Mollie Bailey

Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 17

For Scott Stewart, winning the Classic Round of the USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals feels a bit like a double-edged sword. Sure, he’s glad that Dedication topped the class with marks that stretched up to 93 and only dipped as low as 91, but doing quite this well only makes tomorrow night’s Handy Round tougher.

Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 16

The Classic Round for the 2012 USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals will kick off at 8 a.m. Friday, Aug. 16. Several late scratches, including Katie Lambert-Boone’s rides Shade and Celebrate, bring the total to 81 entries. Judges Patrick Rodes and Geoff Teall accepted all the entries.

Steve Stephens has built a gorgeous track in the Sheila C. Johnson arena, hauling in a few dozen trees and several stagecoaches. It’s his first year building for Derby Finals.

Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 12

It’s Lucy Deslauriers’ last year at USEF Pony Finals, so she made it count. She outrode 188 other entries to top this year’s Equisport Insurance/USEF Pony Medal Final at USEF Pony Finals.

Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 11

Maddie Darst found the perfect way to wrap up her USEF Pony Finals career: winning the large pony hunter title on Betsee Parker’s For The Laughter.

This marks the fourth year in a row that For The Laughter earned the championship, and the second time that Darst has had the ride.

Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 10

Maddie Schaefer has been a Pony Finals regular for as long as she can remember. Even though she’s only 11, this marked her fifth year competing at the event. This year, found the perfect way to commemorate the occasion: by winning the medium pony hunter championship aboard Hi Lite. Model winner Rafael, shown by Lili Hymowitz, earned the reserve title.

Schaefer rode Hi Lite to the top of the over fences class today to beat out 104 other ponies and earn the championship.

Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 9

Someone else might have thought that Yasmin Rizvi drew the short end of the straw. Her mother, P.J. Rizvi, and sisters, Zayna and Farah Rizvi, travelled to London to watch P.J.’s dressage horse, Breaking Dawn, compete in the Olympic Games with Canadian Ashley Holtzer. But Yasmin made the most of staying stateside, riding Roxbury to the medium pony hunter championship at USEF Pony Finals.

Parker, Colo., July 21

Coming back in the jump off for the $50,000 Parker Adventist Grand Prix at Summer in the Rockies VI, Kristen VanderVeen wasn’t sure she’d be the one leading the victory gallop. She and Bull Run’s Zino Platinum had conquered Peter Holmes’ first round—but so had nine other competitors.

Parker, Colo., July 17

When Kelley Farmer comes to a hunter derby, she shows up ready to compete. Her horses are fit and well schooled, and she always has her game face on. But at the $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at Summer In The Rockies VI, things didn’t look that way at the start of the class.

The Chronicle of the Horse is celebrating its 75th birthday in 2012. For seven weeks we’ll bring you a decade-by-decade look at the history that has filled its pages since 1937.

In a July 29, 1988, commentary, editor John Strassburger took stock of the last eight years in horse sport, marveling at the expansion at the top levels of the sport:

The Chronicle of the Horse is celebrating its 75th birthday in 2012. For seven weeks we’ll bring you a decade-by-decade look at the history that has filled its pages since 1937.

Plenty of major changes swept through the equestrian community during the 1970s. In international competition, the U.S. Equestrian Team was a major international force, with show jumping, dressage and eventing squads sweeping the 1975 Pan American Games (Mexico City) gold medals, and all three teams earning medals over the course of the Olympic Games in Munich (1972) and Montreal (1976).