On Monday night Nina Ligon was awarded the HSBC Rising Star Award at the FEI Awards ceremony in Rio De Janiero. This award is given each year to a person aged 14 to 21 who demonstrates outstanding sporting talent and commitment. Based in Virginia, dual national Nina rides for the Kingdom of Thailand. At the age of 15, Nina rode on the USA junior team at the FEI North American Juniors and Young Riders Championships. Her successes prompted the Thai National Team to invite her to compete with them at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Pattaya. As the Thai Eventing team’s youngest and first female rider, she won Individual Gold and contributed to Thailand’s Team Gold win. Nina’s fourth place at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou led the Thai team to a Silver medal. She has become an inspiration for young riders in Thailand and her success and hard work are significantly contributing to the Thai Equestrian Federation’s leadership efforts to develop Eventing, nationally and throughout Asia. Leslie Threlkeld Photo
A super day of FEI cross-country at The Event at Rebecca Farm saw two leaders retain their places going into show jumping, while the standings in three divisions got shaken and stirred.
Bribery can get you far, but for young Allison Springer, it led to a lifetime of horse-crazy pursuits at the highest level of the eventing sport. Raised in the outskirts of Chicago in Barrington, Illinois, Allison and her city-grown parents were enjoying their new life in the country when she had the opportunity to ride a neighbor’s pony one day after school—and, as she describes it, “that’s how the disease begins for a little girl.”
FEI dressage wrapped on Friday at The Event at Rebecca Farm leaving most of the standings tight at the top. In fact, there's a tie atop the CCI4*-L between two pairs with many similarities. Karen O'Neal and Clooney 14 and Jennie Brannigan and Pascal share the lead on a 33.8. Both have been bringing these horses along for several years and both horses are debuting at this level.
As a young girl growing up in Connecticut, I had ponies and horses and was an active 4-Her. My family didn’t have a lot of money so my riding was primarily limited to 4-H and small sanctioned hunter shows. I was very fortunate that my parents supported my passion and my father, as a carpenter, built my barn and outdoor arena.