The 31st Rolex World Cup officially began this week with players from all over the world vying for honors.  In jumping and dressage categories, Anky van Grunsven of Netherlands and Meredith Michaels-Beerbum of Germany are ready to defend their respective titles.

The German will be riding Shutterfly, the same horse that helped her win the final in 2005 and last year in Sweden. Van Grunsven, on the other hand, will be riding a substitute horse, IPS Painted Black. The Dutch player has already won three Olympic gold medals and has nine world cup titles under her belt.

An organizing committee of the games revealed that there were no unfortunate events that took place while the jumping and dressage horses were transported from Belgium last weekend. The flight lasted ten hours and the horses underwent mandatory exams in order to be pronounced fit to compete.

Posing as a major threat for the duo’s title defense is American McLain Ward. His mare Sapphire has been doing well in other international events thus making him a great contender for the title. He’s also a gold medalist Olympian.

The dressage event winner will be known on Saturday.

Animal groups Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and Columbia-Greene Human Society (CGHS) with the cooperation of the New York State Police raided the Center Brooke Farm at the upstate area on Wednesday to save nearly 200 racing horses that are severely starving and infested with lice.

Farm owner  was arrested on Friday and was charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty with the failure to provide proper sustenance. A $1,000 fine or a year in jail each count will be imposed on him if found guilty. He’s expected to make another court appearance next week.

The animal groups are now making a huge effort to feed the 177 horses saved and are asking assistance from everyone who can adopt or send money to aid their efforts. As of now, the horses are being de-wormed and de-lived by CGHS.

After Paragallo’s arrest, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board through its chairman John Sabini released a statement saying the board had terminated the breeder’s privilege to be involved with horse racing in the state.