Show jumping action got underway on September 22 at the five-day "A"-rated Los Angeles International Jumping Festival (September 22-26, 2004) at the world class Los Angeles Equestrian Center. The $40,000 Grand Prix of Los Angeles, set for 7 p.m. Saturday night, looks to be an exciting class. Last night, 21 horses and riders competed in the $5,000 Welcome Stake. Typically, the grand prix riders use this class as preparation for the grand prix. Olympian Mark Watring piloted his Olympic mount,...

One step out of the ring, internationally renowned equestrian Lynn Seidemann and Phoenix B knew they had put on a good show. Slated to ride second to last in the line-up, the pair pulled out all the stops to wow the judges with a spectacular performance Thursday. Make that a Silver medal-winning performance that surprised even Lynn. “It was a good day,” Lynn said modestly after the news started to filter back through the time zones into the States. With a Silver medal in tow and a...

Lexington, KY – Frank Chapot, the six-time Olympic show jumping rider who has been chef d’equipe of the Unites States Show Jumping Team since 1980, has decided to retire. Under his leadership, the team has won nine Olympic medals and nine Pan American Games medals, which includes the first-ever team gold medals at the 1984 Olympics and at the World Championships in 1986, as well as the Silver Team medal at both the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta,...

ATHENS, September 20 - The riders taking part in the Paralympic Games had the opportunity to test the Dressage arena today, under real competition conditions. The warm-up session took place at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre and was a successful dress rehearsal for all parties involved. However, not all riders went out to the arena today: a lot of them chose to remain out of the warm-up phase in order to allow themselves and their horses to rest until the real competition begins...

Day two of the Paso Fino Horse Association Grand National Championship show was another fun-filled day of extremely full classes, plus lots of fun and entertainment. Near record entries had many classes running two or even three sections before bringing back the best in each section to choose the best of the group. In the Performance Geldings for Gold class, Artillero Arroyo Maraca owned by Dick Miller of Des Moines, IA, was victorious. In the huge Pleasure Mares class, La Gavlota De...

Placing less than a point behind Newerla, U.S. Paralympic equestrian Lynn Seidemann rode Phoenix B to a fifth place finish, with a score of 68.947%. In other team news, Barbara Grassmyer and Mibis placed 11th in the Individual Championship for Grade III, with a 63.200% overall. The Individual Championships will continue Wednesday with U.S. Paralympic equestrian Kathryn Groves riding in Grade IV. The rest of the U.S. Equestrian Team competition schedule is as follows: Wednesday, Sept. 23:...

It was not a competition for the faint of heart, as seasoned teams sought to outscore their rivals in a close competition. But when all was said and done, U.S. show jumpers Peter Wylde, Chris Kappler, Norman Dello Joio and Judith Garofalo pulled off a solid fourth place finish in Barcelona, with only 24 faults. Peter Wylde and Fein Cera (Holsteiner, Landadel-Bella Hop) led the way for the team—they finished the first round with four faults and added a clean round on the second try. Chris...

ATHENS, GREECE— As U.S. equestrians, already medal-adorned from the Olympics, hang up their proverbial tack for another four years, a new team swiftly takes the ring, anxious for their turn at the spotlight in the city of ancient Olympic glory. Along with athletes from 141 countries, Paralympic riders from the United States will make their debut at Athens’ Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony Friday—setting out to replace hearts full of hope with medals of gold. The...

Barcelona, Spain -- Two members of the 2004 Olympic silver medal winning United States Equestrian Team in Show Jumping will compete in the final Samsung Super League competition this weekend in Barcelona. Chris Kappler of Pittstown, New Jersey, who also won the individual bronze medal in Athens,and Massachusetts native Peter Wylde, now residing in the Netherlands, will join veteran Norman Dello Joio and Judy Garofalo, both of Wellington, Florida, to represent the United States in one of the...

The 29th Annual Hampton Classic Horse Show’s feature event, the $150,000 Prudential Financial Grand Prix, will be broadcast on Fox Sports New York at 4 p.m. EDT on Saturday, September 25. In the Grand Prix, Darragh Kerins of Ireland, along with his horse Nabucco, rode to victory. Kerins was one of three entries from a starting field of 26 to qualify for the tiebreaking jump-off by riding without penalty over the 14-jump, first-round course designed by Olympic veteran Conrad Homfeld. Kerins...