Nancy Jaffer
EQUESTRIAN SPORTS
NEWS AND FEATURES
FROM NEW JERSEY AND BEYOND
Ridland will stay atop U.S. show jumping effort
It’s no surprise. Robert Ridland, who guided the U.S. to its only equestrian medal at the 2024 Olympics, has been signed to a new four-year contract as show jumping team chef d’equipe and technical advisor that takes him through the 2022 world championships and the...
No bits or whips: Could it happen?
The Dutch Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren) contends the Netherlands is taking a big step forward in animal welfare in equestrian sports, following the country's House of Representative' vote on a ban involving "animal-unfriendly training aids." According...
New leadership for U.S. eventing
An innovative arrangement to spearhead the USA’s high performance three-day eventing efforts will be led by Leslie Law, who has been serving as the country's eventing development coach. He becomes the team's chef d'equipe while taking on the role of high performance...
European federation president steps down
The influential president of the European Equestrian Federation, Theo Ploegmakers, will leave his position April 1 due to health issues after nearly seven years in the role. Founded in 2009, the EEF is the representative body for the European-based national equestrian...
U.S. senator has some tough questions for SafeSport
The U.S. Center for SafeSport is being called on by a U.S. senator to explain the circumstances involved in hiring an investigator who faces criminal charges, including rape and theft. The non-profit Center was authorized by Congress in 2017 with the goal of ending...
It’s Germany again in U.S. dressage Nations Cup, and earning a Freestyle win
For the fifth straight time since the FEI Dressage Nations Cup began in Wellington, Fla., in 2013, Germany took the title in the Starpoint Dancesport team competition that drew squads from five countries on Thursday. Germany earned 207.022 points while silver went to...
Where are the dressage kids?
Trainer/rider Nicole DelGiorno is concerned about why more children and young people aren’t riding dressage in the U.S., even as the hunter/jumper/hunt seat equitation ranks are crammed with kids. A four-time North American Youth Championships medalist and board...
The roots of a local equestrian tradition
About 30,000 or so people go to the Far Hills Race Meeting in New Jersey’s Somerset Hills each October, enjoying an occasion that is social as well as sporting. But who among the steeplechase fans these days has any idea that the glitzy tailgating opportunity, with...
Irish dominate in two major shows
It's a month from St. Patrick's Day, but the Irish had plenty to celebrate about show jumping over the weekend. The country's team in Abu Dhabi won the first leg of the 2025 Longines League of Nations and Irish riders took the top four places in the FEI World Cup...
The dramatic saga of Eric Lamaze continues
Controversial Olympic show jumping individual gold medalist and former Canadian chef d’equipe Eric Lamaze has been suspended until September 2031, following a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport in his human anti-doping case. In March 2022, Lamaze...
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