There's a host of beautiful grays competing in the upper level jumpers... so we gathered a little collection of photographs from WEF weeks 1 and 2 for your enjoyment. :)

So... enjoy!

Laura Kraut and Azzaro Van't Hagen Hof

Bull Run's La Bamba

Bull Run's La Bamba and Kristen Vanderveen

CC Top and Marilyn Little-Meredith

Swagger and Debbie Stephens

Zilverstar VDL and Candice King

Marlo and Darragh Kenny

Valentia and Laura Chapot

and one more of Valentia and Laura

So it seems that Wellington's gone gray! Bravo to all the grooms who keep these horses sparklingly clean for the show ring - we're sure it's not an easy task!

Posted in Bigeq Show Shots ,

More sights from WEF week one...

Along with the rest of the horse community, we would like to send our best wishes to McLain Ward for a speedy recovery after his recent fall and knee injury. This photo was taken in the $6000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m on 1/13/12, a class he won on Esplanade 7, the day before.

Not sure who this CUTIE is, but he rocked the leadline class. :)

The competition was really fierce in the leadline - going across the boundaries of equestrian disciplines - English vs. Western! We think they're equally adorable. :)

Posted in Bigeq Show Shots , The Pony Zone ,

It's that wonderful time of year again - the winter circuit in Wellington. Here are some sights from this week's competition. :)

British rider Gemma Paternoster

We featured this lovely mare last year, Una Bella with Christopher Shroeder in the 8 year old young jumpers. We weren't going to post another one of her, but this was such a gorgeous trotting picture, we couldn't resist.

"Qrocus Landais" and Isabelle Caccamise in the low junior jumpers.

"Wundine" and Lillie Keenan in the low junior jumpers.

And lastly, Sapphire is back! We hear she received a very warm round of applause from the crowd. :)

Stay tuned, as we're planning to post more blogs and pictures from Wellington than we have in past years. See you ringside!

Posted in Bigeq Show Shots ,

Since we're on the topic of Laura Linback... we realized she not only won the high a/o jumper class, but also won the $15,000 Brook Ledge Mini Prix later on Friday at Culpeper. What was particularly fun about that win, was the exuberance of her mount Uppsala. "Up" is a good word to describe the 10 year-old Dutch warmblood mare by Andiaamo Z- since she got major "air" both over the fences, and all around the course. ;)

no jump in sight, but Uppsala is getting her hops in

one last buck - just after crossing the timers in the winning time!

Hot on Uppsala's heels was second-place finisher - also a feisty mare - Violet, a 12 year-old warmblood mare owned by Stephanie Barnes of Rockville, MD, and ridden by Benjamin Meredith.

Posted in Awesome Amateurs Bigeq , Show Shots ,

Stopped by HITS Culpeper today to watch some jumpers... and saw some great performances on an unseasonably nice (i.e. not unbearably hot) summer day.

One star of the day was Laura Linback, who rode Casino to first place in the high amateur/owner jumper class.

A well deserved pat for Casino, a 2002 Holsteiner gelding by Casco owned by Woodrun, in Mundelein, Illinois. The pair have had a great year so far, winning several classes in Ocala, at Showplace, and now Culpeper.

Second place in the junior/a/o jumper class went to KT Champ, ridden by Hasbrouck Donovan. The 2000 bay gelding is owned by Michael Kirby, of Madison, Connecticut.

What fine form!

Posted in Awesome Amateurs Bigeq , Show Shots ,

It's been a while since Bigeq has explored its "artsy" side... but we know many of our loyal visitors have enjoyed it in the past. So with some of the lovely photos we've gotten from WEF, we made this nice wallpaper- just for you! It features several jumpers, Georgina Bloomberg on Perfect De Coquerie (center), Sapphire (lower right), Whistler and Mario Deslauriers (top right), Premonition and Darragh Kerins (top left), and Warnike and Eric Lamaze (lower left). Right click and select "save" to download, or drag to your desktop.

You can also view the image at:
http://www.bigeq.com/wallpaper.php

Enjoy!

Posted in Bigeq Show Shots ,

Una Bella and Christopher Schroeder easily clear an oxer in a 1.30m jumper class at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL. Una Bella is a Holsteiner mare, by Con Air out of Philine II. She is owned by GK Performance Horses, LLC... and her seventh birthday is March 3! :)

Posted in Bigeq Show Shots ,

We all know who the real stars at horse shows are: the dogs! You can't escape their ever-present cuteness.

Awwww!

Posted in Bigeq Show Shots ,

Ivy and Laura Pfeiffer, Winter Equestrian Festival 2010

We were deeply saddened to hear that the great Ivy has passed away. He was an amazing equitation horse. Watching his expression as he galloped around a course, it seemed as though there wasn't a more cheerful or happy creature to be jumping around a course. It made watching him so enjoyable.

He's a tremendous favorite at Bigeq.com. He shot onto the equitation scene in 1999, when Missy Clark's working student Kristin Mauks spent the season training him. We, of course, started our website the same year. Back then we did a lot of photos and interviews, and Ivy was a frequent photo subject through the years.

Back when Bigeq was just a fledgling little site, Ivy was a precocious five year-old competing at his first equitation finals. As a youngster, Ivy placed in two finals with Mauks. He went on to great success with Vanessa Haas, Charlie Jayne, Haylie Jayne, and Zazou Hoffman. The latter rode him to the ASPCA Maclay title last year, a fitting climax to a long and successful career.

In honor of him, we put together a little slide show and posted it on YouTube. It contains our favorite photos of him, dating back to Devon in 2000. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXX7-CxMXTw

We also had posted a video of him last summer, taken from the early 2000s with Charlie Jayne. Here's that link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBG9IJaW-oc

RIP Ivy!!

Posted in Bigeq Bigeq Classic , Show Shots ,

We're very excited that the 2010 Bigeq.com Equitation Index will shortly be posted. In honor of that, here are two big eq riders, Lucille Oken and Stallone VDL looking sharp in a medal class.

Originally, we thought the second photo was of Olivia Champ, but we're told it's not. Anyone know who this is?

Addendum: we're told it's Leah Chenelle! Thanks for your comments in helping us ID this rider. :)

Lucille Oken and Stallone VDL

Leah Chenelle

Posted in Bigeq Show Shots ,