by Nancy Jaffer | May 27, 2026
There’s an old British saying about “horses for courses,” meaning certain situations suit certain horses well.
That could well be applied to Lafitte de Muze at the Devon Horse Show, where he put his name on the George S. Hasbrouk Jr. Memorial High Performance Working Hunter trophy for four of the last five years, including three times in a row, as of Tuesday.
Since it’s a perpetual trophy, the silver cup can’t take up residence at the home of Lafite’s owner, Cheryl Olsten, or his rider, Amanda Steege.
But that’s okay.
“He’s been champion at every show in the country,” said Amanda.
Lafitte already has amassed quite a collection of sterling. He even added to it on Wednesday, winning the William C. Hunneman Jr. perpetual trophy for the High Performance Working Hunter Stake, also for the third time in four years. With a heady score of 95, no less.
After that, it was time for more awards – the High Performance Working Hunter Championship, which he also won last year, and for the third time in five years, the Leading Lady Rider in the Working Hunter division for his rider. At the Show Hunter Hall of Fame dinner Wednesday night, Cheryl and Amanda accepted Lafitte’s Regular Working Hunter “Trainers Choice” Horse of the Year award.
Cheryl and Amanda with more prizes for Lafitte at the awards dinner.
The haul at Devon isn’t really unusual for Lafite, whose prize money — more than $400,000 worth — under a unique arrangement went to the EQUUS Foundation, which helps horses who have suffered abuse or neglect.
“He’s been champion at every show in the country,” said Amanda of her partner of nine years, noting “he performs well at most of the shows.”
Lafitte de Muze and Amanda Steege.
However, she added, “He does really love Devon. From the second he gets off the truck at Devon, he’s very excited. Our preparation has to be a little different here because he can get a little overly excited.”
It’s easy to understand why, since he has fans at the show on Philadelphia’s Main Line.
“He loves a crowd, all the kids on the rail and talking to everybody. People go to Devon just to see him, so here we are,” said Amanda, based in Ocala, Fla., with summers in Hunterdon County, N.J.
The 15-year-old Belgian warmblood, a son of Darco, was born with that. charisma, according to Amanda, who said, “People always ask me, `What is it about him that makes him so special?’ ”
That’s not so easy to quantify.
“Certainly, his jumping technique is amazing and exuberant and dynamic. There’s not enough words for how he jumps. But the fact that he jumps like that over and over…I think he’s extremely intelligent. He understands the whole thing that we’re doing.”
That’s a rare quality.
While Amanda notes, “It’s fairly easy to pick out conformationally correct hoses who are good movers and good jumpers, you can’t predict which of those youngsters are going to have that star quality or X factor when they walk into the ring., where it feels like they grow a little bit. “
Lafitte “understands that when he goes out there, he is performing and doing something. He takes a lot of pride in his work. He’s a perfectionist, he likes to win the blue.”
Meanwhile, the next generation of Devon stars is coming along. Two Oldenburgs, both ridden by Victoria Colvin, (the Show Hunter Hall of Fame’s Lady Rider of the Year) tied on 46 points each for the Grand Hunter Championship.
John and Stephanie Ingram’s Odette, a 10-year-old mare, earned her points winning Devon’s High Performance Conformation Hunter title, and Lynn Olson’s In the End, a seven-year-old gelding, took the Green Conformation honors on the way to the Grand tri-color.
Devon Leading Hunter Rider Tori Colvin with co-Grand Champion Hunters Odette and In the End.
It was only Tori’s second show on In the End, but he was unfazed by the Devon excitement, and advice from trainer Shelley Campf also helped the acclimation process.
“I didn’t know him very well, he’s young but didn’t seem to care about anything and really was foot perfect,” said Tori.
“Same for Odette. I’ve been riding her for about a year now. She’s the coolest mare. She wants to win and tries to win every time. They both have big strides, they’re both very scopey, they both kind of go in a similar way, kind of like a nice rhythm.”
She added about Odette, “When you have a good mare, they mainly always try to win for you, which is nice. They really try for you.”
Tori has been a Devon regular since she was eight, for 20 years, and started off winning championships in the pony ranks, then went on to honors in the junior hunters and finally, the open ranks.
Even with that long timeline, the Devon mystique never grows old.
“Every show is special, but Devon is a very special horse show. I think it’s one of the main horse shows and big focuses of the year,” said Tori, adding that with the impressive jumps and flowers “a lot of horses shine here. It’s great experience.”
Unless, of course, they spook at the carousel in the little carnival on the grounds.
She also rides jumpers but doesn’t have any at the show this time. Maybe next year; she has a homebred seven-year-old who might be a candidate.
In the meantime, she’ll be doing the $50,000 USHJA Hunter Derby on Thursday with Golden Road, a 10-year-old Selle Francais who didn’t compete on Wednesday, saving him for the big class.
Tori noted this year Devon has “been a little on the wetter side. When the umbrellas come out, that’s a little bit of an issue.”
Indeed, weather complicated things at Devon; there was a little flooding, while some classes were canceled last Wednesday and Friday. Then it started to drizzle again as the hunter divisions wrapped up, with the ringmaster appropriately playing a few notes of the song “Stormy Weather” on his horn.
It couldn’t put a damper on the Ladies Day Hat Contest, though, a fixture that seems wonderfully anachronistic, like so much of Devon, from the crustless tea sandwiches to the massive program listing every horse with a description, and showing photos of all the treasured trophies that have been donated by generations of avid show-goers. If the ringmaster is looking for another song to play, “Tradition” might fill the bill.
The jumpers got under way with the $32,000 Jet Run Welcome Stake, but not everyone was trying to win. Horses needed to compete in a class before the show’s feature, the $210,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon, so some riders used the one-round speed competition as a way to introduce their mounts to the Dixon Oval.
McKayla Langmeier and Pepita VD Rollebeek.
One who did try to win – and succeeded – was McKayla Langmeier, who rode Pepita VD Rollebeek to victory in 57.34 seconds, ahead of a Devon regular, Daniel Bluman on the reliable Gemma W (58.430).
McKayla hadn’t been back to the show for eight years, since she was a junior equitation star.
“It was really cool to have the (Devon) blue cooler on my horse,” said the 26-year-old rider. (NOTE: Devon blue is a particular shade; you’ll see it everywhere on the showgrounds, and many people – include me – glaze their fingernails with Devon blue polish for the occasion.)
McKayla will be riding her other horse, Riesling van de Gaathoeve, “a horse with a championships mindset” in the grand prix. Her objective with Pepita is simply to get ranking points for the international standings in the show’s 1.45-meter classes. She succeeded again with that goal on Wednesday, as Pepita triumphed again in the two-phase competition.
Click here for Devon results, then click on the day you want to see
by Nancy Jaffer | May 19, 2026
In the wake of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s National Grand Prix Dressage Championship that wrapped up over the weekend, a group of seven riders and eight horses was named to the short list for August’s world championships at Aachen.
They will travel to Germany to prepare for selection of the U.S. team that is going to ride in the global title meet. Not included in the group was the winner of the championship, Ellesse Gundersen and her homebred Quintessential 4. Ellesse, feeling her horse needed more experience, did not apply for the championships and therefore could not be considered, for the tour, according to the chef d’equipe Christine Traurig.
Some of those selected were no surprise, such as the 2025 national Grand Prix champion, Christian Simonson, with both his freestyle winner Fleau de Baian and Indian Rock, the horse on which he was second in the World Cup finals last month, but who was scratched from the Freestyle at the championships. Christian is the highest-ranked U.S. rider on the international dressage standings, in seventh place. He was fourth overall in the title meet at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Fla.
Also selected were Olympic medalist Ashley Holzer, second in the championship with Hawtins San Floriana, and Meagan Davis, third in the championship with Toronto Lightfoot. Ashley and Meagan were the only riders selected for the tour who had an average score over 70 percent. Fifth-place Jordan LaPlaca and Gold Play, who were on the winning Nations Cup team in Wellington, also got a nod.
Ashley Holzer and Hawtins San Floriana.
Then came the surprises. Kasey Perry-Glass , an Olympic and world championships medalist, was named with Heartbeat WP, who scratched from the Freestyle at the championships, was thirteenth in both the Grand Prix and the Special.
Anna Marek, who did not appear at the championship, was selected with Fayvel. Also going to Europe are Geñay Vaughn and Gino, whose best finish in Ocala was tenth in the Grand Prix. That combination was fourteenth in the Special and scratched the Freestyle, but was the top qualifier on the list of those eligible to enter the championship.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 14, 2026
Horse-related organizations in Great Britain are collaborating on a free digital resource to support equestrians navigating environmental sustainability issues. Perhaps it’s a concept that should spread elsewhere
Launching this autumn, thehoofprint.com is designed to provide not only equestrian organizations, but also venues and individuals, with the information, training and inspiration for transforming their businesses, stables and events into “resilient and sustainable hives of activity.”
Concepts include everything from rainwater harvesting to paddock care, renewable energy and manure management, among other activities in “every corner of the industry.” That’s also of particular interest in terms of the financial challenges faced by those in the industry.
Website creator Ruth Dancer of White Griffin said, “In order to have a healthy sport, we need everyone to be able to survive and thrive in the changes that lie ahead. This collaboration is a recognition that together, we can support one another in quickly adapting to both protect our industry and the natural world.”
The working group driving the website forward includes Agria, NAF, British Equestrian, British Showjumping, British Dressage, British Eventing, The Pony Club and World Horse Welfare, among others.
The CEO of British Equestrian, Jim Eyre commented; “It’s a core part of our federation-wide strategy to provide our members and the wider industry with the tools, knowledge and support needed to become resilient and sustainable.”
The idea involves showcasing what can be achieved, helping enable equestrians to take on a range of different measures that can save money, drive efficiencies and build resilience, while caring for our horses and protecting the environment.
The team is hoping to track the changes that are taking place in the industry, as well as finding out the information that equestrians want from the website as it is developed “to support the growth and future prosperity of the equestrian way of life.”
by Nancy Jaffer | May 22, 2026
One Aachen horse show is never enough. So there are two this year.
Strictly speaking, the second show in Germany is actually the multi-discipline FEI world championships in August, but this weekend, Aachen is hosting an all-jumper competition with the Rolex Grand Prix as the highlight. The first qualifier for Sunday’s finale began Friday, with 49 riders entered in a one-round, 1.55-meter competition against the clock. The top placing belonged to Ireland’s Danie Coyle and the speedy Farrel.
They were timed in 70.99 seconds for a fault-free trip over the 1.55-meter test set by the venue’s course designer, Frank Rothenburger. Luciana Diniz of Brazil was second with Vertigo du Desert in 71.47.
“This is a really nice way to start the weekend,” said Daniel after his victory.
“To win the first qualification class is not something that always happens. In speed classes, you often need a little bit of luck – which I had – and that is very normal. The best riders in the world are here, and today I was fortunate to come out on top. Farrel, is now 16 years, and I have had him since he was seven. He has gone through every level with me and been incredible. He is like a best friend. When I need help, he is always there, and today we needed to qualify, so he really stepped up.”
The highest-placed U.S. rider was McLain Ward on a newer mount, Lestro VD Valckenborg, tenth with a time of 73.15. Next best from the U.S. was Lillie Keenan aboard Kick On in twentieth place (75.99)
With two more days of jumping to come, World Cup champion Kent Farrington on the incredible Greya didn’t pull out all the stops, so he wound up twenty-fifth in 78.30. Laura Kraut had a rail with Bisquetta to be thirty-first, while Aaron Vale was slower with a rail on Carissimo 25 to stand thirty-fourth.
Karl Cook had an uncharacteristic three rails with his star, Caraole de la Roque, and finished forty-seventh.
Click here for results
by Nancy Jaffer | May 17, 2026
Dominating the 3-star dressage competition at the World Equestrian Center, Adrienne Lyle and Helix added victory in the Grand Prix Special on Sunday to their 73.213 percent win from the Grand Prix on Friday.
Adrienne and Helix all ribboned-up after their win in the Special.
Adrienne hadn’t done a Special in a CDI (international) show with him since before the Paris Olympics, where the pair was on the U.S. team. Since then, he has changed greatly, and it’s more than the beautiful dapples Helix is sporting in his chestnut coat.
“He’s developed a lot, I think, since Paris. When I go back and watch my videos from Paris, he does not look as strong or as powerful as he is. And obviously, we were a very new combination to each other then. He’s two years older, and he’s got two years more of Grand Prix under his belt (girth?)
“I figured out what works, what doesn’t. You know, like you do with all the horses, it works for a bit, then it doesn’t. You go back, you change your plan, and then you come back out. It’s definitely not, like I said, not a linear process, but I’m happy with where he is right now.
“I’m super proud of him” added Adrienne, noting the 14-year-old Dutchbred son of Apache was kind of a last-minute entry at the show in Ocala, Fla.
“I’m just totally thrilled with him. It’s hot and it’s the end of a long week, so I had to support him a little bit more to help him through the test today. He was just really accepting of that and let me ride him and put in, I think, the best effort that he could. So that’s all you can ask for. I was really happy.”
Adrienne and Helix with their supporters from Zen Elite.
For Adrienne, no matter how well things go, there’s always something else to do.
She has been working on her position, explaining, “It’s how I can sit differently to balance him differently, get more on my seat, and be able to open the frame and lift, and find a more uphill balance. I think we’re starting to click into that.”
Helix went to Europe to be sold last year, but no buyer was found, so he came back to the Zen Elite stables in Florida and Adrienne’s happy about that.
“He is super sweet. He’s very personable. He’s very much a ‘person’ horse. He’s not attached to other horses, but he wants to be out of a stall all day and investigating. You’ll see me wandering around the grounds. I just kind of let him lead me wherever he wants to go. You know, he wants to look in the restaurant window.”
She noted, “There’s not a `no’ in his body. You know, there’s not a negative thought in there, so I really appreciate that.”
While she’s headed to Europe with several horses and her student, Christian Simonson, she doesn’t know what Helix will be doing there yet, though they will be based in Holland, close to Germany. They also will be involved with the U.S. contingent, since Christian likely will be named for the team that competes in August’s world championships in Aachen.
Adrienne will be in touch with the U.S. technical advisor, Christine Traurig.
“Christine is wonderful, and she has got her eyes on everything,” said Adrienne, who started as a working student with Debbie McDonald, so she’s always ready for some pointers.
Adrienne said of Christine, “I can always go to her for advice, and she can come to me. It’s really helpful to have her eyes kind of overseeing the whole program and guiding us.”
Adrienne and daughter Bailey.
Also going to Europe will be Adrienne’s two-year-old baby, Bailey. Yes, of course, she rides her mini. She’s well-traveled and speaks Portugese (her father is from Portugal), Spanish and of course, English. You can bet she also will be learning German while she’s abroad.
click here for results
