Author Archives: Carley Sparks

He was there to pick you up after all those long, sweaty, summer days at the barn. He stared on with bemused bewilderment as you waxed poetic on the subtle...

Zika, severe water pollution, political crisis and rising security concerns—just when the Rio Games could use a little positive press comes another blow: The city needs more money. Brazil's Interm Governor...

Technically, this is a press release. But it comes in Q&A form so that makes it alright to publish. Or not. Either way, that's the way this Friday is rolling......

Months of preparation, competition, and nail-biting has come to an end! The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) named the four athlete-and-horse combinations that will compete for the U.S. Paralympic Equestrian Team...

Remember Rosco, the Salt River Wild Horse foal that was abandoned by his herd? Well, the Internet's favorite orphan is doing just fine, folks. Just fine indeed. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9gRgouAikw...

A wolverine is a small, ferocious mammal with strength out of proportion to its size. Legend has it, these solitary scavengers would break into abandoned trapper’s cabins on the Hudson’s Bay,...

Famous riders telling mortifying stories. WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?! This week, Australian eventer Ryan Wood takes the hot seat. The 33-year old won both three-star divisions at the Jaguar Land...

What do Cesar Milan, barrel racing, and Hannibal Lector have to do with show jumping? They all played a hand in training Cristallo, the famed mount of Richard Spooner (USA). For...

Eric Lamaze has pegged the 13-year-old Hanoverian mare Fine Lady 5 as his leading hope for the Rio de Janeiro Games this summer. Just don’t expect to see them in...

Four months ago, Daniel Coyle was a professional show jumper in Ireland without any horses or owners. Last week, in Langley, British Columbia, he made his senior Nations Cup team...

Georgina Bloomberg is a lot of things. She's a Pan American show jumping team bronze medalist. She's heir to the Bloomberg publishing fortune. She's a staunch defender of downtrodden dogs...

It's all happening! Check out the CSIO4* show jumping action in the not-$130k $129,500 Nations Week Final Grand Prix LIVE at Thunderbird Show Park.

Nestled between mountains of old forest trees and the Pacific ocean, on the outskirts of Langley, BC, Thunderbird Show Park is the stuff postcard pictures are made of. This year,...

Move over Simon Delestre. American Olympic champion McLain Ward has shot to the top of the Longines World Rankings. A staple in the world top 10, Ward jumped four spots...

Five 5* classes. Zero rails. Four victories. And a suitcase full of prize money. When in Rome, McLain Ward is a show jumping gladiator. Here's a recap of his stellar streak...

You thought you sent your cleverest #fangirl tweet out into the Twittersphere, never to be seen again. You hoped it would earn a few laughs, maybe even a coveted re-tweet...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlx9EC5g2D8 Last month, a video of a young girl galloping around a 1.35m Grand Prix CSI 1* on what appears to be a dinosaur was making the rounds on Facebook. She...

What's horse with a dream to do? [fb-video src='https://www.facebook.com/BillytotheOlympics/videos/2021842978040065/'] Why, follow it, of course. [fb-video src='https://www.facebook.com/BillytotheOlympics/videos/2025602367664126/'] Will Billy find his calling? Is the horse with a lightening bolt shaped blaze...

The road to the Rio de Janerio Games has come to a dead end for Japan's Hiroshi Hoketsu. The 75-year-old was one of 11 Japanese riders making a bid for the...

Two-time Olympic team gold medalist McLain Ward on how show jumping has shaped his life and his identity, as told to Carley Sparks.    Show jumping was in my breeding,...