George Morris interview by Jimmy Torano for the North American Riders Group

Are you familiar with the North American Riders Group? Ecogold-rider Mclain Ward is the vice-president and their board is a who's who of today's top riders. The mission of the North American Riders Group is to unite professional riders and trainers to use their collective strength to make show jumping in North America the best in the world.

Here's an interview by Jimmy Torano, NARG Board Member, with George Morris, United States Show Jumping Chef D'Equipe: "Insist on Excellence"

For more information or to join the North American Riders Group, visit http://narg.org

Ecogold-rider McLain Ward on the TODAY Show!

McLain Ward, who rides in ECOGOLD saddle pads, was interviewed on NBC's Today Show, with fellow show jumper Georgina Bloomberg, to talk about the World Equestrian Games. Here are some photos!

TODAY show host Matt Lauer interviews Georgina Bloomberg and McLain Ward

McLain was there to talk about the World Equestrian Games

"So..you guys jump big jumps like this?" "Yep!"

Wohooo!! Let's go for GOLD!!

Sapphire gets her close-up...and her ECOGOLD saddle pad underneath!

World Equestrian Games will be televised on NBC

ECOGOLD rider McLain Ward and Sapphire Win Richest Grand Prix in Show Jumping History

HITS Press Release/ Photos: ESI Photography.

Two-time US Olympic Gold Medalist McLain Ward of Brewster, New York, who rides in ECOGOLD Saddle pads,  and his majestic, "million-dollar" mare, Sapphire, owned by McLain Ward and Blue Chip Bloodstock, won the inaugural Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix on Sunday, September 12 at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, New York.

The legendary duo of Ward and Sapphire proudly added their names to the show jumping history books once more when they bested a field of 43 High-Performance riders before an energetic and enthusiastic crowd of thousands that lined all four berms surrounding the Strongid Stadium. Sunday's line-up featured some of the best and most promising athletes and horses in the sport, including some of America's brightest up-and-coming stars and several American and International Olympians..

Olympic Course Designer Steve Stephens of Palmetto, Florida set a challenging and technical course that was decorated to the hilt by Olympic Course Decorator Flora Baptiston of Brazil.

"The course was brilliant," explained Ward. "Steve [Stephens] has been a great course designer for years, and he was a brilliant rider before that. Today was a great balance of tests."

After a successful week of show jumping, the Strongid Stadium was transformed into a field of dreams, as custom jumps, exclusive to the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix, including a fence from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, set the stage for the biggest event of the year.

Another ECOGOLD rider, Charlie Jayne of Elgin, Illinois and The London Group's Athena led the crowd to a thunderous applause when they captured the first clear effort of the class. The pair finished second in the jump off.

"This was the biggest class I've ever competed in," said Jayne. "I felt the presence of the crowd, and that we were all jumping for the fans today. HITS did a great job of getting an audience to come out for the class."

Jayne and Athena tasted success earlier in the season at HITS-on-the-Hudson when they captured the $125,000 Strongid© C 2X Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health.

The best was saved for last when Ward and Sapphire immaculately took the victory with a faultless round in 44.782 seconds, as the crowd witnessed history-in-the-making for the once-in-a-lifetime pair.

"I owe my career to her [Sapphire]," said Ward, who now nears the four-million dollar mark on his mare. "I watched Charlie go, and I've got to say, standing at the gate, I was nervous. There was a lot of money on the line."

Ward and Sapphire led the way in a victory gallop, joined by the top 20 horse-and-riders of the class as the crowd cheered approvingly of the outcome.

"McLain is the best rider I've ever seen, probably will ever see, so it's an honor to be in second place," exclaimed an ecstatic Jayne. "I'm grateful to be able to compete in a class like this...it was an excellent event today, and I couldn't ask for anything more."

Dressage-news.com reports that Sapphire's Urine and Blood tests from World Cup are Clean

As we suspected, Sapphire's urine and blood tests from the FEI World Cup Finals have been proven negative. Results were made public by the FEI today.

Click to read the entire report from Dressage-News.com.

Please sign our petition to support McLain Ward and the USEF

As one of McLain's sponsors, all of us at ECOGOLD couldn't just sit idle any more watching what has been happening to him. So on the this morning, we started a petition to protest against his disqualification, support McLain and also the USEF and U.S. Equestrian Federation show jumping team veterinarian Tim Ober, DVM, who disagreed completely with the FEI’s decision and assessment. PLEASE GO SIGN IT and share it with your friends!

Click here for the petition

McLain Ward issued this statement on April 17: "Thank you to all who are supporting us in this situation. On a personal level this is devastating, but in the bigger picture we need to use this to right the ship of our sport. The FEI has gone too far in this instance and has clearly shown impropriety. I hope we can all stand as a community and create change for the the best interest of the horse, the sport and the riders. Thank you all."

Later this afternoon, he sent this message: “New statement from McLain Ward - April 18: "Over the past few days I have experienced great emotions over two things. The first being that in modern sport such injustice can take place. The second being the overwhelming support that Sapphire and I have received. It is truly incredible and despite having one of the most difficult weeks of my life I am blown away by how you all have spoken up to support us. Truly incredible. Thank You, McLain"”

On our end, I’ve also have been receiving emails all day long since starting this petition. Some people with questions: does it cost anything? NO! It’s a FREE petition. We’re not asking for donations, we’re asking you to stand up and be counted. If you want the FEI to hear us in the equestrian community loud and clear, sign it. A Facebook group has also been created, which is great to show McLain your support, but a petition is an official form of protest to a governing body, the FEI in this case. It is the only recourse we (i.e. the regular folks) have and it helps the USEF in their appeal.

We’ve also received a lot of positive feedback, bravos and well done. Thank you. It is much appreciated. From riders, people who personally know McLain, people that don’t know him at all but admire him. A message that stands out is from a mother of a very promising young rider: “one incident like this might demolish her chances for sponsorship for an international career. So much money in lost time and prize money and crushed dreams.” Yep! This affects riders, sponsors, breeders, owners – pretty much anyone in the US equestrian community. Got a couple of negative ones too but we weren’t bothered by them. Can’t please everybody.

Some companies might be scared of controversy and prefer to not ruffle feathers, but we like to stand up for what’s right and for the people that support us: our sponsored riders, clients, employees and suppliers. I guess we have hypersensitivity of the heart.

Ecogold rider McLain Ward and Sapphire Repeat Huge Victory In $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix, CSI 5* at 2010 FTI WEF

Jennifer Wood/WEF Press Release/photos: Randi Muster/Mustphoto Inc.
Wellington, FL - March 27, 2010 - Tonight's $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix, CSI 5* drew the largest crowd in the history of equestrian sport in Wellington. More than 9,000 spectators came to see who would win one of the biggest show jumping purses in North America. Sapphire, ridden by McLain Ward (USA) and owned by Ward and Blue Chip Bloodstock, came home with the win and repeated their victory from last year over Laura Kraut (USA) and Cedric, owned by Happy Hill Farm, and Todd Minikus (USA) with his own Pavarotti.

The class was also the final qualifier for the $100,000 FTI Rider Challenge, where the top four riders of the circuit were awarded with bonus checks. The top four riders were Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA), who earned $50,000, Pablo Barrios (VEN) who received $25,000, McLain Ward, who took home $15,000, and Laura Kraut, who received $10,000.

The eleventh week of the FTI WEF is sponsored by FTI and concludes on Sunday, March 28. The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of competition that conclude on April 4, 2010, and they will be awarding almost $6 million in prize money through the circuit.

Tonight's course designer was Conrad Homfeld of Wellington, FL. He designed a 14 numbered obstacle track for the first round, which had 40 entries. Four riders found the clear path to advance to the timed jump-off.

Kraut said of the course, "Conrad is just one of the most genius course designers. The course was technical and it was big, but the fences were nice. There weren't a lot of gimmicky jumps."

Pessoa added, "Conrad was an unbelievable rider and he's just as good as a course designer. There was a lot of feeling; he knows courses well. The fences are always in the right places. He really did a tremendous job without jumping mountains."

Todd Minikus and Pavarotti

First to go was Minikus on Pavarotti. They flew around the jump-off course to try and set the time to beat. They stopped the timers with no faults in 36.84 seconds, and would finish in third place.

Minikus joked about having to go first, "Life's all about position right? I wasn't in the best position going first. I think ultimately that ended up being an awesome class. My horse was absolutely awesome. I was a little slow to the white gate being careful. That was where I was slow, (but) I've lost a lot of grand prixs going fast."

He added, "I'm personally very proud to be able to sit with Rodrigo, McLain and Laura. That's a pretty good list of show jumping riders right there."

Kraut and Cedric were next in, and they were very fast across the middle of the ring from the orange oxer to the upright gate vertical, to the double combination. They came just under Minikus' time with no faults in 36.02 seconds. Their time would hold up for second place in tonight's class.

Ward and Sapphire, last year's winner of the FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix were next. They sped around the course and were very fast turning back to FTI oxer and down the final line. They came home in 34.89 seconds, which would set the winning time.

McLain Ward and Sapphire

"I went tonight with Rodrigo coming behind me and thought I wasn't going to leave any room. I saw Rodrigo land on the same time as me at the double, and he's got a quick horse, but it went our way. I tried to lay it down, and I think it's the fastest that I've ever gone with her," Ward revealed. "It was a great jump-off course for my horse because there were a lot of places to leave out strides."

The last to contend were Pessoa and Let's Fly, owned by Double H Farm. Pessoa went quickly and would have finished second with a time of 35.97 seconds, but four faults at the FTI oxer left them in fourth place.

"I knew exactly what was coming my way. On a night like this, you know they're not going to make mistakes," Pessoa said. "You have to be on your best to beat them. You just have to give it a try. My horse jumped really, really well. My mistake in the jump-off was when I turned out of the double, I was on a good time, and I couldn't get square to the oxer. That made it a little bit wider and he hit the back pole. But he tried really hard."

For Ward, today's win just shows once more the incredible talent of Sapphire and her amazing consistency. "It's a nice way to finish the circuit, and I think she's rounding into good form for the FEI World Cup Finals. I'm so lucky to have this horse and the people around me. She just keeps giving and giving and giving," he expressed.

Ward finished third in the FTI Rider Challenge and said of FTI's sponsorship at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, "It's a great incentive, and it shows consistency over the circuit. What FTI does for the sport is phenomenal, and we can't thank them enough."

McLain Ward rides in Ecogold saddle pads:

“I feel Ecogold pads are the best on the market to allow close contact while providing comfort and protection to my horses back, ensuring their best possible performance.”


Click here to view: McLain Ward's profile in our Hall of Champions with videos!

A great Royal Winter Fair

It was our first time with a trade stand at the Royal Winter Fair and we had a blast! It was 11 days working very loooong hours but we saw lots of friends, had Meet & Greets with ECOGOLD riders and were also able to sneak out to catch a bit of the action.
Enjoy our pictures and videos!

Autograph session with double Olympic Gold Medalist McLain Ward.
Canada's Dressage Stars meet fans at the ECOGOLD stand after the Grand Prix

Here are some video highlights!
Team Challenge - McLain and Charlie Jayne jump clear, riding in ECOGOLD pads, and help USA win the Team Challenge! Here's McLain and Phillipa's ride.

Grand Prix Freestyle: Ashley Holzer wins, Denielle Gallagher 3rd, Jacquie Brooks and Cheryl Meisner finish 4th, all riding in ECOGOLD pads:
Ashley Holzer's ride

Denielle Gallagher and Abrikos

Cheryl Meisner and Paganini

Jackie Brooks and Balmoral

and here's some fun and silly stuff!
the Canine/Equine Challenge winner

Pas de Deux: "Dressage meets Cowboy" with Gillian Sutherland riding in ECOGOLD pads

Indoor eventing - Diana Burnett

Indoor eventing - Jessica Phoenix

McLain Ward & Sapphire win the $1,000,000 Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows!

McLain & Sapphire, who ride in ECOGOLD's Forward Flap Hunter pad, showed they were the best of the best at Spruce Meadows, winning the $1,000,000 CN International Grand Prix, by 0.2 seconds in the jump-off. Wow!!!

WOW! Amazing results for McLain Ward & Ashley Holzer at the World Cup in Las Vegas!

Success for McLain Ward & Sapphire, who ride in ECOGOLD's Forward Flap Hunter pads, finishing 2nd in the Showjumping World Cup Finals and Ashley Holzer & Pop Art, riding in ECOGOLD's Frictionless Dressage saddle pads, get their highest score in history - 79.20 for a 5th place finish. Congratulations!!! - April 18, 2009