All posts by Associate Editor

Combined Driver Chester Weber Named to Florida Horse Park Foundation Board of Directors

Chester Weber has been named to the Board of Directors at the Florida Horse Park Foundation. (Photo courtesy of My Elisabeth Weber)

Ocala, FL (March 13, 2012) – Combined Driver Chester Weber, the eight-time United States National Four-In-Hand Champion, has been named to the Board of Directors at the Florida Horse Park Foundation, located in Ocala, Florida. Weber, a favorite son of his hometown of Ocala, is one of America’s most decorated Combined Drivers as well as a strong supporter of the equestrian community.

Weber’s extensive resume continues to grow each year, and Weber and his award-winning team of horses kicked off 2012 by driving into the winner’s circle at the Sunshine State CDE, which took place at the Florida Horse Park. He followed Sunshine State with a victory at the 2012 Little Everglades CDE, taking the FEI Four-in-Hand Division with a spectacular dressage test. Weber also had a great deal to celebrate in 2011 as the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) named him a 2011 Equestrian of Honor and he was also the recipient of the Becky Grand Hart Trophy. He was named the 2011 Driving Horseman of the Year in The Chronicle of the Horse Magazine’s annual American Horses In Sport issue. Weber’s successful 2011 included a European tour that kept him in the winner’s circle, with wins at CAIO Veces, CAI Altenfelden and CAIO Riesenbeck. “We had our best results ever at Aachen, it was truly a memorable summer,” Weber said.

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International Riders Return to Global Dressage Festival for $15,000 Wellington Dressage Classic CDI***

Ashley Holzer of Canada and Pop Art. Photo: www.susanjstickle.com

Wellington, FL – March 13, 2012 – International riders will once again be featured at the $15,000 Wellington Dressage Classic CDI***, presented by the Chesapeake Dressage Institute, to be held March 15-18 at the Global Dressage Festival (GDF) Stadium in Wellington, Fl.  Riders from the United States and several nations including: Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, and Germany will be competing.

The FEI Grand Prix Freestyle class will once again be featured under the lights on Saturday evening, March 17.  Spectators will have the opportunity to watch the horses “dance” to the music as they perform dressage movements under the lights in the spectacular Global Dressage Festival International Arena.  Other highlights of the Wellington Dressage Classic include the FEI Grand Prix and FEI Olympic Grand Prix Special, the FEI Prix St. Georges, the FEI Intermediaire I and FEI Intermediaire Freestyle.

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Francie Steinwedell-Carvin – The Rolex One to Watch for March 2012

Francie Steinwedell-Carvin riding Taunus at the CSI2*-W Thermal in California (USA). Photo: Flying Horse Photography/ROLEX

14 March 2012 – The Rolex One to Watch for March 2012 is awarded to Francie Steinwedell-Carvin (USA). Based at Meadow Grove Farm in California, the 51-year-old jumped from 338th to 231st during February – a move up the Rolex Rankings of 107 places.

In recent years, Steinwedell-Carvin has enjoyed successes at a variety of high calibre competitions, taking part in numerous Grands Prix and FEI World Cup events with her many talented mounts, including Splitfire, Twistar and Toldine. 2011 was a successful year for the American rider, who finished third at the CSI2*-W in Burbank (USA) with the 12-year-old gelding, Taunus, in September, before going on to claim victory at the CSI2*-W in Las Vegas (USA) two months later with the same horse.

Steinwedell-Carvin has had an impressive start to 2012, finishing first with Taunus at the CSI2*-W in Thermal (USA), in January. Steinwedell-Carvin’s delight was evident. “It was so great to be the only American woman in the jump-off, and to win it was surreal,” she commented. Steinwedell-Carvin’s latest triumph saw her finish in third place at the Grand Prix Final CSI2*-W Thermal (USA) in March. We look forward to witnessing what Steinwedell-Carvin has in store for the rest of 2012.

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Cowgirls Knock Off Top-Ranked Bulldogs

Mamie Tomlin

STILLWATER, Okla. – The Oklahoma State equestrian team defeated the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs, 13-10, at Animal Science Arena Saturday.

“I am very proud of the way we rode today, especially of our seniors,” coach Larry Sanchez said. “Georgia is a very good team and are well coached. I look forward to seeing them again at Nationals.”

Seniors highlighted the day, winning four head-to-head points and two MVPs in their final competition in Stillwater.

The western team continued to roll as they cruised to an 8-3 win. It was their seventh team victory of the season. Senior Caroline Daniels led the Pokes with a 73-70.5 win in reining, earning MVP honors. Fellow senior Rachel Houchin picked up a 72.5-69 victory, and Katy Krshka and Christy McElreath added points to secure a 4-1 victory.

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Phillip Dutton and Mystery Whisper Take Home the First Adequan USEA Gold Cup of 2012

Phillip shows off his Adequan USEA Gold Cup Trophy. Leslie Mintz/USEA Photo.

Phillip Dutton entered the final round of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup CIC3* at the Red Hills Horse Trials with three rails in hand. However, the significant lead was wasted as Phillip and the Wildasin’s Mystery Whisper jumped clean around Fuzzy Mayo’s course and added only three time penalties to finish on the score of 35.7. Only seven of the twenty rounds (Rachel Jurgens and Ziggy withdrew before the morning’s horse inspection) in the CIC3* were completed without poles falling.

“I’m very excited about Mystery Whisper,” said Phillip. “It is a bit of a fairy tale to have the horse for a very short amount of time and all credit to Heath Ryan who actually bred the horse, broke the horse, and educated the horse. It’s been pretty easy so far to get to know him, and it’s fortunate that the Wildasins have allowed me to ride the horse for a while.”

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Chapot and Madden Top World Development Group Sponsored 1.35m Jumper Classes at WEF

Laura Chapot and Valentia during week 2 of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival, where they won two classes in the 1.35M Jumper division. (Photo courtesy of Sportfot.com)

Wellington, FL (March 13, 2012) – A star-studded lineup of jumper riders rode into the winner’s circle in the 1.35 Jumper classes during the second and third week of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Laura Chapot won two classes aboard Valentia and Reed Kessler won with Pacha De Nantuel during the second week of the prestigious horse show. During the third week, Filip De Wandel rode into the winner’s circle with Dache De Toulon, Beezie Madden captured the blue with Zhivago and Kristen Vanderveen placed first with Bull Run’s Revelation.

The 1.35m jumpers are sponsored by World Development Group, a premier developer committed to building the equestrian lifestyle.  Based in Wellington, Florida, World Development Group is constructing the new show grounds for the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington. “We want to congratulate all of the riders who won the 1.35m Jumper classes during the second and third week of the Winter Equestrian Festival,” said David Zinaman, Director of Real Estate Sales and Marketing for the World Development Group. “We are thrilled to be part of the show scene in Wellington. Our company is dedicated to promoting the equestrian lifestyle and there is no better place to live that life than in Wellington.”

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Aleksandra Lusina – Winner of the Rolex One to Watch 2011 Award

Aleksandra Lusina holding the Rolex One to Watch 2011 Award

13 March 2012 – The Rolex One to Watch Award for 2011 has been presented to Polish rider Aleksandra Lusina. Based at the Agro-Handel Riding Club in Olsza, Poland, the 32-year-old jumped from 556th to 232nd during May 2011 – a move up the Rolex Rankings of 324 places.

According to Rolex Rankings #134, which were published at the beginning of March 2012, Lusina was the 94th ranked rider in the world.

The Award recognises the Rolex One to Watch rider who has made the biggest jump within or into the Top 250 of the Rolex Rankings during 2011. In the months since being crowned Rolex One to Watch in May 2011, the Polish rider has recorded a string of impressive results at competitions throughout Europe, competing in the Central European League.

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Equine Therapy: The Healing Is in the Relationship, by Claire Dorotik

While there are numerous complaints clients can present with and probably an even greater abundance of ways to treat these ailments, the majority of practitioners would most likely agree that the majority of them stem from the relationships that people find themselves in. Or perhaps, these present relationships are reflections of the more formative earlier ones. In either case, there is no shortage of methods to help people better understand themselves and their relationships.

One of these methods of fostering self-awareness is equine therapy. And like many other forms of treatment, working with horses has taken many forms. While some organizations focus solely on creating and implementing exercises for clients to perform with horses, others attempt to generalize the client’s behavior with the horse to other, more fractured areas of their life. The thought in both cases in that if the client can learn how to alter his/her behavior across a multitude of situations, the outcomes will be different, and hopefully, more satisfying.

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Iron Spring Farm Stallions’ Historic Rankings in the 2012 KWPN Breeding Values

UB40’s Sons Impress in Holland

Apache, by Iron Spring Farm's UB40, received a 10 on his trot at the KWPN Stallion Show. Photo by Sjoert

Coatesville, PA — Over the past few decades, North American breeders have been educating themselves on the best bloodlines and crosses required to produce top international talent. As a result, these dedicated breeders have traveled extensively in Europe and imported some of the best breeding stock. While trips across the pond will undoubtedly continue, North American breeders are no longer required to leave home to produce exceptional horses. Access to high-ranking international bloodlines has never been easier. In February, the KWPN (Royal Dutch Warmblood Studbook) released their 2012 Breeding Values and many of the sires and damsires are available right in the U.S.A.

The Value of Bloodlines

Each year the KWPN (Royal Dutch Warmblood Studbook) collects and analyzes extensive performance and health data for each Approved stallion and their offspring. It then provides an assessment of genetic ability and statistics with rankings for both dressage and jumping. The resulting report, known as the KWPN Breeding Values, can then be used by breeders to make informed decisions about their breeding programs. This data is among the most comprehensive within the warmblood industry and has helped make the KWPN one of the consistently top-ranked WBFSH studbooks. In 2012, Iron Spring Farm stallions had historic rankings, including Contango Preferent, Sir Sinclair and UB40. In addition, their sires, grandsires and offspring were also highly rated, making a multi-generational influence on the modern sport horse.

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Jennifer Alfano and Jersey Boy Win $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at HITS Ocala

Jennifer Alfano and Jersey Boy took the top honors Saturday night at HITS VI Ocala Winter Finals. Photo By: Hunter Messineo

Ocala, FL – March 12, 2012 – It was an incredible night for the 2012 $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the HITS VI Ocala Winter Finals. Spectators gathered together as the anticipation continued to rise, waiting to see who would take home the victory. In the end, it was SBS Farms’ Jennifer Alfano who executed brilliant rides throughout the two-round event, rising to the top of the leaderboard with four horses. She and her veteran mount Jersey Boy took the top honors and led the victory gallop, proving unbeatable throughout the competition. Alfano also guided Miss Lucy to the second place finish, completing flawless rounds and earning top scores from the judges.

The evening began as riders were tested over a classic hunter course, with the top 12 horse and rider combinations advancing to the handy hunter course. The scores earned in the classic hunter round were combined with the handy hunter round, combining the two round totals for the event’s overall results. The course definitely proved to be no easy feat. It mimicked a picturesque hunt field, testing horse and rider alike as they navigated the course and vied for the top honors and the chance to make it into the esteemed top 12. Jersey Boy took an early lead with the high scores in the first round totaling 187 points from the panel of judges, and Miss Lucy did not fall far behind with her first-round score of 170 points.

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