Tag Archives: Show Jumping

In Memoriam: Joaquín Pérez de las Heras (MEX) 1936 – 2011

Joaquín Pérez de las Heras, the Mexican double Olympic bronze medallist who has died at the age of 75.

Lausanne (SUI), 26 May 2011 – Joaquín Pérez de las Heras (MEX), double bronze medallist at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and with a professional jumping career spanning over 30 years, passed away on Friday, 20 May at the age of 75. His wife Joan and his daughter Katya were by his side.

Mr Pérez was widely tipped by the international equestrian community as a medal contender in Moscow having already competed at three previous Olympic Games in Mexico (1968), Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976). He had also enjoyed a highly successful European tour in the months running up the 1980 Games.

Riding the American-bred Alimony he clinched individual bronze and team bronze with compatriots Jesús Gómez Portugal, Alberto Valdes and Gerardo Tazzer in the Central Lenin Stadium, now part of Moscow’s Luzhniki Olympic complex.

Mr Pérez was born in Ameca, Jalisco in central-western Mexico in 1936. At the age of 11 he became hooked on jumping after riding Arete (MEX), the horse ridden by Lieutenant Colonel Humberto Mariles (MEX) to double gold at the 1948 Olympic Games in London (GBR), a feat unequalled by any other Mexican sportsman at the time.

Continue reading In Memoriam: Joaquín Pérez de las Heras (MEX) 1936 – 2011

Jumping Radio Episode 60 – Paige Johnson, Jane Wallace and Dr Jenny Johnson


Jane Wallace, Eventing European Championship Silver Medalist and author of several books on jumping, Dr Jenny Johnson on Fore Limb Flight and returning
to co host this week, Paige Johnson – tune in right here.

Jumping Radio Episode 60 – Show Notes and Links:

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U.S. Young Rider Success Continues at CSIOJY Bonheiden

Bonheiden, Belgium – The U.S. Young Rider Show Jumping Team was second Saturday in the Nations Cup at CSIOJY Bonheiden – the first Young Rider Nations Cup of the USEF European Young Rider Tour.

In the first round, Catherine Pasmore was clear on My Boy, Richard Neal on Transmission had 14 faults, Jessica Springsteen had a clear round on Vornado Van Den Hoendrik and Reed Kessler on Onisha ended the round with 13 faults. The foursome was tied for third after the first round.

In the second round, the U.S. riders fought back to second place with an improved overall effort. Pasmore, Neal, and Kessler each had 4 faults, while Springsteen had a clear round. The U.S. Young Riders finished on a total of 21 faults behind Great Britain, who ended on 13.

Katie Prudent served as the Chef d’Equipe.

Continue reading U.S. Young Rider Success Continues at CSIOJY Bonheiden

America’s Favorite Equestrian Round 2 Closing on May 31!

WESTPORT, CT – May 23, 2011 – One more equestrian with the lowest number of votes in each discipline will drop off the list at the end of Round 2 on May 31, 2011. Don’t let it be your favorite! All it takes is a $5 gift to The EQUUS Foundation to keep your favorite in the competition.

America’s Favorite Equestrians Round 2:

Dressage: Todd Flettrich, Courtney King-Dye, Debbie McDonald, Leslie Morse, Steffen Peters, Guenter Seidel
Driving: Tucker Johnson, Fred Merriam, Lisa Singer, Suzy Stafford, Rochelle Temple, Chester Weber
Endurance: Garrett Ford, Becky Hart, Dave Rabe, Robert Ribley, Julie Suhr, Bill Wilson
Eventing: Tiana Coudray, Phillip Dutton, Boyd Martin, Karen O’Connor, Kimberly Severson, James C. Wofford
Jumping: Margie Engle, Joe Fargis, Laura Kraut, Anne Kursinski, Beezie Madden, McLain Ward
Para-Dressage: Jennifer Baker, Robin Brueckmann, Laura Goldman, Mary Jordan, Susan Treabess, Jonathan Wentz
Reining: Casey Deary, Andrea Fappani, Shawn Flarida, Tom McCutcheon, Tim McQuay, Randy Paul
Vaulting: Megan Benjamin, Ali Divita, Kenny Geisler, Devon Maitozo, Mary McCormick, Katherine Wick

How to Vote:
Visit the link at http://www.equusfoundation.org/vote.

Continue reading America’s Favorite Equestrian Round 2 Closing on May 31!

Eventing Mandatory Outing Information for 2011 Pan American Games

Lexington, KY – The USEF has announced that the Mandatory Outing for Eventing for the 2011 Pan American Games will be held at the Richland Park Horse Trials in Richland, Michigan, August 25-28, 2011.

The event will run a separate division for the USEF Short Listed riders.  Their division will include the FEI CCI2* dressage test and the Advanced Cross Country and Jumping tracks. The USEF will name a partial Short List for the Games after the Bromont CCI, which will be held June 9-12, 2011. The Event at Rebecca Farm (July 21-24) is the last selection trial designated in the Selection Procedures, after which the final and complete Short List will be named.

Short Listed horse/rider combinations must compete in the Mandatory Outing, unless excused for veterinary, medical or exceptional circumstances.

The Pan American Games will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico this fall and eventing will be run at the CCI2* level. The eventing competition will take place from October 20-23, 2011.

Richland Park features Horse Trials from Novice to Advanced, a CIC3* and a CIC2* as well Young Horse Divisions.

More information about Richland Park is available here: http://www.richlandpark.com/index.html.

More information about the 2011 Pan American Games is available here: http://www.guadalajara2011.org.mx/eng/01_inicio/index.asp.

USEF High Performance Eventing Information is available here: http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/breedsdisciplines/discipline/alleventing/hpeventing.aspx, which includes a list of applicants for the Games.

Unbelievable Uceko! Kent Farrington Takes $55,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix Win at Kentucky Spring Classic

Kent Farrington and Uceko won the $55,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix at the Kentucky Spring Classic. Photos By: Rebecca Walton/PMG.

Lexington, KY – May 21, 2011 – As the Kentucky Spring Classic hosted another night of show jumping, the incredible duo of Kent Farrington and Uceko continued their complete domination of the last two weeks by securing the $55,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix victory. Tonight’s event was sponsored by Audi of Lexington and honored Mary Rena Murphy, a horsewoman whose dedication to equestrian sport was unmatched. Once again, speed proved to be the determining factor during the thirteen horse jump-off, and that is something Farrington and Uceko are proving to master. The duo was a full two seconds ahead of second place finishers Ali Wolff and Lanoo, while Christian Heineking and River of Dreams took home third for the second time this week.

Richard Jeffery, of Bournemouth, England, was tonight’s course designer and 32 horse and riders gathered at the Rolex Stadium to take their turn over the first round. There were 16 jumping efforts, which included a triple bar, a wall fence, a liverpool, an open water, an oxer-oxer double combination, and a vertical-oxer-vertical triple combination. Thirteen of the entries managed to clear the course without fault and advance to the jump-off.

“During the first round, there were more clear than I expected,” admitted Farrington. “The outside line started with a wall and then an awkward distance to an oxer-oxer combination, and then a very steady distance to a liverpool. I thought that would catch more horses than it did. I think the footing here is excellent, and these horses have been here for two weeks now, so I think they are really comfortable in the ring. I think that’s why there were more clear rounds than Richard expected. It’s under the lights, so they are a bit impressed, and I think the horses were just really going well on the ground.”

Continue reading Unbelievable Uceko! Kent Farrington Takes $55,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix Win at Kentucky Spring Classic

Americans Young Riders and Junior Riders on a Roll at CSIOJY Bonheiden

Young Riders Ready for Nations Cup

The US Juniors and Young Riders Ready for Action in Belgium. Photo USEF Archives

Lexington, KY – The U.S. show jumping program turns its focus to Belgium this week as the Young Riders and Junior Riders tackle the CSIOJY Bonheiden, with the Young Riders jumping in the first Young Rider Nations Cup of the USEF European Young Rider Tour. The Nations Cup gets underway on Saturday at 5:30 PM CEST, the U.S. Team will jump third.

The U.S. will be represented by the following four riders in the Nations Cup. Katie Prudent is serving as the Chef d’Equipe.

Reed Kessler on Onisha, Richard Neal on Transmission, Catherine Pasmore on My Boy, and Jessica Springsteen on Vornado Van Den Hoendrik.

“We feel like we have a great team,” said Prudent. “Everyone is very excited to be here and we believe we have a good chance to win some Nations Cups.”

There were 75 starters in the Young Rider feature class on Thursday and Kessler stormed to victory on Onisha, just ahead of Pasmore who was second on Van David. Springsteen rounded out the top five on Vornado Van Den Hoendrik.

Junior rider Meg O’Mara won a class on Sinatra IV and Victoria Birdsall was seventh in the CSIJ 1.35m Speed Class.

Friday began with more success, Karen Polle won on With Wings in the Young Rider Table C Class and O’Mara was second in the Junior Speed Class, in the afternoon Polle won again, this time with Whatever and Springsteen was second with Cincinnati La Silla in the Young Rider 1.40m Two-Phase (Power and Speed).

Information is available here: http://www.jumping-bonheiden.be/p1_46-6-csi-2stars.aspx.

Read Catherine Pasmore’s blog here: http://www.catherineusa2011.blogspot.com/.

John Anderson and Lindsay Wendt Win in Calgary

John Anderson jumps to victory aboard Terrific. Photo credits – Cansport

Calgary, Alberta – Calgary’s own John Anderson and Lindsay Wendt of High River, AB, rode away the winners following the first event of the season at Rocky Mountain Show Jumping in Calgary, AB.  Anderson scored victory in the $31,000 CSI2* Rocky Mountain Grand Prix on Thursday, May 14, while Wendt won the $31,000 CSI2* Cymric Brae Grand Prix on Saturday, May 14, during the Bow Valley Classic I show jumping tournament.

Despite having snow on the ground one week earlier, 35 entries turned up at Anderson Ranch for the $31,000 CSI2* Rocky Mountain Grand Prix to open the first show jumping tournament of the year hosted by Rocky Mountain Show Jumping.  Course designer Manuel Esperanza of Mexico designed a track that produced 17 clear rounds, making for an exciting jump-off.

When Anderson jumped ninth in the jump-off order, he was chasing a target time of 34.78 seconds set by Manitoba’s Eric Martin riding Kumano.  With his veteran partner Terrific, Anderson was able to use the turns to his advantage to take a full two seconds off the leading time, stopping the clock in 32.77 seconds.  Eight more riders attempted to better Anderson’s time, with 17-year-old Ben Asselin coming closest, crossing the timers in 34.27 seconds with Magic Man.

Continue reading John Anderson and Lindsay Wendt Win in Calgary

All the Lights in Sinead Halpin’s Chandelier Shown Brightly at the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event

Photos by Mary Quarles

Having known Sinead Halpin since she was a preteen, riding and training here in South Carolina, I can object to a few of the comments made by Jimmy Wofford in his pre Rolex commentary, in reference to Sinead’s chances of placing in the top ten (which he felt she would accomplish).

I remember her first “Event Horse” quite well. He was a flea bitten gray Arabian named “Jazz”, better known as the “Energizer Bunny” for his unique jumping style. Sinead and about a half dozen young riders, such as Michael Pollard for one and my own daughter, were very determined to become Olympic 3-Day Eventers.

As young riders, they were extremely focused on gaining the skills necessary to ride and compete at the top levels of competition. They all have been successful, both in competition as well as in their personal lives as maturing young adults.

Parents of young riders who have the interest and determination to become successful equestrians should understand that beyond the apparent costs of participating in equestrian sports, the return on their monetary investment, is that these young people’s determination and drive for the sport gives them the tools to become successful adults in their future careers, if not as Olympic level equestrians, then in the business world, no matter what career path, they eventually choose.

Continue reading All the Lights in Sinead Halpin’s Chandelier Shown Brightly at the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event

Jumping Radio Episode 63 – Young Riders in Europe


Catherine Pasmore is representing the U.S. on the Young Rider Tour of Europe along with Jessica Springsteen who returns to the show as co-host. We also hear what’s new in the latest issue of Horse Sport International with Jennifer Anstey. Tune in right here…

Jumping Radio Episode 63 – Show Notes and Links:

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