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MD-Bred Vianne Breaks World Record at FEI World Para Dressage Grand Prix Champs

Dressage

Yesterday, Thursday April 20th, Kate Shoemaker and Vianne, her 10-year old Hanoverian mare born at Hilltop Farm in Colora, won individual gold in the FEI Para Grand Prix Test A – Grade IV at the 2026 FEI Para Dressage World Championships in Aachen, Germany. In so doing, the pair scored 78.889% to break the Grand Prix Test A world record. Vianne is by Vitalis out of Raureif (Ramiro’s Bube). Shoemaker, who is based in Wellington, Florida, is a Grade IV athlete with partial paralysis of her right leg as a result of Periventricular leukomalacia, a brain injury that occurred at birth. This is the second time that she and Vianne have broken a world record. They broke the record for the Grand Prix Test B in April 2026, also at Aachen. This is not a new partnership for the pair. They made their international debut with several victories above 70% ...
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Ryan Keefe and Point Nemo Win “Highest Earner” at the Real Rider Cup

Eventing, Racing, Show Jumping

Brown horse jumping a large show jumping fence
Ryan Keefe, born and raised in Sandy Spring, and Maryland-bred Thoroughbred Point Nemo, won Highest Earner at the The Real Rider Cup on July 11 at Mereworth Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. The pair finished second out of 33 entries. Point Nemo was bred by Dr. & Mrs. A. Leonard Pineau and is by Songandaprayer out of Wood Knot (Kissin Kris). He was trained at the track by Ryan’s father Tim Keefe. Tim Keefe is a past President of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association, and as we reported last year, he has been on the Board of The Maryland Jockey Club since 2025. Point Nemo has had post-racing career as an international eventer at the international levels. His international debut was with Ryan Keefe in the CCI2*–S at the Maryland International at Loch Moy Farm in July 2020. Ryan’s younger sister Carlin Keefe moved him up to the CCI3* level in ...
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Rising Equestrian Saskia Paul Named Horse Sport Maryland Trainer

HSM Trainer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Rising Equestrian Saskia Paul Named Horse Sport Maryland Trainer for Her Commitment to Animal Welfare and Continuing Education WOODBINE, MD — July 3, 2026 — Horse Sport Maryland (HSM) is pleased to announce that it has named up-and-coming professional Saskia Paul as a Horse Sport Maryland Trainer. The Horse Sport Maryland Trainer program recognizes those emerging professionals who prioritize humane, evidence-based training methods and ongoing professional development. Paul has rapidly distinguished herself for developing young horses quietly and patiently and for her focus on equine biomechanics and the emotional well-being of the horse. “Saskia Paul represents the very best of the next generation of professionals in our industry,” said HSM Founder Kim Egan. “She is just the sort of young professional that the Maryland horse industy should be proud of. We would all benefit from more students of the sport like Saskia.” Saskia Paul grew up in ...
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Power & Patrick Power Through the Rain at the CCI2* YRC

Eventing, Young Riders

On Sunday, June 28, James Power (Mt. Airy) and Brambleridge Ponder the Truth (Patrick) powered through the rain to a top-ten finish in a field 19 in the CCI2*-S Young Rider Championship at Loch Moy Farm. The pair had one of only 4 double clears on course designer Andrew Heffernan’s (NED) 2* track but picked up eight penalty points in stadium for a final score of 45.3 Power and Patrick skipping between the rain drops at the final jog on Sunday morning. PC Erin Gilmore Photography Power and Patrick competed as part of the Area II team (which is comprised of the mid-Atlantic states plus North Carolina), which team took home the silver medal. They beat out a combined team from Areas I (New England & NY) and VI (California & Hawaii), which took the bronze. Power with a few of his Young Rider colleagues. From left to right: Sam ...
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Mt. Airy’s James Power to Contest CCI2* Young Rider Championship

Eventing

This coming weekend, June 26-29, US Equestrian’s Eventing Young Rider Championships (YRC) will take place at Loch Moy Farm in Adamstown. James Power of Mt. Airy and his 10-year-old Connemara/Thoroughbred gelding Brambleridge Ponder the Truth (“Patrick”) will represent Maryland in the CCI2*-S at this prestigious event. US Equestrian’s Young Rider program is the pipeline that develops the next generation of elite equestrian athletes in the United States. It focuses on high-performance talent development only. Riders from across the county will compete in three international-level divisions — the CCI3*, the CCI2*, and the CCI-1*. Power and Patrick have been together since 2021 when they entered the Beginner Novice division at the Full Moon Farm H.T. in November. They moved up to Novice at the Olney H.T. in 2022 and a year later they moved up again, to the Training level at the April 2023 competition at Morven Park in Virginia. Power ...
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FEI Eventer Alexa Hellenthal Named Inaugural HSM Trainer

HSM Trainer, News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Alexa Hellenthal Named Inaugural HSM Trainer; Recognized for Commitment to High Standards of Professional Conduct in Equestrian Sport Woodbine, MD — June 5, 2026 — Horse Sport Maryland (HSM) is thrilled to announce that it has selected Alexa Hellenthal to be its first “HSM Trainer.” This designation formally recognizes Hellenthal’s commitment to the highest standards of professional conduct in sport as well as her dedication to the ethical treatment of performance horses. Hellenthal is an FEI-level eventer who owns and manages Hellenthal Equestrian out of Belafiore Farm in Mt. Airy. She grew up on a horse farm in western Howard County and has been caring for, riding, and training horses for over 28 years. Hellenthal specializes in eventing, dressage, and fox hunting. She also starts young horses and re-starts horses coming in from other disciplines. She has developed top-tier event horses and reliable foxhunters from the ground ...
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CCI4* Event Horse Charmed Victory’s Breeder Joins Maryland Jockey Club Board

Eventing, Racing

On Friday, May 9, the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA) named Lisa Hostetter of Olney to the Maryland Jockey Club’s Board of Directors. Hostetter co-owns Northview Stallion Station and Sycamore Hall Farms, both in Chesapeake City. Northview began operations on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1989 and since then, its stallions have won Maryland Stallion of the Year for 28 consecutive years; Not for Love for 10 years and Great Notion every year since 2016. For us, however, Northview’s best known horse is the international eventer Charmed Victory, a 2013 gelding by Flatter out of Sycamore Hall’s American Victory (Victory Gallop (CAN)). Charmed Victory has contested 22 international competitions since 2020 and has finished in the top ten in four of them — two CCI3*s and two CCI4*s. His international career begin in 2020 with Pennsylvania-based Kaelen Speck. The pair completed 13 international completions together over the next ...
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Timothy Keefe, Thoroughbred Trainer & Sport Horse Breeder, Named to the New Maryland Jockey Club

Eventing, Racing

Timothy L. Keefe, Thoroughbred trainer and breeder, past President of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, and Board Member of the new Maryland Jockey Club. Photo source: Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association The Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority announced today that Thoroughbred trainer and breeder Tim Keefe of Sandy Spring was named to the new Maryland Jockey Club’s Board of Directors. Keefe has been a fixture — a well-regarded one at that — in the Maryland racing scene for decades. Less well-known, however, is his role in breeding and training Thoroughbreds that then go on to successful second careers as show jumpers and upper level event horses. Here are a few of Keefe’s Thoroughbreds that are competing this season. Act Lively: Bred in Maryland and trained by Keefe, this 2020 gelding is by Astern out of Kiss the Prince (Any Given Saturday). He last raced in May 2024 and started his eventing ...
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The Iron Bridge Hounds Pony Club Wins the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League Championship

Eventing

In its debut appearance, Maryland’s own Iron Bridge Hounds Pony Club (IBHPC) went to the US Eventing Association’s Interscholastic Eventing Championship this past weekend (May 2 – May 4) and posted an impressive and resounding win. According to USEA, IBHPC won by more than 16 points, which was a sufficiently large margin that they knew they had won before their last rider left the cross country start box. The IBHPC is based in Sandy Spring. We are not surprised that a Maryland team won the championship becuase Maryland is the epicenter of US eventing. There are more international level eventing competitions in Maryland than anywhere else in North America. And there are more national competitions licensed by the US Equestrian Federation in Maryland (20 events) than any other state except California (21), which is, of course, much larger than Maryland. We have 50 licensed eventing barns and 31 pony clubs ...
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Winners Roundup: January 2025

Results

The US Equestrian competition results for January are in (mostly), which means it is time to celebrate the first Maryland-bred winners of 2025. Maryland produced 10 winners in USEF-sanctioned events in January across four different disciplines — one Grand Prix Dressage winner, two Show Jumping winners, one Event horse winner, and five Hunter winners. The January winners show the diversity of Maryland’s breeding industry. Four of the winning Maryland-breds are Welsh pony types, three are off-the-track Thoroughbreds, one is an Oldenburg, one is a Hanoverian, and one is a Zangersheide. Dressage Vianne, is a 2016 Hanoverian mare bred by Catherine Haddad, foaled at Hilltop Farm in Colora, whose greatest accomplishment to date is winning Bronze in Para Dressage at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. She started her 2025 seasaon by winning two Para Grand Prix classes in Wellington, Florida — the CPEDI3* FEI Para Grand Prix class at the January ...
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