Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—Sept. 14  

There were emotional scenes at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Deodoro on Wednesday as Austria’s Pepo Puch and Great Britain’s Sophie Wells were crowned the latest winners of the Rio Para-Equestrian dressage competition.

Puch won the grade Ib Individual medal, while Wells took the grade IV Individual title.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—Sept. 13  

The first gold of the Rio Para Equestrian dressage competition was won by Norway’s Ann Cathrin Lübbe at the Olympic Equestrian Center.

In a thrilling and closely contended Grade III individual test Lübbe, riding Donatello, scored 72.87 percent, just a fraction of a percentage point ahead of Denmark’s Susanne Sunesen on Que Faire.

And keeping it a neighbourly affair, Sweden’s Louise Etzner Jakobsson took the bronze at this, her first Paralympic Games, riding Zernard.

Phew! Spring is FINALLY in the air, the iceberg known as the East Coast seems to be thawing, and I am over the moon! I am thrilled so many of you enjoyed getting to know me in my first blog.

The Chronicle's newest blogger is Sydney Collier, a member of the U.S. Para-Dressage Team at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in France, and the recipient of the 2014 Junior Equestrian of the Year Award from the U.S. Equestrian Federation. She and her service dog, Journey, hit the spotlight at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.