by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 24, 2025
Lu Thomas, a pillar of horse sport in Northern California, has passed away after years spent battling cancer. She was 79.
Equally successful in the jumpers and the hunters, she and her husband, Graeme (Butch) Thomas, were a formidable training combination. Their best-known students included Gail Greenough, world show jumping champion in 1986, top trainer Carleton Brooks and Karl Cook, now a pillar of the U.S. team.
Butch and Lu Thomas
The couple’s son, Guy, rode in the FEI World Cup finals, as they both did, and also competed on the New Zealand Olympic team (Butch is a native of New Zealand.) In September, Guy won the Morningstar Sport Horses Grand Prix in Sacramento, with both his parents present.
In 2018, Lu and Butch, received the Sacramento International Horse Show Lifetime Achievement Award; three years before that, they earned the USHJA’s Lifeetime Achievement Award. They always worked as a team..
Lu and Butch Thomas receiving their Lifetime Achievement Award. (McCool Photo)
Jimmy Lee, president of the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame, called Lu “an extremely talented rider.
“She showed many top horses at the highest level of competition. Lu was not only a brilliant hunter rider, but she did it with style and class. She was a very special person in and outside of the ring who set a great example of how it should be done, particularly for the youth in our sport to emulate.”
This week, Lu’s husband, offered a tribute to her:
“After four days of Lu’s passing, I’m finally game enough to give my insight on our lives together. She was the kindest, easiest woman a guy could live with- we’ve been married 54 years and 10 months, and I don’t remember ever having an argument. We must’ve had, but they were too small to remember.
“Not only a fantastic wife and my best friend, but a brilliant rider. She made every horse better. She could ride a hunter better than anyone in the country, but so humble she never thought she was any good. When I quit riding the jumpers, she said, “Can I try them?” She then became Rookie of the Year at age 59. She won many Grand Prixs and went to Geneva World Cup Finals.
“Lu spent her life worrying about others. She looked after her son, Guy, incredibly. And she always said to me – “I have three sons: Ilan Ferder, Mark Laskin and Guy. I have two daughters: Callie Layland and Natalie Dean.” She never stopped looking after them. She never made an enemy, she gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. If someone said something rude about her, she’d say, “They didn’t mean it.”
Lu loved animals- she’d be out in the stall bandaging Cody at 9pm because she wanted to be sure it was done properly. She’d say “They’re good to me, I’ve got to be good to them.”
From dogs, to horses, to humans- she enriched the lives of everyone she knew. From the bottom of her heart, Lu cared.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 26, 2025
Nearly 50 years after she made her debut on a pony at the Washington International Horse Show, Laura Kraut won its marquee President’s Cup Saturday night for the second time.
Aboard Tres Bien, she took on the Nick Granat-designed course with a key decision early in the route.
“I didn’t think that seven strides was possible from fences two to three, but Lillie Keenan did it right before I went, so I thought, ‘I’ll see how I jump fence two and give it a go,’ ” Laura reported.
“He grew wings to do that, because it was very far away, and I can’t believe he did it,” she said.
“Then, I just went as quick as I could go with him. He’s a handy horse. It was one of the reasons why I thought it would be good to bring him indoors, and he just tries really hard.”
Laura Kraut and Tres Bien at Washington (Shawn McMillen Photo)
She went through the timers in 40.83 seconds to top the eight-horse tiebreaker.Her closest rival was Ireland’s Daniel Coyle, second in 41.14 on Incredible.
Laura’s sponsor, St. Bride’s Farm, bought Tres Bien from British show jumper Tim Gredley, who also sold Imperial HBF to Michael Smith, a sponsor of Laura’s U.S. teammate, McLain Ward.
The $340,000 grand prix was a qualifier for next April’s FEI World Cup Final in Ft. Worth, Texas, and Laura, who turns 60 next month, hopes to be there. The Cup win gives her a leg up.
Washington has always been a “must” stop for Laura.
“I’ve come to Washington for many, many years, and I really feel like it’s one of the goals of the year, particularly in the United States, for everyone — jumpers, hunters, and equitation,” she said. “I hope that it stays that way. I think it’s a goal that every rider should look to work towards,” she said.
Daniel won the Leading International Rider title, while Laura was Leading Lady Rider. Tres Bien was the champion open international jumper.
The WIHS Equitation honors went to Olivia Sweetnam, while JJ Torano was second
Click here for results of the grand prix and here for results of the equitation.
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 26, 2025
Boyd Martin and Cooley Nutcracker moved up from tenth place to third as the season’s last 5-Star event ended at Pau on Sunday.
New Zealand’s Tim Price won with the Dutchbred Jarillo, going from fourth in dressage to third after cross-country. He was then double-clear over the show jumping course designed by Yann Royant for the French event and finished with 30.9 penalties.
Great Britain’s Tom Jackson, thirty-first after dressage with Plot Twist B, improved his standing to eighth following a double-clear aboard the Irish Sport Horse on cross-country. He had no penalties in the show jumping to wind up second on 33.2 penalties after quite a climb through the ranks.
Boyd logged just 0.4 time penalties to make the podium aboard Cooley Nutcracker. His mount is the horse Liz Halliday rode in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Boyd took over part of her string of horses after she suffered a traumatic brain injury in a cross-country fall in August 2024. Liz was on the phone cheering for her horse and its rider as they show jumped.
Tenth after both dressage and cross-country, Boyd rose with 33.9 penalties in total. It was his second third-place finish in a row. He had the same result last weekend in the Maryland 5-Star with Commando 3. The second-best American was Cosby Green, eleventh with Highly Suspicious (39.7).
But Emily Hamel of the U.S. and Corvett set a record as the only horse-and-rider combination to complete all six of the 5-Stars in the Northern Hemisphere. (There is only one 5-Star in the Southerrn Hemisphere). Corvett, an 18-year-old Holsteiner by Corrido, was forty-second in dressage, and clear of jumping penalties with only 7.2 time penalties on cross-country to rise to twenty-fifth.
In show jumping, he produced one of only 10 clears to move up another 11 places to end in the fourteenth spot.
Sarah Bullimore of Great Britain, in first place after cross-country with 5-star debutante Corimiro, dropped to fifth, just 0.1 time penalties behind Tim Price and Happy Boy (34.2) after toppling a pole in show jumping and collecting 0.4 time penalties. Sarah wrapped up on 34.4 penalties.
The leader after dressage, Cannavaro, who was second following cross-country, was not re-presented after going to the hold box in the final horse inspection. Bubby Upton’s ride for Great Britain is 18 years old.
Oliver Townend’s great campaigner, Ballaghmor Class, finished twenty-first after a frangible pin penalty on cross-country and a difficult show jumping round. Another 18-year-old, this horse had three rails in the final segment to end on 50.3 penalties.
Click here for results.
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 13, 2025
He’s not an American, but Alan Wade spends a lot of time in the U.S.
So he will be a very familiar face as the show jumping course designer for the 2028 Olympics at Santa Anita. The Irishman laid out the routes for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2017 in Omaha and the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2018 in Tryon, N.C. He has Olympic mileage, too, as the assistant course designer at the London 2012 Olympic Games alongside Bob Ellis.
At LA28, Alan joins Alec Lochore of Great Britain, who has been named the cross-country course designer. Sad not to have U.S. designers in those roles. but that would seem to point to a dearth of U.S. officials at the level required for an Olympics.
Alan Wade grew up immersed in equestrian sport and began designing his first tracks at age 12 at the local gymkhanas in County Tipperary. He is the son of jumping great Tommy Wade, part of Ireland’s winning Aga Khan Cup team in 1963 and 1967 aboard the legendary Dundrum.
In 2009, Alan began designing in the main arena of the Dublin Horse Show for the first time. Since then, he has officiated in Dublin over a dozen times. He has designed in Rotterdam, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, Lisbon, and Rabat. His reputation for excellence has crossed the Atlantic and his popularity has grown in North America. Currently, the majority of his designs are created for shows in the United States alongside some in Canada and Mexico.
“I would like to congratulate Alan Wade on his appointment as the Jumping Course Designer for the Olympic Games LA28,” FEI President Ingmar De Vos said. “This is a crucial role for the success of equestrian in Los Angeles and I’m convinced that we have made the right choice. Alan Wade is hugely experienced and has a profound understanding of the sport. He is well known for his subtle designs, which are challenging but set a fair test for the athletes and the horses and reward skill and horsemanship. I’m looking forward to world class Jumping at the LA28 Olympic Games.”
“I am honored and grateful to accept the role of Jumping Course Designer for the Olympic Games LA28,” Alan said. “I would like to thank the FEI Board and Olympic Games LA28 Organising Committee for entrusting me with the important role of creating the courses and fence designs. I look forward to designing courses that produce good competition and present our sport in the best way possible on the world stage that is the Olympic Games.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 6, 2025
Anderson Lima, who did such a good job laying out the route for the Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon last spring, has been named as the course designer for the April 2026 FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals in Ft. Worth.
Anderson Lima walking his course at Devon.
The Mexican designer has been part of the design team at the Olympics and several FEI World Cup Finals, as well as the Pan American Games and other international championships. He will be joined by Bernardo Costa Cabral of Portugal as the foreign technical delegate.
Anderson thinks that in this era, the riders, more than the horses, are tested by the courses. He is known for being fair.
“I like to create nice lines and a balance between forward distances and a little bit shorter distances and normal size jumps. For sure when you talk about grands prix, being fair means creating the right dimensions. But I do like to challenge horses and riders with colors, jumps with a little bit more open space, jumps that are a little bit more solid, or by having planks and walls.”
Using a variety of options, he pointed out, he can keep testing riders and their mounts in new and different ways.
by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 19, 2025
Through the ups and downs of the leaderboard at the MARS Maryland 5-star at Fair Hill, Swiss rider Felix Vogg inched his way forward; from third place after dressage to second following cross-country, finally achieving victory in the show jumping finale on Sunday.
Felix Vogg and Cartania on their way to victory.
The standings had been steady at the top — New Zealand’s Monica Spencer led the 22 starters in dressage and stayed first after finishing well within the optimum time on cross-country on her intrepid thoroughbred, Artist.
But her luck ran out in the show jumping, where the rails started falling along the route designed by Michel Vaillancourt. First it was the vertical at fence 6 after the double combination, then another rail at the vertical after the triple bar. The one fence she had in hand over Felix and his elegant mare, Cartania, wasn’t enough — as Monica had suspected on Saturday, when she contemplated the final phase and how Artist might fare.
She was philosophical about her placing.
“To be second at a 5-Star is the stuff dreams are made of,” she commented.
Monica Spencer and Artist.
Her total of 31.7 penalties was a personal best at a 5-star and the highlight of a year in which she finished eighth at Kentucky and sixth at Aachen.
For Artist, “Show jumping’s not his strength,” she said while beaming with joy and holding a bouquet of red roses after the prize giving.
“It was a technical track out there and we just fell a bit short in a couple of places. I think he tried hard and I’m pleased with him,” said Monica, who began basing herself in Pennsylvania nearly two years ago.
In 2022, when he took first place with 29 penalties on Colero at Germany’s Luhmuhlen, Felix became the only Swiss ever to win an eventing 5-Star since one of his countrymen enjoyed victory at Badminton in 1951 (though that level had a different name then). Now the 35-year-old rider has two 5-star triumphs to his credit; again the only Swiss with that claim to fame.
Felix Vogg on his victory gallop.
“Unreal,” he said after his victory gallop, in which he joyfully made a third circuit, rather than the traditional two. For exceeding the 82-second time allowed, he added only 0.4 penalties to his dressage score, giving him a total of 28.7.
“The horse is unbelievable. I wanted to win all week, but of course, many people want that. The mare actually delivered, it’s fantastic. She was all week mentally so strong,” said Felix, who has ridden her for seven years and considered her his third-string mount until recently because he was riding several other exciting horses.
When Cartania had a dental problem last summer, Felix started jumping her in a hackamore. It worked so well he has kept on using it. She won the first event of her career in July at the 4-star short at Avenches, Switzerland.
Felix received a travel grant from the Maryland 5-Star International Riders Travel Grant Program. As foreign rider after foreign rider told me, the expense of coming across the Atlantic is daunting, and with so many events in Europe, financially for some it makes sense to stay there.
“Without that grant, I wouldn’t be here,” said Felix, who left America richer, having collected $100,000 for his victory.
Boyd Martin, the only American to win the Maryland event in its five-year history, had a rough weekend, falling from Luke 140 during cross-country. With his second horse, Commando 3, he was understandably cautious on cross-country, incurring 8 time penalties for taking several long routes.
Boyd Martin and Commando 3.
He was standing fifth coming into show jumping. But then Jennie Brannigan had two rails with FE Lifestyle, Boyd produced a clean round and Mia Farley, who had been third with Phelps, dropped four poles to go from third to seventh. (Phelps did, however, win the special award for the best performance by an American thoroughbred in the 5-Star.)
That moved Boyd up to the podium on 38.3 penalties.
Speaking about Commando, Boyd noticed, “he’s finished second for Kentucky and third at Maryland. I think the best is still to come.”
Even so, being on the podium in Maryland is still an achievement.
Maryland winner Felix Vogg with Monica Spencer and Boyd Martin.
“I love to win, but it’s not so bad being third to these two champion horsemen…horsewoman,” he said, noting Monica is his next door neighbor and Felix had lived with him and his family for a year.
“My wife is secretly in love with him,” he revealed.
That seemed to be the biggest story of the day, so I asked Silva Martin if it was true, as she herded her three little boys in the VIP area.
Silva, a top dressage rider, admitted to having a crush on Felix, but she correctly pointed out it wasn’t going anywhere.
“He has a really great girlfriend, so I think that would be a better match. I’m not sure Felix would want a woman with three children by Boyd Martin.”
This was all in fun, of course.
The original field of 22 was down to 13 for the show jumping. Top 10 finishes worth noting included the oldest horse in the competition, Sunday Times, who is 18. He was tenth, with two rails down, but looked happy to be doing his job.
Sophia Hill, who came over from Australia earlier this month, didn’t have a great dressage test with a horse who hadn’t had a chance to settle in, but Humble Glory was the fastest on cross-country and wound up sixth on his dressage score of 46.2 after a brilliant show jumping display.
Sunday Times, at 18 the oldest horse in the 5-Star, with Arden Wildasin.
Click here for 5-Star results.
In the 3-Star, Isabelle Bosley held onto the lead she established in dressage, winning on 24.8 penalties aboard her Oldenburg mount, Conner. Second-place Alyssa Phillips did the same, adding nothing to her dressage score of 25.5 penalties on her Holsteiner, Rockett 19. Third-place Olivia Dutton dropped a rail at the first fence and collected time penalties but was able to keep her third-place standing with a score of 32.9 on Jewelent, an Irish Sport Horse who is rather a new ride for her..
Isabelle and Olivia both train with Olivia’s father, Olympic multi-medalist Phillip Dutton.
Isabelle is a local resident from Monkton, Md., and she had a big fan club cheering her on.
Three-Star stars Alyssa Phillips, Isabelle Bosley and Olivia Dutton.
“It means so much to have my family and friends here supporting me this weekend. Conner was incredible, he’s such a good boy, and he’s definitely not for sale,” she said, noting, “I’ve been asked a couple of times.”
Click here for 3-Star results
