Francois Mathy and Polinska Des Isles (Shawn McMillen Photography) Lexington, Ky. - Sometimes it is a rail, sometimes it is an inside turn and sometimes it is just one-tenth of a second separating the winner from the losers. That is exactly what happened during the Double H Farm $100,000 International Open Jumpers at the Alltech National Horse Show. Todd Minikus was aiming for his second win in a row with Quality Girl, completing a clear jump-off effort, when Belgium's Francois Mathy was...

Code Name and Sara Mittleider, winners of the 5-Year-Old USEA Young Event Horse West Coast Championships at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event. (Amy McCool photo) Temecula, Calif. - The USEA Young Event Horse West Coast Championships crowned their 4- and 5-year-old winners at Galway Downs International Three-Day Event. In the 5-Year-Old class, Sara Mittleider and her own Code Name led from start to finish, while in the 4-Year-Old class, Jennifer McFall and Dragonfire Farm’s...

McLain Ward and Zander (Shawn McMillen Photography) Lexington, Ky. - The National Horse Show Association of America $50,000 International Open Speed, presented by Copernicus and the Coulter Family tested the foot speed of the top mounts over a faults converted track designed by Conrad Homfeld. About midway through the field it looked like young rider Catherine Pasmore had the win in her sights with Vandavid after carefully navigating each obstacle and breaking the beam at a speedy 65.73 seconds....

Victoria Colvin and Monsieur Du Reverdy (Phelps Media Group, Inc.) Lexington, Ky. - Earlier in the day, the jumper action kicked off with the Deeridge Farm $10,000 Junior Jumper Welcome Stake. Eight combinations traversed the track without fault, but it was Victoria Colvin of Loxahatchee, FL, who proved to have the key to winning aboard her own Monsieur Du Reverdy. After competing in last week's WIHS Equitation Classic, they transitioned back to the jumper ring, and Colvin utilized her...

Melinda Moore and Sir Silver Knight (Brooke Jacobs of Jacobs Photography) Lexington, Ky. - Melinda Moore of Lawrenceburg, KY, took home top honors in the American Saddlebred classes on Thursday evening at the Alltech National Horse Show, claiming both the $3,000 Five-Gaited Grand Championship and the $3,000 Three-Gaited Grand Championship with horses owned by Annika Moriarty Bruggeworth. The American Saddlebred and Hackney Divisions, presented by James & Misdee Miller and Elisabeth Goth...

Daryl Portela and Winner (Phelps Media Group, Inc. International) Lexington, Ky. - "I was very excited to come here because I've never shown here," Portela said. "I didn't get to show last year because I ride with Jimmy Torano, and he judged last year. After [the Pennsylvania National Horse Show] and [the Washington International Horse Show] this year I was pumped and ready and wanted to come and do well." Portela had previously shown at the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden,...

Temecula, Calif. – Two recipients of the USEF Land Rover Competition Grants head from the East Coast to the West Coast to tackle the CCI3* at the Galway Downs International Event and Horse Trials. Buck Davidson brings Sharon Will’s Absolute Liberty and Allison Springer will ride Copycat Chloe Syndicate, LLC’s Copycat Chloe in Temecula, Calif., on October 31-November 3. Davidson (Ocala, Fla.) and the 10-year-old Oldenburg mare last contested a CCI3* at Bromont in 2011, where...

Pau, France - The 2013 FEI Pony World Driving Championships kicked off Thursday with the first of two days of driven dressage. Pair Pony and Pony Team drivers took their first steps toward world titles as they performed their tests in front of the Ground Jury composed of Klaus Christ, Anne-Marie Turbe, Jennifer Matheson (Mary Phelps-phelpsphotos.com) Diana Brownlie, and Dot Wilcoxson. U.S. competitors got off to a strong start with all four drivers cruising into the top 12 in their respective...

Candi Aversenti and The Veldt Queen (Jane Jacobs of Jacobs Photography) Lexington, Ky. - The Veldt Queen, owned and ridden by Candi Aversenti, claimed the victory in the Five-Gaited Amateur Stake on Wednesday evening as the American Saddlebred Division, presented by James & Misdee Miller and Elisabeth Goth & Richard Shadwick, got underway at the Alltech National Horse Show. A staple of the National Horse Show in its Madison Square Garden days, the American Saddlebred Division made its...

Stephanie Sedlacko and Jennifer Alfano rode to the first place finish in the American Saddlebred Hunter Challenge (Brooke Jacobs) Lexington, Ky. - It's not every day that you see riders compete over their first hunter course during a national championship, but when four world champion American Saddlebred trainers take the reins of a hunter and grand prix and professional hunter riders take the reins of an American Saddlebred, it makes for a night of fun and excitement. It was a...