Abundance of Talent at FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships 2012 by Louise Parkes Area V won Junior Team Eventing at the FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships 2012 at The Kentucky Horse Park at the weekend – Taylor Wood, Brindley House, Victoria New and Alyssa Phillips. (Photo by FEI/StockImageServices) With the opening of the Olympic Games in London just around the corner, some of the next generation of potential Olympians were displaying their talent at the FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships 2012 at The Horse Park in Kentucky (USA) over the last week. Open to riders between 14 and 21 years, the busy annual event embraces the three Olympic disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing along with the FEI World Equestrian Games™ disciplines of Reining and Endurance.

Lexington, KY – July 23, 2012 – Eighteen-year-old Abigail McArdle of Barrington, IL, proved to be unstoppable during the 2012 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC). With her talented mount Cosma 20, the pair laid down five clear rounds in three days to capture the Individual Junior Show Jumping Gold Medal at the prestigious event

East Dorset, Vermont – The next generation of grand prix horses took center stage during the first three weeks of the 2012 Vermont Summer Festival horse show, running July 4 through August 12 at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, VT. Caitlyn Shiels and S&L Downtown finished first in the Six, Seven and Eight-Year-Old Young Jumper class during the opening week of the Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT. (Photo by David Mullinix Photography) Five-Year-Old, Six-Year-Old and Seven and Eight-Year-Old horses competed head-to-head against horses the same age in the grand prix ring each Thursday for the first half of the Vermont Summer Festival

DOUBLE GOLD FOR GERMANY, GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AT FABULOUS FONTAINEBLEAU – Netherlands takes Individual Dressage Title by Louise Parkes On the medal podium at the FEI European Pony Championships 2012 in Fontainebleau (FRA) – (left to right) Individual Eventing silver medallist Britain’s Louisa Nesbitt, and Ireland’s gold and bronze medallists Cathal Daniels and Ana O’Brien. Germany took Dressage Team and Freestyle gold, the British once again dominated in Jumping and the Irish recorded their first-ever team success while also claiming two of the three individual medals in Eventing at the FEI European Pony Championship 2012 in Fontainebleau, France

East Dorset, Vermont – Cory Hardy of Littleton, MA, jumped to victory in the $5,000 NEHJA Hunter Derby on Thursday, July 19, at the 2012 Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT. Cory Hardy and Connor won the $5,000 NEHJA Hunter Derby on Thursday, July 19, during week three of the Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT. (Photo by David Mullinix Photography) Hardy was one of 22 horse/rider combinations to contest the derby track designed by Billy Glass, which spanned two competition rings and featured many creative natural obstacles

Washington, D.C. – July 19, 2012 – The Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) is pleased to announce the return of the Fidelity Investments® Club, a VIP dining platform in Verizon Center that gives spectators a spectacular vantage point to watch the top horses and riders in the country. The Washington International Horse Show, now in its 54th year, will be held October 23-28, 2012, at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

East Dorset, Vermont – Ken Berkley of Flemington, NJ, captured victory in the $10,000 Vermont Bird Place & Sky Watch Open Welcome Stake, Presented by Manchester Designer Outlets, on Thursday, July 19, at the Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT. The six-week equestrian competition is running at Harold Beebe Farm from July 4 through August 12, 2012.