Back at the start of last year, Nash Gagnon had never competed in a U.S. Equestrian Federation-recognized competition. The teen was working three jobs in his hometown of Gorham, Maine, taking online classes, and saving up in hopes of heading down to Wellington, Florida, for the first time.  What a difference a year and a half makes. This month, Gagnon, 19, was named to the U.S. Dressage European Young Rider Tour with his 17-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Happy Texas Moonlight. Gagnon—alongside teammates Alicia Berger and Kat Fuqua—will compete at the Le Mans CDIOY, May 30-June 2 in France, a ..read more

Sweden’s Patrik Kittel scored the “touchdown” of his career Friday night in Riyadh, winning the FEI Dressage World Cup freestyle with a performance that earned the title by a mere 0.25 percentage points. He did not have to beat the one horse who topped him in Wednesday’s Grand Prix after—in another shock at these World Cup Finals in Riyadh—Charlotte Fry and Everdale were eliminated for blood before ever entering the competition ring. Kittel rode Touchdown, a 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding (Quaterback—La Mour, Sack) owned by Sommarkvarn AB, to a score of 81.66%—just barely enough to ..read more

The U.S. Equestrian Federation has announced the athlete-and-horse combinations that have been selected to the U.S. Dressage European Young Rider Tour and U.S. Dressage European U25 Tour. The athletes will be led by George Williams, the USEF dressage high performance pathway development advisor and youth coach. The following athlete-and-horse combinations have been selected for the U.S. Dressage European Young Rider Tour and are listed in alphabetical order: • Alicia Berger (Chicago) and Aqua Marin, a 13-year-old Oldenburg (Ampere—Stedinger Heide) gelding owned by the rider and Maria ..read more

In a dream scenario for the Swedish contingent, defending champion Henrik von Eckermann and his great gelding King Edward pipped compatriot Peder Fredricson and Catch Me Not S to win the opening competition at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday. It was like deja vu for von Eckermann, who also won the first class on his way to victory in Omaha last year.  “I have to say this round was 10 times better than Omaha’s round,” he said. “It felt much, much better. It’s funny isn’t it, the result can be the same, but the feeling can be completely ..read more

The first several months of 2024 have brought rampant change for me. In January, I made the difficult decision to retire my coming 20-year-old mare Dixie from competition and training. In February, I moved her from the barn we’d called home for nearly four years, away from our friends and teammates and trainer. In March, I bought a 2-year-old gelding named Scotch, and in April, I moved him to a friend’s farm, where he’s living with her 2-year-old and their babysitter pony. At this time last year, I was impatiently rehabbing a torn medial collateral ligament in my right knee. I was out of the s ..read more

If you’d have told Lauren Dutton three years ago that the standoffish mule she bought from a Facebook post would be the first long-eared winner of a U.S. Equestrian Federation Horse of the Year award, she’d have called you crazy.  “ ‘Daisy’ was never meant to be more than a pasture ornament,” Dutton said of the equine who shows under the name Ooops See Daisy. “And she didn’t even like me at first!”  But Dutton won the mule over with patience—and lots of treats.  “You have to have a different mindset with mules,” said Dutton, Lenoir City, Tennessee. “You can’t force the ..read more

A million years ago, in a time of much healthier knees, I did triathlons. If you’ve never stood next to me, I’m 5’10” and built like a refrigerator, so when I tell you I did triathlons, I did them slowly, and I did the shortest distance class: a sprint, which is usually about a half-mile swim, 15-mile bike, and 3.1-mile run. I could do one in about two hours. Competition in these things is often by age group, but because I’m no pixie, I competed in something called the Athena division, for female athletes over 165 pounds. (Lest you were curious, the men’s division, for athletes over 200 pounds ..read more

Joanna Gray-Randle thought her riding days were behind her in 2009 after she had cervical spinal fusion surgery to repair damage from a car accident 10 years prior. She’d given up her busy dressage barn in California a year before the surgery when her husband, David Randle, took a new job in Long Island, New York, and she thought her body wouldn’t stand up to the physical lifestyle of a trainer and rider anymore.  But her “retirement” from horses didn’t last long. Gray-Randle soon found herself bored and started making herself available for clinics and as an ‘L’ judge for schooling shows ..read more

For Charlotte Jorst and Atterupgaards Botticelli, the journey to international competitive success has been filled with roadblocks. One of the final obstacles, the FEI’s spur requirement, was lifted earlier this year, and the pair have since made the most of the opportunity.  Jorst and “Bo” (Benetton Dream FRH—Atterupgaards Dicte, Caprimond) swept the CDI1* classes during the final week of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (Florida), ending the competition on a high note by earning a personal-best 75.77% in the Intermediaire I freestyle on Sunday.  Watch highlights of their test h ..read more

In just their second international competition together, Adrienne Lyle and Helix swept the CDI4* at TerraNova Equestrian Center in Myakka City, Florida, over the weekend. On Friday, the pair topped the leaderboard with a 72.02% in the Grand Prix (see complete scores here) during TerraNova Dressage I. They followed it Saturday by improving their score to 73.97% to win again in the Galati Yacht Sales CDI4* Grand Prix Special. The competition was just the second for the pair, who made their CDI debut during Week 12 of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (Florida). Zen Elite Equest ..read more