Shane Sweetnam and Solerina. (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - The 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) hosted its opening day of competition on Wednesday, January 9, at the beautiful Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL, with big wins for Ireland's Shane Sweetnam. Sweetnam kicked things off with a bang in back to back victories in the first two classes of the circuit in the International Arena. Sweetnam won the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class...

Press Conference Panel Laura Kraut, Dennis Shaughnessy, Mark Bellissimo and Nick Skelton. (ManciniPhotos) The 2013 FTI WEF hosted its opening press conference on Tuesday afternoon and a large crowd of local, national, and international media were in attendance to kick off the 12-week competition. The FTI WEF circuit will host thousands of the world's best horses and riders competing in the hunter, jumper and equitation disciplines starting January 9 and running through March 31. The press...

Lexington, KY- The seventh annual USEF Horsemastership Training Session presented by USHJA and Adequan wrapped-up Sunday January 6, 2013 with riders putting the skills they learned over the week to the test. Participants had the unique opportunity to train with legendary Training Session participants with USEF (Amy Serridge/USEF Archive) horseman and former U.S. Show Jumping Chef d’Equipe USEF during the Training Session held January 2-6. Over the five-day Training Session riders took...

Major equestrian competitions attended by U.S. athletes, both domestic and overseas, are listed in this weekly preview. Please look below to find competition listings by discipline* and breed. We hope you will follow the competitions that most interest you, but check Equestrian Weekly on Monday for a report of any top finishes by U.S. Equestrians. *lists of competitions in all international disciplines will include only FEI competitions or USEF Championships within the USA and international FEI...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has elected a new Reining Eligible Athlete Committee. Reining Eligible Athlete Committee Casey Hinton, Chairman Jordan Larson, Vice-Chairman Pete Kyle Tom McCutcheon Tim McQuay, Athlete Representative to the Reining High Performance Committee For further information regarding the USEF High Performance Reining Program visit; http://usef.org/_IFrames/breedsDisciplines/discipline/allReining.aspx For additional information please...

Patrik Kittel (Susan J. Stickle Wellington, FL - The line-up for the World Dressage Masters (WDM) Palm Beach, presented by Wellington Classic Dressage, will feature a star-studded cast of riders and horses for the January 23-27 event at the Palm Beach County Jim Brandon Equestrian Center. The riders confirmed their participation and the horses are arriving in Florida to compete head-to-head for their share of over €100,000 (EUR), or about $131,850 (USD), in prize money. The World Dressage...

Wellington, FL -On Saturday night, the participants, parents and supporters of the USEF Horsemastership Training Session gathered with the USET Foundation and Karen Lloyd, who graciously hosted a dinner at her lovely Palm Beach Polo home in Wellington, FL. This year's riders participated in a five-day clinic at the Palm Beach International Equestrian center with former U.S. Chef d'Equipe USEF. The 12 riders selected for the clinic included Gabrielle Bausano, Olivia Champ, Meg...

Wellington, FL - January 7, 2013 - Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) looks forward to kicking off the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) season with its first week of competition coming up on January 9-13, 2013, sponsored by The Mar-a-Lago Club. The week will feature a full schedule of exciting hunter/jumper competition, including the $55,000 Nespresso Battle of the Sexes exhibition class as the start of the "Saturday Night Lights" series and fun events like the Jump for...

The competition field at The Mar-a-Lago Club on the Intracoastal Waterway. (Sportfot) Palm Beach, FL - The first ever $100,000 Trump Invitational Grand Prix CSI 2* debuted to rave reviews on Sunday, January 6, at the beautiful Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, FL. With some of the world's top show jumpers competing on the lawn of Donald Trump's scenic estate overlooking South Florida's Intracoastal Waterway, U.S. rider Kent Farrington jumped to victory in the inaugural class aboard...

Happy New Year everyone! I am glad to be here and since it is obvious that the Earth did not tip over on its axis turning our mountains into oceans and our oceans into mountains, I have to wonder what 2013 will bring to Western Dressage. Maybe the better question is “What will Western Dressage bring to the world?” Indeed it is an intriguing question when put this way. As our fledgling discipline begins to feather out, the directions in which western dressage may fly continue to...