Craig Schmersal on his way to winning Individual Silver at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. (Shannon Brinkman) Lexington, KY - The final American CRI of the year takes place this weekend at the AQHA World Championship Show as reiners from across the country look to close out their 2012 season on a high note. A total of 13 horse-and-rider combinations are set to contest the CRI3* in Oklahoma City, OK on Friday, November 9. This weekend's competition has added significance as it...

Toronto, ON – It was a class, and a course, befitting a champion. Befitting the legacy of Hickstead. The inaugural $100,000 Hickstead FEI World CupTM Grand Prix tested each horse and rider every step of the way, and in the end, it was veteran Canadian Olympian Jill Henselwood (Oxford Mills, ON) with her young horse George, who rode away victorious. The biggest Grand Prix class of the Royal Horse Show was renamed during last year’s event, in honour of Hickstead, Eric Lamaze’s...

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...

Laura Kraut (Middleburg, VA) won the $32,000 Jolera International Jumper Welcome at the Royal Horse Show with her athletic mount Teirra (pictured), following a third place finish in the $20,000 International Jumper Power & Speed with Belmont. (© BenRadvanyi.com) Toronto, ON – When speed is the name of the game in a show jumping class, there are a few riders who jump to the top of your mind. Laura Kraut of Middleburg, VA, showed Tuesday night what makes her a top rider against the...

Toronto, ON - The 90th Royal Horse Show welcomes an outstanding lineup of international riders to Toronto. They will compete this week in matinee and evening competitions including the $100,000 Hickstead FEI World CupTM Grand Prix (Wednesday, November 7), the $50,000 Weston Canadian Open (Friday, November 9) and the $75,000 Ricoh Big Ben Challenge (Saturday, November 10.) The riders representing the home squad: Ten-time Olympian Ian Millar (Perth, ON), three-time back-to-back Canadian Show...

Lexington, KY - “Brio in the Bluegrass,” the Paso Fino Horse Association’s 40th Anniversary Grand National Championship Show & Expo, was acclaimed a great success in its first year in Lexington, KY. For almost two weeks, the Kentucky Horse Park paths and arenas were awash with the taca-taca-taca-taca of the Paso Fino horse’s smooth four-beat gait as exhibitors prepared to compete for the ultimate title—Grand National Champion—in the Classic Fino,...

The Jockey Club is happy to announce that the Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) will be offered in 2013 after the completion of a successful pilot program in 2012. The Jockey Club launched T.I.P. to encourage the retraining of Thoroughbreds into other disciplines by offering sponsorship for Thoroughbred-only classes and divisions and high point Thoroughbred awards at open horse shows and competitions. We are extremely grateful to the horse shows that participated in 2012 and helped make T....

Lexington, KY – The second and final USEF Elite Youth Dressage Training Session for 2012 concluded Sunday in Chino Hills, California. The two-day intensive training session was made possible by a generous donation from Kristen McDonald and the Marquis George MacDonald Foundation. The gracious hosts of the Western U.S. session were David and Alisa Wilson, owners of W Farms. Participants in the USEF Elite Youth Dressage Training Session (USEF Archive) The invitation-only training session...

The twentieth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder This week is all about news, news and more news. Never a dull moment in Western Dressage! This just out via a press release from WDAA: “The WDAA has been guided throughout by the leadership, strategy, and policies of its Board of Directors and Advisory Board, both of which are volunteer positions and provide their services without funding. Each are comprised of distinguished professionals from all facets of the equine...

Alexandra Lawson is a 19-year-old freshman at Purdue University from North Salem, Indiana. She is a member of the three-gaited section of the 2012 U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup Team. I've spent most of my life in the small farm communities of Danville and North Salem, Indiana. My parents and maternal grandparents are grain farmers - farming about 5,000 acres in the surrounding area. When you grow up in farm country, you just naturally get involved with FFA and 4-H, and it was through 4-H that...