PhelpsSports.com, a new and highly innovative subscription equestrian sports website, offers equestrians and fans of equestrian sports from around the world a single web address for the latest breaking news of the Hunter, Jumper, Dressage, Eventing and other High Performance disciplines. PhelpsSports.com features up-to-the-minute audio reports, live video interviews and unique features from around the globe, photography, and the creative writing and reporting of some of the finest equestrian journalists in the world.

MEET THE PHELPSSPORTS.COM TEAM

Mason Phelps, Jr. - President

Mason Phelps, Jr. has been in the public relations business for most of his life. It is only recently that he formalized his work and launched his own company. Mason brings to his firm a flair for thinking outside the box. He has been featured in many magazines for his equestrian activities as well as his ability to produce events and raise funds for charitable organizations. Mason’s network of people extends from coast-to-coast in the U.S. and also includes Europe, which translates into a network of media outlets nationally and internationally. On every project, he is committed to getting the message out to the world. His dynamic leadership has created the equestrian world’s most dynamic information network.

Claartje van Andel

A doctoral graduate in the Dutch language and literature from Amsterdam Free University, Claartje van Andel has had a life-long passion for horses. During the 80s, alongside her teaching profession, she studied equestrian writing, schooling and public relations. Following the arrival of twins in 1992, she launched her own freelance agency specializing in equestrian sport, and in particular dressage. As well as working for the Dutch Federation and many equestrian magazines, she has authored several books, including ‘Anky’ on Anky van Grunsven (1994) and the educational guide Freestyle to Music – in collaboration with Dutch Olympic judge Jan Peeters and musician Theo van Bruggen – which were both translated into English. Her best known book, The Simplicity of Dressage, together with trainer Johann Hinnemann and Dutch Olympian Coby van Baalen, was published in 2002. Alongside Anne-Lotte Paymans, Claartje now heads DressageDirect.com, aimed at developing dressage knowledge and disseminating results worldwide.

Buffy and Nell

The two most prominent tattle-telling sisters in the history of equestrian gossip columnists dig up the most juicy morsels from around the horse world and report back exclusively to PhelpsSports.com subscribers. If there is a controversy, a topic of the day, a scandal, a debate or a hot potato issue on the equestrian table, Buffy and Nell will sort it all out and will deliver it fresh, in their always popular “tell it like it is” style, only at PhelpsSports.com.

Victor T. Connor

Victor T. Connor is a Branch Manager, Registered Investment Advisor, Certified Senior Advisor (CSA®) and Financial Advisor for Raymond James Financial Services in Wellington, FL. In 2003, Victor opened his own branch, Connor Financial Group, specializing in Retirement Planning and Wealth Advisory Services. CFG specializes in helping individuals and small businesses build, protect and preserve wealth and the management of trust and retirement plans. Graduating from the University of Florida with a BA in Political Science, his financial advisory practice now spans 29 years. In addition to his financial advisory practice, Victor is heavily involved with the horse industry, currently serving as the President of the South Florida Hunter Jumper Association, Vice President of the Palm Beach County Horseman’s Association, Special Projects Committee member for the United States Hunter Jumper Association, as well the Equestrian representative to the Palm Beach County Overall Economic Development Program (OEDP), and competitor in the Adult Hunter division.

Julie Fershtman

From Farmington Hills, MI, Julie Fershtman has been a practicing attorney since 1986 and is no stranger to the equestrian industry. A passionate horsewoman and one of the country’s best-known law practitioners, she has published two books and is also AV rated (highest possible rating) by the Martindale Hubbell Law Directory. Julie’s zones of practice impressively cover a vast range of issues, including insurance, litigation, agricultural law, premises liability, recreational and sporting liability, contract disputes, trials, arbitrations, facilitations, and appeals. Her regular “Law” column will endeavour to educate people to avoid potentially messy legal situations and also address specific issues submitted to us by readers in a Q&A section.

Hans Gerling

Hans Gerling grew up in the horse-saturated community located in northern Baltimore County. Fox Hunting and Pony Club provided an early education with horses. Gradually his focus shifted to eventing, and he competed in his first three-day event at age 15. Hans started training with eventing guru Jimmy Wofford, and won medals at the 1999 and 2002 North American Young Rider Championships. While attending the University of Virginia, Hans trained with Phillip Dutton, Bonnie Mosser, and Stuart Black. Hans has since moved to Middleburg to train with Stuart and campaign his advanced horse.

Fred Glueckstein

Fred Glueckstein is based in Sykesville, Maryland and specializes in writing non-fiction with an eye to the past as well as the present. Putting “equestrian culture” under the microscope, Fred’s column will reveal undiscovered secrets from the world of horses, writers, artists, and celebrities, specifically exploring the long and enduring relationship between people and their four-legged friends. In-depth profiles about remarkable men and women, famous and infamous, idols and unsung heroes, past and present, who publicly or privately share a common thread that won’t escape Fred’s intense curiosity – a lifelong passion for horses.

Bob Goddard

Based in Ravenna MI, Bob Goddard has been a prolific writer of equine humor since the early nineties. He professes to be an expert “par excellence” where squandering the family fortune to support two horse-crazed daughters is concerned. Bob’s mental creativity brings a new and hilariously entertaining focus to seemingly everyday issues, then magnifies them into one glorious package that seamlessly captures the essence and meaning that horses bring to our lives. His “humor” column for PhelpsSports.com will be a real winner.

Amber Heintzberger

Amber Heintzberger has been freelancing for equestrian publications since 1997 and has been published extensively in the industry. An avid event and dressage rider, horses have taken her around the world both writing and riding, enhancing her international perspective of equestrian sport. She currently competes her own horse in the sport of eventing. Amber has also covered horse shows and events across the United States, including a winter in Florida covering the WEF and the rest of the Florida circuit. Originally from California, Amber now resides in the horse country of upstate South Carolina.

Mary Hilton

Mary Hilton has more than 25 years experience as a media specialist. An ardent horse devotee, Mary has focused exclusively on the equestrian industry since 1999 as media director for a major horse show production company, feature article writer for national equestrian magazines, editor of a national equestrian publication, and principal writer for Phelps Media Group, Inc. During her career in the media, Mary has worked in the audio/visual industry as a producer and production manager for corporate communications and in the publishing industry as the editor of five publications. Specializing in dressage and show jumping, Mary’s feature stories, columns, and profiles appear regularly in national and international equestrian publications.

Kathy Hobstetter

Kathy Hobstetter has an enviable list of accomplishments in the equestrian industry, as well as being a first-class writer. Now based out of Costa Mesa, in Orange County, CA, Kathy is a competitor, trainer, instructor and manager. She has been President of the Greater Orange County Horse Show Organization since 2000, as well as Chef d’Equipe and coordinator for the North American Young Riders Championship Zone 8 silver medal winning team. Another of her career highlights was acting as Deputy Sports Director for the USA Olympic Committee’s Show Jumping Festival which took place in Denver, Colorado. For many years Kathy has also been involved with the publishing side of the equestrian industry, working for various hunter-jumper websites as well as producing articles for her own ShowBiz California magazine. Kathy will anchor PhelpsSports.com’s California coverage.

Kitson Jazynka

Kitson's first book for children, Carrot in My Pocket combines the poet's lifelong fascination with "things horsey" and her experience as a professional author and journalist. Kitson grew up around horses, learning to ride at an early age. After graduating from George Mason University with dual BAs in English Writing and Speech Communications, she moved to Washington, DC. Kitson is a regular freelance contributor for equestrian magazines including Dressage Today, Young Rider and Horse Sport as well as American Girl and Dogs for Kids. She has written numerous feature stories and a weekly radio column for The Washington Times. She volunteers for two animal rescue groups in the Washington, DC area, where she lives with her husband, two sons, two dogs, two cats, and two horses … who have been responsible for many missing carrots.

Lynndee Kemmet

Now based in New York, Lynndee Kemmet graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in History from University of Colorado, Boulder. As a professional journalist, the majority of Lynndee’s background has been spent as a daily news reporter, specializing in government and public policy, but through her love for horses she launched her second career as an equestrian journalist by using her weekends and vacation time to cover horse shows. Lynndee’s passion for horses began during childhood and has continued throughout her life. During college she worked as a racehorse groom and exercise rider, and later competed in both show jumping and dressage. Today she focuses mostly on dressage and co-owns a training facility in New York that specializes in dressage and in rehabilitating problem show horses. Her regular column will focus on issues that impact the equestrian industry, such as immigration, open space, zoning laws and state right-to-farm policies.

Jonna Koellhoffer

Jonna Koellhoffer joins the PhelpsSports.com team as a freelance writer and photographer. An avid animal lover, she’s had dogs & cats her whole life and purchased her first horse at the age of 19. She began showing dressage shortly thereafter. It was riding and competing that gave her and business partner, Susan Stickle, the inspiration to found their business, Hoof Prints Photography, Video & Design Services. Jonna competed in dressage and eventing with her Quarter Horse, Bert who, at 28, is living in retirement at a farm in New Jersey.  Videography and web design are her primary functions at Hoof Prints. Jonna has been developing and writing for her clients, as well as her own web sites.

Kenneth Kraus – Executive Director

Ken has been involved in the equestrian industry since 1960 – first as a top junior rider and then as one of the nation's premiere announcers. He has announced at every major horse show in the country including The National Horse Show, the World Cup Finals, Devon, the American Invitational, and the Winter Equestrian Festival. Ken was an on-air personality for four years in the Cleveland, Ohio radio market and also spent a number of years in the rock’n’roll business as road manager for Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Outlaws. The equestrian news website Towerheads was Ken's original creation and the experience there will help Ken lead the PhelpsSports.com team in creating the web’s most exciting equestrian address.

Chrissy Lane

Lane, a native of Buffalo, New York, has been riding since the age of six. Her main focus was on eventing through the preliminary level in areas I and II, training with Carol Kozlowski in the Genesee Valley. Lane also participated in Pony Club, fox hunting and intercollegiate equitation. She graduated from Ohio University in 2006 with a B.S. in journalism and a certificate of major in Spanish. She was the managing editor of The Post, an independent newspaper with a circulation of 15,000, a member of the Ohio University Equestrian Team and a volunteer Spanish teacher in a local elementary school.

Eliza McGraw

Based with her husband and children in Washington, D.C., Eliza McGraw grew up in Tennessee, riding horses from the age of three. Temporarily abandoned in favor of intellectual ambitions, Eliza’s passion was rekindled following graduate school, when her planned career as an English professor was discarded because it didn’t involve horses. Packaging all her accumulated skills Eliza subsequently became known to countless horse fans as the author of ‘Everyday Horsemanship’, published in 2003. Eliza’s ‘Horse and Home’ column for PhelpsSports.com will provide answers blissfully sought by a great many: how to survive with horses and successfully manage a marriage, a home, raise your kids … while avoiding a nervous breakdown.

Randi Muster

Randi Muster Photography/Mustphoto, Inc. has been photographing equestrian events since 1994. Randi (in photo: right) was the first to introduce digital photography to the hunter/jumper venue during the 2000 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). Randi has been the Official Photographer at WEF for the past two years. The summer months bring Randi and her staff to the Northeast to photograph horse shows. Her photos appear in publications throughout the U.S. as well as internationally. She is one of the most creative and hard working photographers in the world today.

Louise Parkes

Dublin-born Louise Parkes worked in administration and public relations with the Irish Horse Board during the 1970's before becoming a freelance photo-journalist in the 1980's. She has concentrated solely on journalism since she was appointed Equestrian Correspondent for Ireland's biggest-selling daily newspaper, The Irish Independent, in 1994 and freelances for many of the world's top publications. Editor of Ireland's Horse & Pony magazine, she is probably best known internationally for her reporting on both the World Cup and Samsung Super League series for the FEI. A keen amateur show jumper and producer of Connemara ponies, Louise is also a qualified psychotherapist.

Marcella Peyre-Ferry

Now based in Chester County, PA, Marcella Pyre-Ferry graduated with a Bachelors degree from the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in English. Working for both newspaper and magazines for many years, she knows how to adapt herself to every situation, effortlessly gliding from one discipline to another, from on-the-spot news to full-length features, in the bat of an eyelid. Marcella has an encyclopedic knowledge of a wide range of equestrian activities – hunters, dressage, eventing, show jumping, western, steeplechasing – and a quiet sense of humor that shines through in her writing. She is also a keen and talented equestrian photographer.

Andrea Reynes

Andrea Reynes graduated with a B.S. in Magazine Journalism from Boston University School of Communication and went from general assignment reporter to animal journalist. She began riding at the age of 10 in Vermont, mucking stalls in exchange for lessons. During her 25 years working with hunters and event horses, and recognizing the magic that can develop in the horse-human relationship, Reynes often writes about equine-assisted activity and therapy, a subject that fascinates her. She contributed a chapter on Equine Facilitated Mental Health therapy to the soon-to-be-published Encylopedia of Human-Animal Relationships and has written for numerous specialist magazines.

Jenny Ross

Ross grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and has ridden horses since the age of six. She showed in the Hunter/Jumper rings during childhood and continued her riding career throughout college. While in school, she trained with Margie Engle and had many successes in the Amateur Jumper divisions at WEF and other competitions. An “R” rated Jumper judge licensed by the United States Equestrian Federation, Ross has officiated at such notable shows as Lake Placid, NY, the WEG Selection Trials, and the prestigious Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida. Ross graduated from the University of Miami in 2003 with B.A. degrees in both English Literature and Psychology. She now resides in Wellington, FL.

Susan Stickle

Susan has been shooting professionally since 1995, covering local, regional, and National Dressage championships. As an award winning photographer, she has had her work published in equestrian magazines such as Dressage Today, USA Equestrian, The Chronicle of the Horse, HorseSport, and numerous other publications, including book covers. Her print of the World Trade Center Tribute in Lights hangs in the US Customs Department Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Susan rode dressage competitively with her chestnut Thoroughbred mare, Bonnie. The pair were high score champions at training level and went on to compete thru the lower levels. Her love of horses and her knowledge of dressage have given her a wonderfully keen eye that shows in her work.

Eduardo Tame

A multi-tasker, internationally renowned equestrian writer Eduardo Tame is also active in the tourist sector, organizing tour groups from his native Mexico to attend all the major events around the world, including World Championships, Pan American and Olympic Games and World Cup finals. Editor of the Agenda Ecuestre yearbook, he has been an active competitor in jumping, eventing and dressage. He was a member of the Bureau of the Mexican Equestrian Federation from 1984 to 1992, and again from 2004 to 2008. As a journalist, he writes for several newspapers as well as horse magazines in Mexico and abroad.

Mike Y.A. Teitelbaum

YA has been intimately involved in promoting and publicizing polo and equestrian sports since 1990. His background is as a journalist, and his articles have been published in most major polo and equestrian publications. A sports enthusiast, YA plays basketball twice a week, has season tickets to the Florida Marlins, spends the football season on the couch and is a big fan of the University of North Carolina men’s basketball team, thanks to Dean Smith. He also is a fantasy football freak. Y.A. has been a resident of Wellington since 1990.

Jennifer Ward

Ward began riding at an equestrian centre in her hometown of Peterborough, Ontario, at the age of six.  She attended Carleton University in Ottawa for its Journalism program, and worked part-time in the University's Public Relations department, which provided the catalyst for furthering her education with a post-graduate degree in Public Relations. She was the Canadian Equestrian Federation (now Equine Canada) Media Relations Coordinator for five years. Now, her Starting Gate Communications is the top Equestrian Public Relations firm in Canada. Ward attends the biggest and most important events in Canada and will provide PhelpsSports.com with the latest results and behind-the-scenes stories about Canada's thriving equestrian industry.  Her PhelpsSports.com weekly column is 'On the Canadian Scene.'

Foncine Wood

Foncine Wood brings an expansive wealth of knowledge in marketing, sales, computer skills, and business writing to PhelpsSports.com. Wood has earned an Associates degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and has her Master of Science degree in Management from National Lewis University. She worked for AT&T and Lucent Technologies for twenty years and was involved in software development, marketing programs, and sales. In addition to an extensive background in marketing, Wood also has years of experience in the equestrian industry as a devoted horse show mother. Currently, she organizes and executes an annual fundraising golf tournament for Hearts, Hands & Hooves charity, a local therapeutic riding program for challenged youth.

Jennifer Wood

Jennifer Wood grew up with horses in the Chicago area and represented the intercollegiate team at the University of South Carolina. Jennifer graduated from the university with a degree in marketing in 2001. For the past four years, Jennifer has been affiliated with top Grand Prix riders, Margie Engle and Anne Kursinski. Jennifer provides first-hand experience within the equestrian community. Her exceptional coverage of the Winter Equestrian Festival, the World Cup Finals in Kuala Lumpur, the Super League in La Baule, France and the Devon Horse Show has been picked up and published worldwide.