Author Archives: Carley Sparks

Two five-star grand prix. Two victories for Israel. Two riders named Dan. We're sensing a pattern here? The show jumping featherweight that is the nation of Israel is dominating the...

Annnd they're coming up the long side.  Canada's Eric Lamaze leads the charge. The American is hot on his heels. McLain Ward makes a move on the inside. He's gaining ground....

If you're like most riders, you've spent hours compiling data on your horse. You've recorded his daily diet and planned for the strategic introduction of supplements. You've pre-mapped his training...

How else do you explain the show jumper's superhuman ability to keep producing results? At a time in life when normal adults fill their days with the spoils of retirement...

At least that's what the World #1 ranked show jumper/beacon of positivity is calling it on Facebook. Olympic silver medalist Kent Farrington (USA) was thrown while competing in the 1.30m...

“The pictures are obscene actually. She will go to a show and win three out of four classes like that.” That was Olympic gold medalist McLain Ward (USA) describing the...

When you're hot, you're hot. And right now Israeli show jumper Daniel Bluman is on tear of ghost pepper proportions. (That is to say, punishingly hot.) The streak started last...

Laura Graves’ new freestyle is almost as amazing as her original one. And she wasn't even trying yet. The 30-year-old and her Rio Olympics partner, Verdades, debuted a new canter...

Few things are more thrilling in sport that a rivalry between athletes. Even a fabricated one. Like the one we're concocting between Olympians Eric Lamaze (CAN) and McLain Ward (USA)...

Up until 2012, Canadian Olympian Jill Henselwood had "an absence of bad luck” in her career.   Named to the national show jumping team in 1991 (less than two years after making her Grand Prix...

Just 24 hours ago, Ireland's Daniel Coyle was convinced that the FEI World Cup Final in Paris was beyond his reach. After today's performance in Florida, his ticket is nearly...

"My guys around me tell me I’m getting too old." That was Ben Maher (GBR) in the press conference after the $35,000 Sovaro Palm Beach Masters Qualifier at the CP...

It's been said: “If you don’t win the first class, you can’t win them all.” If you're McLain Ward, it's not just said. It's also been done. (See: 2017 Longines...

Unrelated aside: my hotel neighbours in Guadalajara, Mexico also got lucky on Sunday night. Four times.  But back to Ben Maher. The Olympic team gold medalist from Great Britain rode...

Most riders aim for a good experience in their first World Cup Grand Prix. Luis Alejandro Plascencia (MEX) went for the win. The 26-year-old rider made his debut in the...

Three and half months off did a body good for Rye Val de Mai. The French stallion, whose name roughly translates to "Whisky May Wave" (in Romanian), won the $6,000 Bainbridge...

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try (eight more times) again. That was the unspoken motto for the blue team going into last night's Battle of the Sexes,...

It's a well known fact among journalists that press conferences are sometimes boring. Maybe nothing terribly exciting happened in the class. Maybe the winner is not the talkative type. Or...

Break out the champagne! U.S. Olympic team silver medalist and aspiring App mogul Lucy Davis has set down roots on the East Coast, which means unlike some exceptional millennials on...

World number three McLain Ward (USA) started the New Year the way he aspires to start every day—winning. The Olympic team gold medalist rode Hija van Strokapelleken to a decisive victory in...