There’s quite a lineup for the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event, which gets under way with dressage competition on Thursday, May 6 at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown. (Diehards can attend the horse inspection on Wednesday for...

The Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event will be back next month after missing its 2020 edition, when competitions across the country were shut down due to the pandemic. This time around, plenty of top riders are expected to take part, but...

At tonight’s U.S. Hunter Jumper Association Town Hall meeting, the question of when the public will be allowed to return to U.S. Equestrian Federation horse shows was asked several times--most notably by Hampton Classic Executive Director Shanette...

As thoughts turn to this summer’s Olympics, the names most familiar to the general public for U.S. team candidates are Adrienne Lyle with Salvino, who earned 80.170 percent in the Grand Prix Special a year ago (we’re waiting to see her ride the...

Think about hunter and jumper shows in Florida. What location comes to mind first? It’s probably Wellington, home of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Palm Beach County on the state’s east coast. That’s the circuit with the greatest name...

Monmouth at the Team is hitting the road. The innovative one-ring show that debuted at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation to an overwhelmingly positive reception in 2016 will be held instead this year at the Centenary University Equestrian Center...

A legend in the world of Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies, Octavia Brown got in on the ground floor of this significant movement, becoming a visionary instrumental in its growth. And at age 78, the Gladstone resident is still just as...

So much that we enjoyed sadly has fallen by the wayside during the Covid era, but those who found a way to adapt have kept precious customs alive. The Thanksgiving meet of the Essex Foxhounds for decades has drawn hundreds to watch horses and...

It obviously was Steve Teichman’s destiny to become the U.S. eventing team's farrier. The career path that made him one of the most respected practitioners of his trade around the world began in an unusual way when he was just 13. Steve’s father...

It was nearly everything a show jumper could hope for--a victory in a 4-star grand prix worth $213,300, over a track laid out by an Olympic course designer, and against an all-star field that included some of the sport’s biggest names, McLain Ward...

A third-place finish in the Adequan®/ USEF Para Dressage National Championships last weekend signified a triumph of will and commitment for Alanna Flax-Clark. Even traveling to the competition in Tryon, N.C., took some resolve during the Covid...

The ad Kevin Babington placed in the local newspaper during the late 1980s read something like this: “Young Irish lad specializing in problem horses…” That rang a bell with Deborah and Richard Roslowski of West Amwell, who just happened to have a...

When you’ve fallen off your horse, then ended up sporting a black eye and bloody nose after another ride, it may seem that you didn’t have a good day on the cross-country course. But if you earn a nice trophy at the end of the process, it’s a great...

As 1978 wound down, Denis Glaccum knew he was in trouble. With little time until his end-of-year deadline, he was not close to making his quota as a salesman for IBM. Inspired by something he read in an article about kids with cancer, he put a sign...

Summer used to be a time of seemingly endless horse shows, week after week of grands prix and hunter classes in North America; big shows, smaller shows, take your pick. It was always the occasion for partying in the VIP area, seeing old friends,...

Sally Ike stepped down yesterday as managing director of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Licensed Officials committee, but don’t think for a minute that she is just retiring. A multi-faceted pillar of the equestrian community, she will become a...

The Far Hills Race Meeting, an annual tradition that draws more than 30,000 spectators in October, has joined the Covid cancelled list on its 100th anniversary year. A New Jersey state regulation limiting crowd size to 500, except for a protest or...

The Pennsylvania National Horse Show and Washington International Horse Show equitation championships and the junior jumper national championships are moving to North Carolina’s Tryon International Equestrian Center--home of the 2018 FEI World...

Heather Mason was the U.S. Dressage Federation’s owner of the year in 2019. In 2020, however, like so many others during the pandemic fallout, “We are taking it one week at a time,” said the trainer, who owns Flying Change Farm in Tewksbury. This...

A viewing for respected trainer Ricci Desiderio, who died last month, will be held from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. tomorrow, Aug. 5, at his Tranquillity Farm, 300 Old Chester Road, Chester, NJ. It is being arranged to allow for social distancing. Services on...

Boyd Martin decided to take it a little easy at the Horse Park of New Jersey's Horse Trials II yesterday. For the Iron Man, that means he only rode three horses as heat soared into the high 80s and beyond, winning the FEI 3-star on Fernhill Prezley...

As fear of the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread early in March, Jaime Potkalesky, the senior events manager for Reeves International, was getting nervous about the prospects for BreyerFest. Breyer is the signature brand of Pequannock-based Reeves,...

Melissa Murphy Rafano and two of her amateur rider friends have come up with an antidote for “stir crazy” after months of Covid lockdown. With the horse show circuit in disarray, answering the question, “What are we going to do this summer?” became...

The Covid lockdown hit the Horse Park of New Jersey hard at the beginning of the season, after the gates were closed March 18. The park’s finances were impacted by cancellation of its signature event, May’s Jersey Fresh International (which was...

Trainer Bob McDonald today denied an allegation involving sexual misconduct with a minor in 1973, following a decision by the U.S. Center for SafeSport that resulted in a lifetime ban from the U.S. Equestrian Federation. The husband of U.S....

Organizers of the MARS Essex Horse Trials at Moorland Farm in Far Hills have made the “agonizing decision” to cancel the 2020 edition, due to the complications of running it under Covid-related restrictions from the state and the U.S. Equestrian...

Remember when you were having fun at horse shows? It was back in the early days of 2020, a time during which you also could go to the beach, eat in a restaurant with friends and family or get your hair done. That was before Covid-19 (or as I call...

We lost the World Cup finals and Kentucky 5-star in April, the Devon Horse Show in May, Aachen in June and of course, the Olympics in July and early August. Will the cancellations due to the pandemic ever end? Sadly, they continue. Today’s victim...

It’s not really a surprise. With so much uncertainty about restarting the economy in the midst of the pandemic, the U.S. Equestrian Federation has extended its previous deadline for resuming competitions, training camps, clinics and other...

I’m getting nostalgic for the good old days, like a month ago, when I actually went to a horse show B.P (before pandemic)--as opposed to simply looking at the “virtual” competitions that have blossomed on-line. But a surprise package that came in...

They canceled Britain’s famed Wimbledon, two days after America’s famed Devon Horse Show became a no-go. So while equestrian sport is hardly alone in calling off its competitions in the midst of the pandemic (see Olympics, Final Four, Kentucky...

The International Olympic Committee is changing its tune and setting a four-week deadline to decide whether the Tokyo Games set for this summer should be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Although the IOC had been insisting the Games...

The Live Oak International, named after its signature trees draped with Spanish moss, is a boutique horse show extraordinaire.  Started 30 years ago as a combined  driving competition, it is the only fixture in the U.S. that offers both grand prix...

It's the end of an era. The Garden State Horse Show is heading this spring to the Asbury showgrounds run by Nona Garson and her partner, George D'Ambrosio, as the former Junior Essex Troopers who ran it with devotion for decades step aside from its...

Equestrians too often are viewed as people of privilege—even if they’re struggling to maintain a single horse in a humble backyard barn. But what most of those outside the horse world don’t realize is that many charity efforts not necessarily...

So many former racehorses, both thoroughbred and Standardbred, face an uncertain--and possibly unhappy--fate when they leave the track. Although there are groups geared to finding new jobs and/or new homes for them (the Standardbred Retirement...

The Essex Fox Hounds' Thanksgiving meet at the Ellistan estate in Peapack is as much a holiday tradition as turkey and football for those who return annually to watch the horses and riders gather. It's fun and informal. There are no signs or...

Dianna Babington, the wife of injured show jumper Kevin Babington, is reaching out for more help sorely needed by her husband. He has been in rehab for a critical spinal injury he suffered when his horse fell in competition during a show at the end...

“Riding for the Team,” the new book from the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation, made its formal debut at the Washington International Horse Show over the weekend. There was a real buzz as people lined up on the concourse of the Capital One Arena for...

For a half-century, the Somerset County Park Commission’s Lord Stirling Stable has meant a variety of things to many people. From lessons and trail rides to hunter paces, horse care workshops, educational offerings, pony parties, camp and...

The judges for the weekend’s Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East were serious about the mandate of the competition: a step on the pathway for athletes to represent the country in international competition. So they made...

Great Britain’s Ben Maher may have won the Grand Prix at the Longines Global Champions Tour New York over the weekend, but the real star of the show turned out to be, well, the show itself. It was a jaw-dropper to see how the arena, grandstands,...

Show jumper Kevin Babington has left NYU Langone Health Care to continue his journey of recovery at a rehab center. The move came 26 days after Kevin suffered a life-changing spinal cord injury in a traumatic fall at the Hampton Classic, Earlier...

Desire and dedication are key qualities in Alanna Flax-Clark’s pursuit of para-dressage excellence, but pure determination—along with a super horse--is equally important, as she demonstrated during the Adequan®/USEF Para Dressage CPEDI3* National...

“My life has been special because of what transpired here,” declared Michael Page, as he arrived at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation stables in Gladstone for a celebration with family and friends. A month before his 81st birthday, the Olympic...

The success of Monmouth at the Team is a testament to persistence, vision and risk-taking. Oh yes, and we can't forget the organizers who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty--but more on that later. The last four years have marked an upswing in...

Allyson Jeffery has spent 13 years working on improving The Horse Park of New Jersey as a member of its board of trustees, but now she’s moving on from her role as president a few months before her term ends in October. “It’s been a focus, almost...

Boyd Martin spent a lot of time kicking himself for a cross-country refusal at a boat jump in the water during the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, where the U.S. team failed to qualify for a slot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But he more than made...

The terms “relaxed” and “horse show” would seem contradictory, but they meshed well in this week’s Summer Days dressage competition at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone. Presented by the Eastern States Dressage and Combined Training...

After nearly a quarter-century in Pennsylvania, Kevin Babington has set up shop in New Jersey again. The Irish show jumper is now based at Hayley and Toby Carlson’s Ketcham Farm at Cream Ridge in Monmouth County, where he received a hero’s welcome...

After 30 years as one of New Jersey’s best-known equestrian facilities, Duncraven will be going on the market this month. The 75-acre farmland-protected property in Titusville, Mercer County, is continuing to host horse shows run by Claudine...

The MARS Essex Horse Trials didn’t have the weather on its side in the week leading up to this weekend’s competition, but the sun finally shone big time today, and so did the event at Moorland Farm in Far Hills. The crowd was so large that...

When you mention the name of Major Gen. Jonathan "Jack" Burton anywhere in the equestrian world, it instantly sparks admiration. Now, however, it will bring expressions of sorrow. Word came today that this great horseman died on May 29 in Tucson,...

  After all, Boyd already had done everything he could following a fault-free trip aboard Tsetserleg at the Kentucky Horse Park. He knew he had at least clinched second place on 27.9 penalties total for the three phases of the event. Going...

Oliver Townend started out today where he left off last year--at the top of the leaderboard for the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event. The British rider and Cooley Master Class, the 14-year-old  Irish sport horse he has been riding for the last...

The real excitement will have to wait for Saturday's cross-country test, but the action got under way today at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day event with the first half of the dressage. For many riders (although less than in the past) this is a...

There were two winners of the $100,000 USHJA/WCHR $100,000 Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla. One was Brad Wolf’s Private Practice, ridden by Tori Colvin, who took home the $30,000...

Call it the daily double. Only in Wellington, Fla., could you have a 5-star-rated $210,000 grand prix with 44 entries in the afternoon and a 3-star $134,000 grand prix with the same number (but different horses, or course) a couple of miles away in...

Dressage star Laura Graves continues to hit the heights, with yet another run of success encapsulated over three days in Palm Beach County, Fla. Not only do the judges reward her performances with Verdades, the Dutchbred gelding who was purchased...