Nancy Jaffer
EQUESTRIAN SPORTS
NEWS AND FEATURES
FROM NEW JERSEY AND BEYOND
More changes in World Cup Final: UPDATE
(See latest update as of 4/4/26 in boldface type below) Lillie Keenan is replacing McLain Ward on the U.S. roster for the FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals in Texas this coming week. McLain is a mentor of Lillie, who has competed successfully on U.S. Nations Cup and...
Make way for the new Premier Jumping League
We already have the Global Champions Tour (GCT), Major League Show Jumping and now, as announced this week, the Premier Jumping League. It’s yet another enterprise adding high-end fixtures to an already-crowded elite scene in the sport. This ambitious entity,...
A big step for Number One in dressage
She's not a show jumper, but even so, Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour made a huge leap from twenty-fifth place to first in the world dressage rankings as they turned over for a new month. Her horse, Mount St. John Freestyle, also is number one, replacing Zonk Plus, now number...
Kent takes the million in Wellington
This time the numbers were right. Greya, the highest-ranked horse in the field of the $1 million Rolex U.S. Equestrian Open, demonstrated on the ground why she was rated number one overall on paper as she topped a five-horse jump-off with her usual flair. Paired with...
Kessler out at Wellington International
Murray Kessler, the CEO of Wellington International, has been terminated from Equestrian Sports Productions LLC and its affiliates after a storm of protest following allegations of a hair-pulling incident last month involving the show's director of sponsorship. A...
SafeSport sued by Frank Madden over suspension
Trainer Frank Madden has sued the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which added him to its centralized disciplinary database on Dec. 23, 2025 after receiving allegations of sexual misconduct in 39 years ago in Florida and Switzerland 40 years ago. On January 27, 2026, Madden...
Ouch! U.S. fails to make second round on home turf in Longines League of Nations
Things did not start well Saturday night for the USA, the defending champion country from a resounding 2025 Longines League of Nations victory at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala. The only LLN leg in the U.S., the competition thus carries special weight for the...
Finally! U.S. Dressage team wins Nations Cup in Wellington
After five years of losing to Germany at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, the USA claimed a very narrow victory over the Europeans in the Modon FEI Dressage Nations Cup on Thursday. Led by Christine Traurig, the Dutta Corp. U.S. dressage team of Ashley Holzer on...
Not a surprise: U.S. autumn 5-star event won’t run in 2026
The fate of the Maryland 5-Star event really wasn't in doubt since word surfaced late last year that financial issues were affecting the Sport & Entertainment Corporation of Maryland, which presented it. But on Tuesday, the U.S. Equestrian Federation made it...
A champion has a foal
TSF Dalera BB delivered Olympic, World Equestrian Games and European Championships dressage gold medals, as well as two World Cup titles under the guidance of Germany's Jessica von Bredow Werndl. Now she has delivered something else this week, a filly named Dolce Vita...
