Lindsay Berreth

Lamplight Equestrian Center, located in Wayne, Ill., has been sold to Nina Koloseike Moore, an amateur hunter/jumper rider from Batavia, Ill.

Following the success of multiple Thoroughbred-only horse shows in the Mid-Atlantic last year, several off-track Thoroughbred advocates have announced the creation of the Thoroughbred Alliance Show Series, to premiere this year.

The series will consist of Thoroughbred-only shows in the Mid-Atlantic, culminating in a year-end awards banquet for horses and riders who accumulate points throughout the series. The banquet will be held at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md., in January 2014. Registration for the series is free.

Denis Glaccum, organizer of the popular Plantation Field Horse Trials in Unionville, Pa., is recovering at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia after undergoing a seven-hour heart surgery on Jan. 3.

Glaccum, 71, underwent the scheduled operation to repair an aortic aneurysm. “The heart operation was a huge success. He had the best doctor in the area performing the surgery. He’s receiving the absolute best of care. Everybody that knows Denis knows that he’s a fighter,” said his wife, Bambi.

Olympic show jumper Reed Kessler has acquired two new horses to add to her grand prix string.

Soraya De L’Obstination (Kashmir Van Schuttersho—Oilily, Skippy-II), a 10-year-old Belgian Sporthorse mare, was previously ridden by José Thiry of Belgium at the CSI** and CSI*** level. The chestnut mare, bought by the Kessler family, will arrive in the United States on Jan. 7.

Kessler’s trainers, Katie and Henri Prudent, helped her find “Soraya” while she was competing in Geneva last December.

Guenter Seidel, a three-time Olympic Games medalist in dressage, has secured the ride on a new Grand Prix horse, Coral Reef Wylea. Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer, owner of Coral Reef Ranch in Rancho Sante Fe, Calif., bought the 13-year-old Westphalian mare (Weinberg—Si Jolie, Saluut) for Seidel to compete.

Imagine that when interviewing for a new job, you’re handed the reins of a four-star event horse and told simply, “Don’t fall off.”

That was Kelly Prather’s experience when applying to work for famed British eventer William Fox-Pitt. “I had to ride Seacookie [2012 Blenheim CCI*** winner and second in the 2011 Burghley CCI****], who was coming back into work. He was hot and fresh; that was slightly nerve-wracking,” she said.

Karen O’Connor is recovering well following her surgery on Oct. 18 to stabilize a vertebra.

O’Connor sustained a burst fracture of the T4 vertebra and a compression fracture of the T5 vertebra in a fall from Veronica at the Morven Park Horse Trials in Leesburg, Va., on Oct. 6.

The Fédération Equestre Internationale approved new requirements for competing in CCIs and CICs at the 2012 General Assembly, held Nov. 5-8 in Istanbul. All rules will take effect Jan. 1, 2013.

The new qualifications are laid out in a matrix of eligibility and include more requirements than before. For instance, in addition to fulfilling national federation requirements, riders must now achieve a qualifying score at a CIC* in order to enter a CIC**.

Like many professional riders, Erin Sylvester can tell you that it takes one special horse to launch your career, and she’s found just that with No Boundaries. The pair finished 13th at their first four-star at Rolex Kentucky this spring and went on to complete the Land Rover Burghley CCI**** this fall, but it’s been a long road for Sylvester, full of trial and error, heartbreak and determination.

Doug Payne’s four-star mount Running Order has been sold to Mandy Gray for Britain’s William Fox-Pitt to ride. Gray, a U.S. citizen, also owns another of Fox-Pitt’s rides, Before Time.

Payne, 30, got the ride on Running Order (Luso—Ellen Gail) four years ago and brought him through the levels, culminating in an 18th-placed finish at their first four-star at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event this spring. The gelding was owned by Patti Springsteen, and originally bought as a jumper prospect.