PARIS, France--World number one Kent Farrington won the award for the FEI World’s Best Jumping Rider, and the US Olympic mare HH Azur was declared the FEI World’s Best Jumping Horse at a special presentation in the Paris City Hall on April 11.

McLain Ward on HH Azur at the Winter Equestrian Festival in February (Photo by Sportfot)The USA's Olympic team silver medalist Kent Farrington took over the number one slot in the World Rankings in May of 2017 and refused to allow anyone to break his winning streak, remaining at the top of the elite list for the rest of the year.

The 37-year-old, who is well on the road to recovery after breaking his right leg in a fall in mid-February, received the award for the FEI World’s Best Jumping Rider after finishing the year on 3,313 points, holding off those snapping at his heels, Harrie Smolders (NED) on 2,953 points and fellow US Olympian McLain Ward on 2,903.

The 12-year-old HH Azur, who Ward rode to victory at last year’s FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Omaha, added another major accolade to her collection when being named the Longines FEI World’s Best Jumping Horse.

 

AFFECTIONATELY known as “Annie”, the Olympic mare is owned by Double H Farms and Francois Mathy, who collected the award at tonight’s presentation accompanied by his wife Claudia Mathy and McLain Ward.

Farrington and HH Azur’s co-owner François Mathy were each presented with an elegant Longines watch from the Longines Saint-Imier Collection as well as a replica trophy of the magnificent crystal winged hourglass representing the brand’s emblem at the inaugural ceremony in Paris.

 

ON APRIL 27, the United States Equestrian Federation named 10 show jumpers to the Short List for the Show Jumping Team for the FEI World Equestrian Games to be held this fall in Tryon

Those named to the Short List will compete at two of the following U.S. Show Jumping Team observation events: the FEI Jumping Nations Cup in Poland, June 14 – 17; The Netherlands, June 21 – 24; CSIO5* Aachen, Germany, July 17 – 22; and Ireland, August 8 – 12.

The following 10 athletes have been named to the Short List (in alphabetical order): Jamie Barge of Malibu, Calif., Margie Engle of Wellington, Fla., Kent Farrington of Wellington, Lauren Hough of Wellington, Laura Kraut of Wellington, Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, N.Y., Devin Ryan of Long Valley, N.J., Jessica Springsteen of Colts Neck, N.J., Adrienne Sternlicht of Greenwich, Conn., and McLain Ward of Brewster, N.Y.

 

ON MAY 1, the U.S. Equestrian Federation named the Short List for the dressage team for theWEG.

The Short List will compete in designated Observation Events throughout the summer.

The following horse and rider combinations have been named to the Short List (in alphabetical order): Shelly Francis of Loxahatchee, Fla., with Patricia Stempel’s 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding Danilo; Laura Graves of Geneva, Fla., with her and Curt Maes’s 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Verdades; Ashley Holzer of New York, N.Y., with Diane Fellows’s 11-year-old Hanoverian mare Havanna 145; Olivia LaGoy-Weltz of Haymarket, Va., with her and Mary Anne McPhail’s 14-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding Lonoir; Adrienne Lyle of Ketchum, Idaho with Betsy Juliano’s 11-year-old Hanoverian stallion Salvino; Kasey Perry-Glass of Wellington, Fla., with Diane Perry’s 15-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding Goerklintgaards Dublet; Steffen Peters of San Diego, Calif., with Four Winds Farm’s 11-year-old Rheinlander mare Rosamunde and Four Winds Farm’s 10-year-old KWPN gelding Suppenkasper; and Sabine Schut-Kery of Thousand Oaks, Calif., with Alice Womble’s 12-year-old Hanoverian stallion Sanceo.

These combinations will be required to compete in a minimum of two Observation Events.