Category Archives: Show Jumping

Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Jennifer Ward, Show Jumping

Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix Series Returns

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Nayel Nassar of Egypt won the 2012 Artisan Farms Young Riders Grand Prix Series at WEF. Photo by Sportfot

Wellington, Florida – The Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix Series returns for a third year at the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, opening with the $15,000 Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix on Sunday, February 10, in the International Arena.

A mandatory riders’ meeting will be held on Friday, February 8, at 4 p.m. in The Wellington Club.

Comprised of four events, the Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix Series includes the $15,000 Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix on Sunday, February 10, at 8 a.m.; the $15,000 Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix held under the lights in the International Arena on Friday, February 15, at 7 p.m.; a two-round $20,000 Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix Team event on Thursday, March 7, tentatively beginning at 3 p.m.; and the $15,000 Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix Final held on the grass derby field at The Stadium on Sunday, March 24, at 9 a.m.

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Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Jennifer Wood, Show Jumping

Peter Wylde and Zidane Kick Off WEF 5 with Second Win in $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m Jumpers

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Peter Wylde and Zidane. Photo © Sportfot

Wellington, FL – February 6, 2013 – The fifth week of competition at the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) began on Wednesday, February 6, with a win for Peter Wylde and Zidane in the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class. The pair also topped the class during week three and Wylde hopes to continue their success in the Rolex FEI World ranking classes coming up in the remaining weeks.

Week five of the FTI WEF circuit, sponsored by Adequan, will run February 6-10. The week will feature the $33,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 5 on Thursday afternoon, the $82,000 Adequan CSI 2* Grand Prix on Saturday evening, and the $25,000 Suncast 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic on Sunday afternoon. The 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival features 12 weeks of competition running from January 9 – March 31, 2013, and will be awarding almost $7 million in prize money throughout the circuit.

Olympic course designer Bob Ellis set the track for Wednesday’s $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Thirty-seven entries competed and 13 cleared the course without fault. The fastest round in 56.335 seconds earned top prize for Peter Wylde and Zidane, owned by Windward Farm and Jessica Suida.

Continue reading Peter Wylde and Zidane Kick Off WEF 5 with Second Win in $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m Jumpers →

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

Equus Events to Kick Off 2013 Show Season with Camden Winter Classic February 22-24

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Grace Howard and Bethel's Peri

February 6th, 2013 – Aiken, SC based Equus Events, Inc. is gearing up to kick off its 2013 show schedule with the Camden Winter Classic February 22-24 at the South Carolina Equine Park in Camden, SC.  The event in its second year will again feature many exciting classes including a USHJA National Hunter Derby and Exhibitors’ Party Saturday evening.  Fenwick Equestrian has signed on again as a corporate sponsor for the 2013 season and will be the presenting sponsor of the Derby.  “We are extremely honored to be working with Fenwick again this year,” said show manager J. P. Godard.  “Their high performance products are outstanding and I am pleased to have them as such an enthusiastic member of the Equus Events family of sponsors.”

The winner of the derby will receive a custom embroidered Fenwick EquiSuede Cooler, and new this year, the leading junior and leading amateur rider of the class will also receive a Fenwick Jacket.  Fenwick will also be offering Equus Events exhibitors a special discount code during all shows in 2013.  Details will be available in the horse show office.  The exhibitors’ party will be taking place Saturday evening under the pavilion during the derby and is graciously sponsored by Christison Stables and Bruce and Amy Christison of Camden, SC.  Many thanks to Christison Stables for their support of the Camden Winter Classic.

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*Featured/Spotlights, FEI, Show Jumping

Christian Ahlmann Holds World Number One Slot in Longines Rankings

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Christian Ahlmann, pictured here with Codex One at the Gucci Paris Masters 2012, has held on to his world number one spot. Photo: Scoopdyga

Lausanne (SUI), 7 February 2013 – Christian Ahlmann (GER), the 2003 double European gold medallist, has held onto the world number one spot in the FEI World Rider Rankings for Jumping – now called the Longines Rankings.

The 38-year-old German jumped into the top spot in December 2012, and a run of successes in January has kept him out in front on 2,585 points, with a healthy 195-point lead over second-placed Steve Guerdat (SUI) who has 2,390 points. Nick Skelton (GBR) remains in third with 2,333 points.

Edwina Alexander-Tops (AUS) is still the top-ranked female and has jumped two spots to fourth with 2,298 points, while the Swiss have a second rider in the top 10, with Pius Schwizer moving up from seventh to fifth on 2,268 points.

Germany also has two riders in the top 10 of the Longines Rankings, although sixth-placed Marcus Ehning has dropped two places.

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Hunter/Equitation, Maclay, National Horse Show, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Judges, Course Designer Announced for Alltech National Horse Show

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Chrystine Tauber and Robert Ridland to Judge ASPCA Maclay Finals. Linda Hough and Joe Darby for Hunter Divisions. Homfeld Tabbed as Course Designer.

Chrystine Tauber. Photos ©Kenneth Kraus/PhelpsSports.com

Lexington, Kentucky – February 6, 2013 – The Alltech National Horse Show, scheduled for the Alltech Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, on October 29 through November 3, 2013, today announced the line-up of judges for the Hunter divisions and the ASPCA Maclay National Championship. The Course Designer for this year’s event was also revealed.

Invited to judge the highly competitive hunter divisions for the 2013 edition of the Alltech National Horse Show are Linda Hough, of Wellington, Florida, and Joe Darby of Southern Pines, North Carolina. Both Hough and Darby are inductees in the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame and are two of the most popular and highly-rated hunter judges in the United States.

For more than two decades Hough ran Sutton Place, a highly successful hunter/jumper barn in her native Northern California foothills. Her top hunter Bavaria was named the 1990 Chronicle Horse of the Year and later that same year she was awarded the California Horsewoman of the Year. In 2004 Hough was recognized with the WCHR Lifetime Achievement award, the Daniel P. Lenehan Perpetual Trophy and in 2005 was inducted into the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame.

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

$175,000 Invitational Grand Prix Returns to The Ridge at Wellington for Fifth Week of Series

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Andres Rodriguez and Caballito. Photo: Emily Riden

Wellington, FL – February 4, 2013 – The highlight of the show jumping season is about to reach its midpoint. The $75,000 Grand Prix Invitational Series at The Ridge at Wellington is preparing for its fifth week of competition. After two weeks of competition at Mida Farm, the event returns to The Ridge at Wellington on Friday, February 8, with a list of national and international contenders giving everything they have to qualify for the finale and possibly take over the Leading Rider Bonus rankings.

Top competitors have been competing in the weekly competition, testing their skills and taking the opportunity to jump in a different venue. After four weeks of the series, Andres Rodriquez is topping the Leading Rider Bonus rankings. He won the first week of competition with his mount Elatrice, as well as easily knocking out the competition last week aboard Caballito, with a time of 31.475 seconds.

“He’s a very, very fast horse,” Rodriquez commented. “My plan was to go as fast as possible, leaving it so that if somebody wanted to beat me they would have to take that inside turn.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Jacksonville Winter Series, Show Jumping

Jacksonville Winter Series Week 3 & Series Recap

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Hugh Graham and Distant Star 3E. Photos by Flashpoint Photography

The 2013 Jacksonville Winter Series has drawn to a close for 2013. The three week long circuit was marked by sunshine, beautiful weather, hospitality and a relaxed atmosphere. Each week featured a $2,500 Welcome Jumper Class, and the first two weeks offered a $10,000 Mini Prix, which lead up to Week Three’s finale, the $25,000 Green Cove Springs Grand Prix. Hugh Graham, aboard Kingridge Stables owned Distant Star 3E, bested the exciting class where many well-known riders, such as Aaron Vale, Hayley Waters and David Jennings, competing for top honors over a Tim Hott designed course.

Hunter riders had plenty of opportunity to shine as well. Weekly Jerry Parks Insurance Group sponsored $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Classics proved very popular on Friday afternoons, where Professionals, Juniors and Amateur riders navigated the handy course reminiscent of the hunt field.  Cindy Cruciotti took home the blue aboard Nicole Lyvere’s All In.

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Competitions, Events, HITS, HITS, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping

Victory Marks Triumphant Return for Beerbaum and Cantano

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©Flying Horse Photography. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Cantano at the $30,000 SmartPak Grand Prix

THERMAL, CA (February 4, 2013) – It was a triumphant return to Southern California for Germany’s Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Cantano, owned by Octavia Farms, LLC, with a win in Sunday’s $30,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis. The pair topped a field of 42 entries and produced the fastest of two clears among eight jump-off contenders.

Indeed the trophy ceremony wound up a Team Beerbaum affair, as student Saer Coulter of Stanford, California, and Don VHP Z placed second with the afternoon’s only other double-clear. Meredith’s husband Markus Beerbaum finished third on Lancero. Both Coulter and Markus Beerbaum’s horses are owned by the Coulter family’s Copernicus Stables.

Fourth place went to San Marcos, California’s, Michelle Parker riding Cross Creek Farms’ Socrates de Midos, and fifth to Lane Clarke of Laguna Niguel, California, and Granville Equine’s Casseur de Prix.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Jacksonville Winter Series, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Jennifer Alfano and Maggie May Rise to the Occasion during the Jacksonville Finale

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Jen Alfano and Maggie May. Photo by Anne Gittins Photography

Wellington, FL – February 4, 2013 – SBS Farms Inc. has jumped into the 2013 show season, leaving nothing behind. Professional rider and trainer Jennifer Alfano rode Maggie May to a championship in the First Year Green Working Hunters during their stay in Jacksonville, FL, dominating the hunter rings during the Jacksonville Finale Horse Show. She and her other various mounts also earned high honors in numerous classes throughout the week, as well as snatching the first place title with Jersey Boy in the International Derby.

Maggie May, a bay Brandenberger Mare owned by Billie Steffee, recently moved up into the First Year Green Working Hunters from the Pre-Green Hunters. Alfano and Maggie May gave everything they had, showcasing beautiful rounds over fences, and earning the championship tricolor in the division.

“I got her last year as Pre-Green horse and she is a really special horse,” said Alfano. “This was her first show doing the First Years and she was awesome. It is hard to believe that it was her first show of the year. She just marched in the ring like she owned the place.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Events, HITS, HITS, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping

Lisa Goldman on a Roll with Back-to-Back Grand Prix Wins during Week III at HITS Ocala

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©ESI Photography. Lisa Goldman and Centurion B on course in the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix

OCALA, FL (February 4, 2013) – The HITS Ocala grand prix ring has seen many new faces over the last several years with the heightened excitement of qualifying for the Zoetis $1 Million Grand Prix, formerly the Pfizer Million. However, few have had the impact that Lisa Goldman has. The young professional from Hawthorn Woods, Illinois captured her fifth grand prix ribbon in two weeks, was first and second in last Thursday’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, and avenged her second-place finish during Week II with the blue ribbon in yesterday’s $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, aboard Mary Goldman’s Centurion B.

Goldman and Centurion B have created a unique bond that many never find and it seems to be working to their advantage. “I’ve had him since he was two years old,” she proudly recalled. “He’s an American bred Belgium Warmblood and I jumped his first jump ever with him.”

It was another perfect day as course designer Doug Russell of Ocala, Florida prepared one of the most exciting tracks of the season. Twenty-seven horse and rider combinations started the class and the contenders soon rose to the top as a five trip jump-off emerged after the first round.

Continue reading Lisa Goldman on a Roll with Back-to-Back Grand Prix Wins during Week III at HITS Ocala →