by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 28, 2026
As she came to a halt at the end of her 4-star Grand Prix Freestyle performance on Hyatt, after a dramatic one-handed passage down centerline, Sweden’s Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén broke into an enormous smile.
A bright chestnut daughter of Apache, Hyatt seemed to share her rider’s joy in the moment, which resulted in a 78 percent tally from the judges and a victory in the Donato Farms class at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival on Friday evening. It was a fitting conclusion to a fun and energetic performance featuring ’60s Beach Boys tunes such as “God Only Know” and “Good Vibrations.”
The soundtrack had sentimental connections, because it was from a freestyle designed by the late Cees Sling for Tinne’s special mount Don Auriello, who partnered with her in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
Tinne, a regular visitor to the Wellington, Fla., facility, rightfully considers the Friday Night Lights feature a goal whenever possible. But with Hyatt, second in Thursday’s Grand Prix, that wasn’t always the case.
“Last year, I didn’t dare to compete Hyatt in the Friday night class because she is really motivated and very awake,” the seven-time Olympian explained.
“Over the past year, I started to think it could work. I took her in the 5-Star and she got really excited, but today she was super.”
With the sensitive mare, she noted, “I’m always searching for the balance between power and relaxation, and I don’t always succeed. What horses need is to have trust in you and to like their work. You need a smart set-up for every horse, which is different for every animal, so you figure out what’s good for them. For sure, the chance to ride here in the winter, at this show with perfect atmosphere, is a super opportunity to teach the horses how to go.”
When Tinne returns to Europe after the Florida circuit, she will be working toward an opportunity to represent her country in this summer’s world championships in Aachen, Germany.
Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén and Hyatt had the winning freestyle.
Although only three horses competed in the Freestyle before an enthusiastic packed house, the efforts made by the entries were worthy of the crowd’s appreciation as the conclusion to a day packed with interesting competition.
The youngest horse in the freestyle, the 12-year-old Harmony’s Fado, scored a personal best of 74.77 percent under Michael Klimke of Germany to finish an honorable second. Michael is the son of Reiner Klimke, a legendary figure in global dressage. Third place went to Susie Dutta on Don Design DC with 72.895 percent.
Earlier in the evening, U.S. rider Jennifer Williams topped a nine-horse field for the 4-Star Grand Prix Special with a 70.128 percent on Joppe K that was her initial victory at that level.
Jennifer Williams and Joppe K taking the Special.
The rider, who owns Joppe with Lisa Nordling, said the 11-year-old Dutchbred by Harmony’s Rousseau was purchased six years ago.
“Quickly, I fell in love,” Jennifer said of the horse, who has been doing Grand Prix for four seasons after she brought him up through the ranks.
“This is my first-ever win at Friday Night Lights, so it’s really special. I’m living my dream and I’m really grateful. He loves his job, he’s super motivated he’s the sweetest, kindest horse.”
Megan Davis, who scored a personal best Thursday to win the Grand Prix with Toronto Lightfoot, wasn’t able to meet that standard and crack 70 percent again. She wound up on 69.192 percent. So did Ashley Holzer with Hawtins San Floriana, but Ashley got the nod for the runner-up spot based on a higher average of the harmony marks.
German judge Katrina Wüst, a vocal advocate for horse welfare, remarked that judging has changed and is less tolerant, for instance, of tail swishing that indicates equine discomfort.
“We are harder on this and this definitely has also changed the riders’ way of presenting them.”
Suppleness, she said, can compensate in the marks for horses without “the top, top, top gaits” because it is preferred to “horses with bigger gaits and stiffness. You see better contact, the mouth is more closed. I think the sport is moving forward.”
The judge was impressed during the daytime competition by Adrienne Lyle’s mount, My Vitality, in the Lovsta Future Challenge. The promising talent is a brother of the well-known stallion Vitalis.
My Vitality and Adrienne Lyle
The 9-year-old Dutchbred stallion by Vivaldi won with a total of 71.265 percent, despite what the rider called “big mistakes in there in the pirouettes, which has not been normally an issue with him. I think he just got a little bit impressed at the stadium and a little tight in his back. It’s all still very green with him so now we know our homework to go home and work on.
“He’s still a very new ride for me. I still feel we are getting to know each other. I think he’s such a quality horse. I’m so excited about his future.”
Judge Katrina shares that enthusiasm.
She believes My Vitality’s potential is such that he has the ability to be the top U.S. grand prix horse ever, even citing such stars as Laura Graves’ Verdades, whose rider became the only U.S. competitor to be number one in the world.
The daytime drama was dominated by Adrienne, who also won the 1-Star Intermediate I, topping a field of 10 with Hussmans Topgun on 72.06 percent. She also won her Thursday class with the horse, who showed a little more power in the trot on Friday, along with pirouettes that were “quite good.”
Hussmans Topgun and Adrienne Lyle
The rider noted “I’m feeling a little under the weather, so he took good care of me.”
The show was presented in memory of Mary Anne McPhail, who with her husband, Walter, established a fund to provide support for the U.S. Dressage Federation’s judge education initiative.
Mary Anne was instrumental in making Wellington a center for dressage and was the guiding force of the Palm Beach Dressage Derby, which has a unique format.
Riders perform the Prix St. Georges test on an unfamiliar horse with only a five-minute warm-up for them to familiarize themselves with the animal.
On Friday evening, it was won for the second time by Chris von Martels of Canada. Jennifer Williams, who had a busy evening, was runner-up in the final ride-off.
In Saturday’s 3-Star Special, the order of the top two from Thursday’s Grand Prix was reversed, with Christian Simonson taking the honors on Fleau de Baian (71.255 percent.) That entry was the only one to be marked over 70 percent, and it was a personal best.
The winner from the Grand Prix, Endel Ots and Zen Elite’s Bohemian, was second with 69.981 percent, just ahead of Michael Klimke and Harmony’s Dante’s Peak (68.915 percent).
“Today ‘Felix’ let me ride him, gave me his back, and tried really hard,” said Christian, 23, who only rode his first senior international big tour test in May of 2023.
“He let me keep asking for more and more.”
After a mistake in the one-time changes on the diagonal, Christian refocused Felix to ensure the pirouette-changes/pirouette sequence on the center line remained fault-free and powerful.
“I knew because of the mistake that I had to make up a lot of points there, so I thought, ‘Okay, let’s try to get eights on everything here for the double coefficient,’” said Christian, who first stepped into the CDI ring with Fleau De Baian nine months ago.
“I’ve learned a lot from this horse, and he’s taught me a lot, too. He was basically my first senior grand prix horse. He’s telling me a lot about how to school lines, and we’ve grown a lot in the piaffe/passage work.”
click here for Grand Prix Special results
click here for Grand Prix Freestyle results
click here for Palm Beach Derby results
click here for 1-star Intermediate I results
click here for lovsta Future Challenge results
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 26, 2026
A development proposal on the Isla Carroll property featuring a country club, a 10-stall barn for use by residents and a polo field was turned down by the Wellington Village Council this week. The count was 4-1, with only councilwoman Tanya Siskind voting in favor.
This was the second reading for the concept. Although a previous iteration eked out a 3-2 approval from the council on first reading in January, both Mayor Michael Napoleone and Councilman John McGovern, who reluctantly voted in favor of the plan, indicated they would not vote for it on second reading without changes. They wanted the project to be fashioned more in keeping with requirements of the municipality’s Equestrian Overlay Zoning District.
The original plan for the property presented last year called for using a 24-stall stable on site for animals that included rescue horses and offered a wide-ranging group of disciplines. After the Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board indicated it would reject the project, it was withdrawn.
It returned as a Planned Unit Development with forty 0.43-acre homesites, a country club with a gym, restaurant and pool, and a polo field, one of two currently located on the site.
Under an agreement between property owner Frank McCourt, one of the founders of the show jumping Global Champions Tour, developer Discovery Land Company and the U.S. Polo Association, the latter would pay a $1 annual fee for a 45-year lease of the field (with a 10-year renewal option).
In this week’s presentation, it was reported that 13 of the homesites had been deleted from the plans and there would be four, two-acre lots suitable for those who want to keep horses on their property.
But even with the addition of the 10-stall barn, the mayor said the internal focus of the project is “the country club…not the 10-stall barn.”
McGovern noted “improvements have been made,” then added “we’re closer, but we haven’t gotten there yet.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 12, 2026
The National Horse Show is adding another chapter to its storied history by relocating to North Carolina’s Tryon International Equestrian Center this autumn, pending approval from the U.S. Equestrian Federation.
During 142 years spread over three different centuries, the iconic show has had several homes. It is most identified with its reign in both the old and “new” Madison Square Garden arenas, which ended in 2001, but it has also been held at New Jersey’s Meadowlands, on Pier 94 by the Hudson River; in Wellington, Fla., and Syracuse, N.Y., before moving to the Kentucky Horse Park in 2011.
Organizers are hoping the shift Southeast to a different venue will be “a breath of fresh air,” said Jennifer Burger, the show’s president.
“I think people just needed a fresh outlook.”
Lexington can be a difficult location for a late autumn horse show. In 2025 “We had some tough weather…in Kentucky,” Burger noted.
“I can’t thank the Horse Park enough for being an incredible home for us.”
However, “Being the last on the line of indoor shows, people are so tired and they push themselves,” she said, adding it becomes really difficult when “you throw bad weather on top of that.”
“Kentucky was not ideal to be having the National Horse Show in November,” said Don Stewart, who was among a group of trainers that went to the organizers seeking a change.
“I think it’s a positive move,” said Stewart of relocating to Tryon.
While “everyone loved the (Alltech) arena,” said show chairman Bill Weeks, there were other issues.
Stabling in the shedrow-style stalls at the Horse Park is uncomfortable in cold and rain, as is being able to warm up horses outdoors in inclement weather. The U.S. Dressage Federation, whose championship used to run the week after the National at the Horse Park, moved to a facility in Ohio where everything could be run indoors.
A group of trainers approached the National’s organizers last year to ask for a move.
“We had to be responsive to our exhibitors,” said Weeks.
“We got the message that it just wasn’t working.”
Burger said the professionals will have a voice in how the National runs. The equitation and hunter committees, along with a West Coast rep, are all being given seats on the board.
“We want a constructive pathway, weaving the professional thoughts and opinions more directly into the board. It takes both groups to produce a quality event,” Burger explained.
Trainer Greg Prince, among those who will be on the board, said of the move, “I’m very excited about it. I think it will be fantastic.”
He believes the staff at Tryon “will move heaven and earth to get a fabulous horse show. I believe it is the right thing to do for the National Horse Show and they will gain a great deal from it. It shows incredible motivation on everybody’s part to try to make it what it should be.”
Stabling is all-weather at Tryon, and the indoor arena can be divided in half to serve as both a competition ring and a warm-up, as well as for schooling, Burger said.
Spectators didn’tt turn out strongly for the National in Kentucky. Attendance was a problem on days when there was racing at Keeneland, or the University of Kentucky was playing football or basketball.
But beyond that, as Weeks noted, “Lexington is a thoroughbred market, not necessarily a hunter/jumper (market). We could never really build a following there. That makes it hard to attract new sponsors.”
While dining and lodging options were not close to the Horse Park, restaurants and lodging are on-site at Tryon. That is a plus for both the National’s exhibitors and the show, which will benefit from the extra business as it extends the facility’s season during the three-year lease.
“We’re bringing a lot to the table,” said Weeks, noting the show/venue relationship is “more of a partnership” at Tryon, which hosted the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games.
“Because our interests are aligned, I think they’re going to be very helpful in trying to turn people out to come to the show, because they obviously benefit from it, as well as we do. I’m excited about the move and I think it will create a lot of new energy at the show.
“This move gives us the best opportunity for a financial model and for the success of the show. We had a good run there (Kentucky) and we feel it’s the right time to try something new.”
He hopes that because competitors can eat and stay on site, people will be more apt to return to the arena to watch the show after their classes, rather than catching the action remotely on the live stream from their hotels.
The Oct. 21-Nov. 1 show, previously managed by Stephanie Lightner, will be run by Tryon’s JP Godard.
“Exhibitors will appreciate the improvements at Tryon since WEG,” said Glenn Petty, Tryon’s general manager for equestrian operations.
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 16, 2026
Following a multi-day binding arbitration before an independent and neutral arbitrator, veterinarian Dr. Chris Newton was found to have fully prevailed against charges made against him by the US Center for SafeSport, according to a release from the law firm of Sparrow & Fairchild.
“As a result, the decision previously issued by the US Center for SafeSport was vacated, and the arbitrator determined that Dr. Newton can participate fully in all aspects of equestrian sport in the Olympic and Paralympic movement. All restrictions imposed upon him by the US Center for SafeSport have been lifted with immediate effect.
“In reaching this decision, the arbitrator noted that there had been a complete failure of proof, and specifically found that the claimant who made the accusations against Dr. Newton was not credible. The arbitrator also noted that the US Center for SafeSport withheld evidence, which impeded a full and fair adjudication of the matter until the US Center for SafeSport was ordered to disclose this withheld evidence shortly before the start of the arbitration hearing.”
Newton, who was suspended last June, has served as the team veterinarian for the North American Junior Young Rider Championships and as the treating veterinarian for the Kentucky Three-Day Event. He also competes in eventing.
Responding to the decision, Newton stated:
“Throughout this long and difficult process, I have maintained my belief that the truth would eventually come out, and that a just decision would be reached My faith in the process was tested by the campaign against me, which the arbitrator described as an attempt to defame me. But in the end, the truth prevailed, even if it took much longer than I wish it had. I would like to thank my lawyers who have stood with me and believed in me from the beginning. I have missed attending, working at and participating in equestrian sport, and I look forward to returning as soon as possible.”
Dr. Newton was jointly represented by Howard Jacobs and Roland Wiley from the Law Offices of Howard L. Jacobs (Westlake Village, CA); and Lee Fairchild from Sparrow & Fairchild (Ocala, FL).
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 17, 2026
La Biosthetique Sam FBW, the only eventing horse to claim the Olympic, world championship and European gold eventing titles in the same time frame, has died at the age of 25.
Michael Jung and Sam on their way to gold at the 2010 world championships. (Photo © 2010 by Nancy Jaffer)
He and Germany’s Michael Jung, his equally great rider, became a match early in this century and continued as a magnificent combination until Sam’s retirement in 2018. Sired by Stan the Man, an Irish thoroughbred, and out of a mare named Halla, Sam was rejected by a stallion licensing committee because he lacked quality.
The committee observed, “He is nondescript, his head is too big, he has no presence and a funny jumping technique.” Shows how much they knew.
But that conclusion made him a $10,000 bargain for Sabina Kreuter, who paired him with Jung, a promising rider on the way to becoming an international star. The horse eventually was purchased by the German equestrian federation, the Jungs and a friend of that family, insuring after a brief period of uncertainty that Michael would keep the ride.
Michael Jung and Sam were golden at the 2012 London Olympics. (Photo © 2012 by Nancy Jaffer)
Sam and his partner started winning with the world championships for six-year-olds, then went on to gold at the 2010 world championships, the 2011 European championships and the 2012 Olympics. He won Burghley in 2015. Then a victory at Badminton in 2016 gave him the elusive Rolex Grand Slam in a year when he took another Olympic gold.
The Badem-Wurttemberg gelding was buried on the German farm where he spent his retirement.
“We reached every milestone side by side, and for years I found daily happiness in seeing you grazing in the field,” Jung said of his legendary mount.
“Thank you for 20 years together. You will be deeply missed by all of us. Rest in peace, my friend.”
This was a horse for the ages, fluent in every phase of eventing, a joy to watch. He wasn’t flashy, but knew how to get the job done correctly and with stye.
Jung said it all when he declared about Sam, “He is a special personality and a very good friend to me. I think no horse is better than him.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 16, 2026
I was saddened to hear that actor Robert Duvall died over the weekend at the age of 95, after earning fame for roles in such beloved movies as “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Godfather,” “Tender Mercies” and “The Great Santini.”
But his favorite, as he told me when I interviewed him at the Hampton Classic in 2009, was playing the part of Augustus McRae in the TV mini-series “Lonesome Dove.”
Robert Duvall at the Hampton Classic (Photo © 2009 by Nancy Jaffer)
The actor wasn’t thrilled when I asked for an interview, but after learning I was involved with horses, he was happy to talk and we had a great chat. It was a special opportunity I will never forget.
Although he learned to ride on his uncle’s ranch in Montana, he preferred an English saddle to cowboy tack.
“A western saddle is a working saddle,” he explained, saying he finds the English version more comfortable. When we talked, he was 78 years old and still riding, as long as he was aboard “a bomb-proof horse.” At the time, he owned a quarter horse, an old thoroughbred and an Andalusian/Arab/thoroughbred 4-year-old that wasn’t an ideal mount for his stage in life.
“He’s a little iffy,” explained the actor, who was bucked off during the filming of “Lonesome Dove” and wasn’t ready for a re-run of that incident. For his 2006 TV movie, “Broken Trail,” he prepared by practicing riding a year in advance. He borrowed his mount, Wrangler, from Canadian rodeo champion Tom Bews.
“He’s the best horse I’ve ever been on in my life; he was just so well schooled,” said Duvall, who knows how to appreciate such things.
He then launched into a story about how he got into riding shape for another movie at a farm owned by former show jumping star, horse dealer and trainer Rodney Jenkins.
“What does a horse like this cost?” the actor asked Rodney after a successful ride. The answer was $30,000.
The actor mused (probably correctly), ” I think he was hustling me to buy that horse.”
Questioned about the show jumpers he admired most, he mentioned Ben O’Meara, remembering a photo he’d seen of him jumping a horse over a table where three men were seated drinking beer. O’Meara died in a 1966 plane crash, but Duvall observes a similar style in Olympic team gold medalist McLain Ward. Duvall said his favorite rider was Aaron Vale, maintaining “he’s got a lot of feel” on a horse.”
Years later Aaron went on to become part of the U.S. team, so it’s obvious Duvall knew what he was talking about when he assessed talent.
Of the top riders, he said, “What they do is amazing. They’re tremendously talented and the horses are like freaks.”
Although he played a show jumper in a movie, “Something to Talk About,” he had no illusions about his skill in the sport.
“I’ve competed only in local level mini-prixs,” said Duvall, who had a farm in Virginia and said Upperville was his local horse show.
“You have to spend your life doing this, you have to commit to it at this level. This is just not something you do as a hobby.”
I can imagine him sharing stories with Ben O’Meara and Rodney in heaven before saddling up and enjoying a long ride. Like them, he was one of a kind.
