A big shout-out this week to Laine Ashker, who now splits her time between eventing and dressage. Laine recently got her first big shot in the dressage world with a coveted invitation to the US Equestrian Open of Dressage Final in Thermal, CA next month. She’ll take her longtime partner, Ann Wilson’s Zeppelin, west for the competition, which will take place as a part of Desert Dressage II November 13-16.
U.S. Weekend Events
The Eventing Championships at Galway Downs (CA): [Website] [Entries/Times] [Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Maps] [Volunteer] [Live Stream]
Virginia Horse Center Eventing Fall (VA): [Website] [Entries/Times] [Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Maps] [Volunteer]
Texas Rose Horse Park H.T. (TX): [Website] [Entries/Times] [Scores] [CrossCountry App XC Maps]
News & Reading
Area VI has a special treasure in this month’s USEA VIP Volunteer, Suzy Edwards, who’s been helping out at events in California (and even headed up the warm-up as a ring steward at AEC this summer) to help her daughter as she grew her own eventing career for over a decade. She’s made friends from all over the country through her friendly chit-chat and organization in the warm-up, and now she’s found a community for life. You can read more on Suzy and find some inspiration to get out and volunteer yourself here.
Tom McEwen’s Tokyo Olympic horse, Toledo de Kerser, has been out and about enjoying himself after rehabbing from an injury at Burghley two years ago. Most recently, Tom and Toledo were seen out show jumping, coming on the back of their visit to Burghley in September for a dressage demo. As he’s 18 this year, Toledo’s living his best life and Tom is happy to let him seek out his fun. You can read more of an update on this fan-favorite pair here.
Lucienne Bellissimo and Dyri are back on a roll after spending this second part of the season rebuilding confidence. Dyri stepped back up to the CCI4*-S level last weekend at Bouckaert International in Georgia, winning the first qualifier of the 2026 US Equestrian Open of Eventing. By the way: this marks five FEI wins in a row for Dyri, who’s clearly responding well to Lucienne’s horse-first call to step back instead of keep pushing. You can read more on this big finish at Bouckaert and the US Open implications here.
Sponsor Corner
If you’re competing at Virginia Horse Center this weekend, don’t miss out on a Friday full of fun! This Friday, the festivities will kick off with a reception with warm cider, snacks and drinks during show jumping (3-5 p.m.) at the Stave Mill Pavillon, sponsored by Taylor Harris Insurance Services. Straight out of that, we’ll shift into a Dog Costume Contest, sponsored by Brant Gamma Photography and Dover Saddlery (which, honestly, might be what we’re looking forward to the most). From there, anyone who’d like to can go and trick or treat in the barns, supported by Blue Ridge Equine.
Adding to the fun, Triple Crown, Blue Ridge Equine and VTO Saddlery, will host a Competitor and Volunteer Dinner at 6 p.m. There’s plenty of fun for everyone! And if you have some spare time, or know someone who does, volunteers are still much appreciated — you can see open positions and sign up here.
Video Break
Enjoy Tom McEwen and Toledo de Kerser’s fun out in the show jumping ring!
