 (WEF 11), and it will be an FEI ROLEX ranking class. The top...

Lexington, Kentucky - The Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA), in partnership with its Saddle Seat Sponsor, Morehead State University (MSU), will offer its first saddle seat horse shows February 5-6. The weekend will be planned so that two saddle seat shows can be offered on two consecutive days. All levels and ages of IEA saddle seat riders will be invited to compete. Any IEA saddle seat teams and riders may attend as the show will be open to riders from any region or zone in the...

Dressage rider Leah Winston and Lusitano stallion Amintas Interagro. (Photo courtesy of JRPR.) Jacksonville, FL – The Lusitano breed was in the spotlight at the recent United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Annual Convention in Jacksonville, FL, when an award-winning Lusitano took part in the symposium and two lucky audience members won tickets to the upcoming 2011 Lusitano CollectionTM International Horse Auction. The auction, which will be held at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in...

Redha Gharsa on Neopolitano Primavera and Anthony Jackson on Pluto Pompea. (Photo courtesy Eric Martin.) Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain – Ten horses and eight riders braved a 16-hour plane ride to the Middle East to present the King of Bahrain with a demonstration of classical dressage. King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa staged the Bahrain Animal Production Show and brought in the Lipizzaner Stallion Show as the headliner. Also known as the Mara’ee, the agricultural show featured animal trainers,...

With every eye on the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, 2010 was the Year of the Horse in the United States as the world arrived on our doorstep in Lexington, KY, for 16 days of competition, demonstration and fun. It took years of planning and didn't kick off until the end of the ninth month of the year. Here is how 2010 unfolded before, during and after the Equestrian Event that stopped the American Equestrian community in its tracks. Anyone who makes a life with horses knows it's not...

Courtesy Sarah Kelly. (Rebecca "Becky" Broussard) We mourn the loss of a great patron of equestrian sport in the United States. Rebecca "Becky" Broussard passed away on December 24, 2010, surrounded by her family at her home in Whitefish, MT. Broussard participated in the sport of eventing at all levels. She owned horses for some of the top riders in the sport, at the same time she has lent support to many programs aimed at the development of both horses and riders. She also believed in...

Dressage Olympia, the London International Horse Show featured a week of world-class competition including a Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Qualifier. Catherine Haddad and Winyamaro performed beautifully in the Grand Prix to place fourth with a score of 69.191%. In the Grand Prix Freestyle the pair produced a strong and elegant test to score a 74.800%, placing them fourth. With the points earned from the freestyle, Haddad became the first American to top the FEI World Cup Rankings in the...

Meagan Davis and Bentley (Bill Davis) Lexington, KY - At the FEI World Cup Dressage Final for Young Riders, Meagan Davis and Bentley proved their mettle against 14 of the best Young Riders in the world and became the first U.S. pair to qualify for the Freestyle A-final. Competition got underway on Thursday with the Young Rider Team test (Prix St. Georges), which served as a warm-up class. After a challenging warm-up, Davis rode into the arena with confidence and Bentley settled into the test to...