All posts by Associate Editor

Classic Company, Classic Company, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping

Pensacola Highlights and Lots of News!

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I just returned from the USEF Annual meeting in Cincinnati, so I missed the first week in Pensacola but I understand they had a great week.  The following are the highlights and at the bottom of this page is lots of BIG NEWS.

This year we made some changes to our schedules so that the Classics are held on Saturday instead of Sunday.  That made it so everyone was able to make their getaway flights since the show ended earlier.  Classic Company will continue this “Classic” schedule with all their shows this year.

The week started out with a great party hosted by Pensacola Sports Association hosted an “Iron Chef” party with the finest chefs from the area and everyone was talking about it the next day.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping

Beezie Madden and Simon Take First “Saturday Night Lights” Victory in $30,000 Surpass Grand Prix

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Spandau and Schaefer Raposa Garner Marley Goodman Small Junior Hunter 16-17 Championship

Beezie Madden and Simon. Photos © Sportfot

Wellington, FL – January 14, 2012 – The FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) hosted its first “Saturday Night Lights” event this evening with the $30,000 Surpass Grand Prix. Olympic gold medalist Beezie Madden (USA) and new mount Simon, owned by Abigail Wexner, took home the blue ribbon. Nick Skelton (GBR) and Beverley Widdowson’s Unique finished second, while Cian O’Connor (IRL) rode Blue Loyd, owned by Ashkirk Ltd and Cian O’Connor, to third place.

In the first round of the grand prix, Olympic gold medalist McLain Ward fell with Oh D’ Eole at the 8b obstacle. Ward was taken out of the ring to an ambulance and transported to Wellington Regional Medical Center, where he is being attended by specialists for a fractured kneecap. Oh D’ Eole was examined by veterinarians and is unhurt.

Continue reading Beezie Madden and Simon Take First “Saturday Night Lights” Victory in $30,000 Surpass Grand Prix →

Community/Charity, Rescue/Protection Sources

Diamonds in the Rough Neigh Days (Updated)

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We at Diamonds in the Rough equine rescue are putting together our 2nd annual Neigh Days on April 21, 2012. We are looking for cash sponsors and product donations for our raffles and silent auctions. We also would like to invite you to be a vendor at our event. If you could please find it in your hearts to help out our rescue horses, contact us at 804-815-4286 or email LauraD.DITR@gmail.com or mail to 5654 Kings Ridge Rd. Gloucester, VA 23061. Please read below our sponsor levels and about our 501(3)(C) rescue group. Thank you!

Neigh Days Spring of 2012

To be just a vendor – $300 if you are selling products, $100 for information only booths. Free to rescue groups. (We do ask that those rescue groups that are having booths please promote our event to help generate a large crowd.)

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI

FEI Children’s International Classics Final 2011

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VASCONCELLOS SCOOPS DOUBLE-GOLD FOR BRAZIL by Louise Parkes

Brazil's Sarah Vasconcellos claimed Team and Individual gold riding Cornwall Chief at the FEI Children's International Classics Final 2011 in Hong Kong. Photo: FEI/Kenneth Chan.

Hong Kong (CHN), 14 January 2012 – Brazil’s Sarah Vasconcellos clinched her second gold medal of the Championships when taking the Individual title on the final day of the FEI Children’s International Classics Final in Hong Kong today.  Silver went to the host nation’s Arianna Ladd, while South Africa’s Cameron Dawson was the well-deserved recipient of the bronze.  Vasconcellos also helped the Happy Diamonds side to gold in the Team competition, ably supported by Russia’s Nikita Pomogalova, Venezuela’s Victoria Karm and Hong Kong’s Michelle Li.

The youthful enthusiasm and sporting spirit of the competitors, all aged between 12 and 14 years, permeated the event which took place at the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Beas River Country Club – venue for the eventing discipline during the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.  The 20 competitors representing 15 National Federations – Brazil, Hong Kong, South Africa, France, Germany, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela, China, Syria, New Zealand, Guatemala, Russia, Mexico and Canada – rode horses belonging to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, many of which are leased to individuals who generously permitted their mounts to take part in this important challenge.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Awards, Dressage, Events, USEF

Steffen Peters Named 2011 USEF Equestrian of the Year

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Steffen Peters, 2011 Equestrian of the Year, at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico

Cincinnati, OH – To cap off a record-setting year, dressage superstar Steffen Peters added one more record to his résumé on Saturday night at the United States Equestrian Federation’s Pegasus Awards dinner. He became the first person to score the USEF’s Equestrian of the Year title three times.

Peters (San Diego, CA) won the top honor in 2008 and 2009 based largely on his accomplishments with Akiko Yamazaki’s phenom Ravel – but in 2011, Ravel had some help. Peters capitalized on his first trip to the Pan American Games and scored Team and Individual Gold in a tremendous effort with Jen and Bruce Hlavacek’s Weltino’s Magic. From California to Aachen, Germany Peters was undefeated in 2011 with the now 9-year-old Westphalian gelding.

Both Ravel and ‘Magic’ scored at the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Dressage Championships in Gladstone, NJ in September sweeping the Grand Prix and Intermediaire I divisions respectively. Peters won all six classes in the effort and secured his Pan Am spot with Magic in the process.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Phelps Media Group

Louise Serio and Castle Rock Sweep Performance Working Hunters at WEF I

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Louise Serio and Castle Rock Swept the Performance Working 3'6" Hunter division at WEF I. Photo By: SportFot

Wellington, FL – January 14, 2012 – The prestigious Winter Equestrian Festival got underway with its first week of competition at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. Derbydown owner and trainer Louise Serio started off right, claiming the Performance Working 3’6″ Hunter Championship after sweeping the division aboard Bryan Baldwin’s Castle Rock. Serio also took home the reserve championship honors in the Pre-Green Level 2 Hunters with Aate’, owned by Bright Star 158, LLC.

Over the years, Serio and Castle Rock have won many coveted titles, including WEF’s 2011 WCHR Pro Hunter Classic and 2010 USHJA International Hunter Derby. This week they returned the arena and were unstoppable. The duo claimed the first place prize in all of the Performance Working 3’6″ Hunter classes, and were eventually honored with the championship tricolor.

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Community/Charity, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Phelps Media Group, Publications/Media, Show Jumping, Training/Clinics

Olympic Silver Medalist Peter Leone to Present and Sign DVDs at College Preparatory Invitational on Saturday January 14

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Peter Leone and Select winning the $100,000 Grand Prix of Devon. Photo by Charles Fox

Wellington, FL – January 13, 2012 – Olympic Silver Medalist Peter Leone will join Kimberly S. Jaussi, Ph.D., at a workshop, “Leadership, Vision and the Equestrian Athlete”, to share his experiences, answer questions and offer advice. The workshop will be held during the College Preparatory Invitational (CPI) in the Special Events Pavilion at the Palm Beach Equestrian Center at 11:00 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012.

After the workshop Leone will autograph his DVD, Ride the Body: Select Insights of Peter Leone, that he produced along with Jaussi. The informative and practical DVD will be awarded to all the first place winners at the CPI. A drawing will be held during the workshop for additional DVD prizes.

Leone and Jaussi also co-authored the upcoming book, Peter Leone’s Show Jumping Clinic: Success Strategies for Equestrian Athletes (Storey Publishing), which will hit the shelves in spring of 2012.

Continue reading Olympic Silver Medalist Peter Leone to Present and Sign DVDs at College Preparatory Invitational on Saturday January 14 →

Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

$200,000 Gene Mische American Invitational, Presented by G & C Farm, Returns to Raymond James on April 7

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Kent Farrington and Uceko were the winners of the 2011 Gene Mische American Invitational. PHOTO © James Parker, The Book LLC

Tampa, Florida – January 13, 2012 – The 2012 Gene Mische American Invitational, presented by G & C Farm returns to Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on Saturday, April 7, 2012 at 7:30pm.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of this enduring classic and promises to be a magical night of show jumping as the world’s greatest riders and horses gather in the Tampa Bay area to decide the American Invitational title. Also, with the 2012 Olympic Games on the horizon, this year’s American Invitational, presented by G & C Farm, becomes even more exciting and spectators at Raymond James will get a chance to see many of the top riders who have made their way on to the short list of qualifiers for London.

Over the years, the American Invitational has been recognized as the crown jewel of American show jumping, and year in and year out, has been one of its toughest tests. Often called the Super Bowl of Show Jumping, the event also offers one of the biggest purses in all of equestrian sport.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Dressage, Events, Phelps Media Group

European Champion Carl Hester to Compete at World Dressage Masters Palm Beach

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Carl Hester and Uthopia. Photo by Leslie Bliss

Wellington, FL – January 13, 2012 – Organizers of the World Dressage Masters Palm Beach presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach received confirmation on Thursday that Great Britain’s Carl Hester has accepted an invitation to compete at the 2012 WDM Palm Beach, which takes place from January 26th to 28th, 2012. Hester led the British Dressage Team to a historic gold medal at the 2011 European Dressage Championships, and went on to win individual silver riding the nine year old stallion Uthopia. Hester’s exclusive appearance at the WDM Palm Beach will be his first time competing on American soil since he was a member of the British Dressage Team that won a silver medal at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

“We are thrilled that Carl has accepted our invitation to attend the 2012 WDM Palm Beach,” says Noreen O’Sullivan of Wellington Classic Dressage. “We already have an impressive group of world class horses and riders, and the addition of Carl’s name to that list is exciting news for the WDM’s presenting sponsors, for the organizers, and of course for the spectators.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Awards, Breeds, Community/Charity, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, Show Jumping, USEF

Neville Bardos and Sjoerd Named 2011 Horses of the Year by the USEF

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Horse of the Year Neville Bardos (Photo Courtesy of USEA)

Cincinnati, OH – For the first time ever, the USEF crowned two horses with its highest honor, one from an International Discipline and one from a National Discipline. Neville Bardos and Sjoerd were named 2011 Horses of the Year at tonight’s USEF annual Horse of the Year celebration. Honored for their accomplishments in 2011 their roads through the last 12 months, while both exceptional, have been very different.

Videos of all of the Horses of Honor are available here: http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/USEFAnnualMeeting2012.

Neville Bardos – Eventing

He shouldn’t have lived. But he did. He shouldn’t have returned to his life as an event horse. But he returned better than ever. Trapped in a burning barn for 45 minutes, Neville Bardos made a miraculous recovery from injuries sustained in a fire that claimed the lives of six other horses at his rider Boyd Martin’s barn in West Grove, PA. The now 13-year-old Australian Thoroughbred gelding won the USEF National CCI3* championship in 2009 and was 10th at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games – leading the U.S. effort. But his life changed dramatically in the early hours of Memorial Day in 2011. Martin pulled him out of the burning barn to safety. Neville Bardos was left with horrific injuries due to massive amounts of smoke inhalation and the subsequent damage to his throat.

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