All posts by Associate Editor

*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

FEI European Pony Championships 2011, Jaszkowo (POL)

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BRITISH, GERMANS AND FRENCH DOMINATE IN POLAND by Louise Parkes

The gold medal winning British Jumping team at the FEI European Pony Championships 2011 in Jaszkowo (POL) - L to R - Graham Babes, Jessica Mendoza, Amy Inglis and Beth Vernon. FEI/Helen Revington.

Lausanne (SUI), 12 August 2011 – British riders took team and individual Jumping gold, Germany claimed two of the three Dressage titles, and France dominated the Eventing competitions at the FEI European Pony Championships 2011 staged at Jaszkowo, Poland from 26 to 31 July.

JUMPING
The Jumping team Championship was an exciting and close-fought affair, with just one fault separating the victorious British from the fighting Irish at the end of the day, while the Dutch were much further adrift when claiming bronze.  The British had the whip hand after the first round with clears from all four riders, and the Irish were five faults in arrears while having to count a single time penalty from Max O’Reilly-Hyland (Rock Dee Jay), and an additional four faults when both Michael Duffy (Kadia Mouche) and anchor Emma O’Dwyer (Jacknell Street) left one on the floor.

But British pathfinder Amy Inglis (Nils D Hurl Vent) picked up 12 faults second time out, and although second-line rider Beth Vernon (Falaza) completed a double-clear, both Graham Babes (Dollar Girl) and Jessica Mendoza (Tixylix) made a single mistake to bring their tally to eight.  Bertram Allen had opened the Irish account with a first-round clear from Acapella Z, but this time they returned with four faults on the board, and despite great second-round clears from both O’Reilly-Hyland and O’Dwyer, they were obliged to count four more when Duffy also made a single error.  That single first-round time fault from O’Reilly-Hyland proved expensive in the final analysis.

The Dutch meanwhile rocketed up from sixth at the halfway stage to take the bronze. Jens Van Grunsven, nephew of dressage legend Anky Van Grunsven (Indorado), recovered from a 12-fault opening round to go clear second time out, Amber Fijen (Winning Mood) picked up five in round one and four next time out, Leon Tine Bruin (Scapa SB) made just a single mistake in round one but collected 17 on his return to the arena and Megan Laseur (Ensilla) followed a five-fault first effort with a clear to leave The Netherlands with a total of 18 faults.

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Community/Charity, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, National Horse Show, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Kincannon and Conroy Guide Alltech National Horse Show’s Kentucky Debut

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ANHS mgt team, Bobby Murphy, Robby Murphy, Hugh Kincannon, Ellen Veitch and J. P. Bordeleau. Photo: © Kenneth Kraus/ PhelpsSports.com.

Lexington, KY – August 11, 2012 – When the Alltech National Horse Show makes it Kentucky debut in November, the first class production will be under the direction of one of the nation’s most trusted and experienced managements teams.

The Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition, will be held from November 2-6, 2011, at the beautiful, new Alltech Indoor Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. This year’s debut event is designated a CSI4*-W and the featured class, the $250,000 Alltech National Horse Show Grand Prix, will be a 2011/2012 FEI World Cup qualifying event. The ASPCA Maclay National Championships will take center stage on the final Sunday of the show.

Leading the production and heading up the management team are Co-Managers Hugh Kincannon and Leo Conroy.

Hugh Kincannon’s management resume is an impressive one.

Kincannon’s talents were evident early on in his career, as he developed a highly successful series of horse shows at his farm just outside of Cleveland, and then additional events in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1982, he joined forces with the Murphy family at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Since then, he and his team have been producing top rated USEF horse shows at the Kentucky Horse Park for over three decades. His spring and summer series of shows are always near sell-outs and are among the most popular and respected horse shows in the United States.

Continue reading Kincannon and Conroy Guide Alltech National Horse Show’s Kentucky Debut →

Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI

It’s a Silver Anniversary for FEI European Dressage Championships, but Who Will Take the Gold?

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Lausanne (SUI), 11 August 2011 – The FEI European Dressage Championships 2011 will celebrate 25 years of spectacular sport as the action gets underway at the Kralingse Bos arena in Rotterdam (NED) next Wednesday morning.  The world of Dressage has undergone significant change since Switzerland’s Henri Chammartin and Wolfdietrich won the first Individual title in Copenhagen (DEN) IN 1963, and while only 16 riders from eight nations lined out in that inaugural fixture, participation is at an all-time high this time around with 66 competitors from 21 nations and a total of 16 teams vying for the coveted medals.

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden and the Ukraine will all be represented in what promises to be an epic battle over four tough days of competition beginning on 17 August.

INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE
The FEI European Dressage Championships, as we know them today, emerged from the FEI Grand Prix events that date right back to 1927 and which became increasingly competitive throughout the 1950s.  The winners were often referred to as European Champions, so it came as no surprise when Chammartin, FEI Grand Prix champion in 1955, 1958 and again in 1959, claimed gold at the first official FEI European Dressage Championship four years later. In fact he was a double-medallist in 1963, also taking bronze with his second ride Woerman while Germany’s Harry Boldt and Remus finished in silver-medal position.

Two years further on, in 1965, the first Team Championship took place in which the three Dressage powers of the time – Germany, Switzerland and the Soviet Union – finished in that order while Chammartin won his second Individual title.  The great Swiss rider, who recently passed away at the age of 92, also competed in five consecutive Olympic Games between 1952 and 1968 and collected five Olympic medals including gold in Tokyo in 1964.

Continue reading It’s a Silver Anniversary for FEI European Dressage Championships, but Who Will Take the Gold? →

Competitions, Events, Show Jumping, USEF

Fellers, Hough, Madden, and Spooner to Jump for U.S. at CSIO5* Spruce Meadows Masters Tournament

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Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will be represented by four show jumpers at the CSIO5* Spruce Meadows Masters Tournament, which runs September 7-11, 2011, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Please click on any athlete name for more information about that jumper.

The following horse/rider combinations have been named to represent the U.S.

Rich Fellers and Flexible (15-year-old Irish Sport Horse stallion owned by Mollie and Harry Champman)

Lauren Hough and Quick Study (12-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Laura and Meredith Mateo)

Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo (13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by Coral Reef Ranch)

Richard Spooner and Cristallo (13-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Richard Spooner)

Please visit www.sprucemeadows.com/index.jsp for more information.

*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, USEF

Kirklen Peterson Garners Overall Green Grand Hunter Pony Championship at 2011 USEF Pony Finals

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Kirklen Peterson and Magical Diamond. Photo by Shawn McMillen

Lexington, KY – The 2011 United States Equestrian Federation Pony Finals continued today at the picturesque Kentucky Horse Park with the conclusion of the Green Pony Hunter divisions. Ponies and riders from each division completed their over fences phases, competing for the top honors, as well as the championship and reserve championship titles. At the end of the day, Kirklen Petersen and Magical Diamond claimed the Green Pony Hunter Grand Championship title after winning the Medium Green Pony Hunter Over Fences and the Medium Green Pony Hunter Championship.

The first class of the day for the USEF National Hunter Pony Championships, presented by Sallee Horse Vans, was the Small Green Pony Over Fences. Emma Lemke and Chatterbox, owned by Frank Hernandez of Cordova, TN, jumped to the top of the leaderboard with scores of 85, 82, and 85, taking home the blue ribbon prize. Lindsay Levine and Bit of Laughter, owned by Scott Stewart of Wellington, FL, followed in the second-place position after earning an 83, an 83, and an 81. The third-place ribbon went to Emma Kurtz and Quicksilver Butterfly, owned by Kate Taylor of Pittsford, NY, who received scores of 84, 79, and 80. At the end of the class, the overall points were tabulated and Levine was named with Overall Small Green Pony Hunter Champion aboard Bit of Laughter. The reserve championship honors were presented to Kurtz and Quicksilver Butterfly.

“This is Bit of Laughter’s first time at Pony Finals,” commented Levine. “He is still very young and very green, so you have to stay in the middle and keep him going because if you fall out he falls off his lead. The course today was good. I thought he was going to spook on the out of the diagonal line because he isn’t as experienced as my other ponies, but he was really good.”

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Breeds, Contributors/Press, Racing

Kentucky Derby Winner Go for Gin Retires to Kentucky Horse Park

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Photo: Go for Gin, by PixBySteve.com.

LEXINGTON, KY (August 11, 2011) – Go for Gin, the 1994 winner of the Kentucky Derby (G1), has arrived in Lexington, Kentucky, to make his home in the Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions alongside fellow Derby winner Funny Cide, two-time Breeders’ Cup winner Da Hoss, and racing superstar Cigar.

John Nicholson, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park, said, “Go for Gin will make another great addition to our Hall of Champions.  We entertain nearly 1 million visitors each year and they will be delighted to have the opportunity to meet a horse of his caliber, who performed so well in all three Triple Crown races.”

Go for Gin was bred in Kentucky by Pamela DuPont Darmstadt, owned by William J. Condren and Joseph M. Cornacchia, and trained by Nick Zito.  As a 2-year-old, the son of Cormorant-Never Knock, by Stage Door Johnny won the Remsen S (G2).  At 3, he was one of the few racehorses to beat the mighty Holy Bull, which he did in winning the Derby.  He followed that win with a second in the Preakness S (G1) to Tabasco Cat and second in the Belmont S (G1), also to Tabasco Cat.  That same year he also came up just short in the Wood Memorial (G1) and Fountain of Youth S (G2) for second.

In all, from ages 2 to 4, Go for Gin was in the money in 14 out of 19 starts with earnings of $1,380,866.

He took up stud duty at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, and was later sold to Bonita Farm in Maryland, where he has been standing since 2004.  His progeny have earned more than $16.5 million and include Albert the Great, winner of more than $3 million.

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Awards, Breeds, Community/Charity, JRPR

Interagro Lusitano Founder Dr. Paulo Gonzaga Honored at International Festival of Pureblood Lusitano Horses

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The award presented to Dr. Gonzaga in recognition of his promotion and preservation of the Lusitano breed. (Photo courtesy of Davi Carrano)

Lisbon, Portugal (August 11, 2011) – Dr. Paulo Gavião Gonzaga, the founder of Interagro Lusitanos, the largest exporter of Lusitano horses in the world, was honored at the 23rd International Festival of Pureblood Horses in Lisbon, Portugal. Dr. Gonzaga was recognized for his extensive promotion of the Lusitano breed in the United States and Latin America at the festival, which attracted thousands of people and breeders from all over the world.

Arsênio Raposo Cordeiro, an international judge of morphology who is considered one of the leading authorities on the Lusitano breed and author of The Lusitano Horse – The Son of the Wind, acknowledged that Dr. Gonzaga is thought of as a “trailblazer” for Lusitanos. During the emotional tribute, Cordeiro and the audience applauded Dr. Gonzaga on his many years of excellent service to the breed.

“We owe much to him in the promotion of the breed in the United States and Latin America. We owe Dr. Gonzaga for his preservation of the breed in a difficult time, when there was an equine epidemic.  At that time, Dr. Gonzaga had the foresight to prevent an impending disaster by acquiring groups of mares which he took to his ranch in Brazil, thus creating a Noah’s Ark of salvation for the Lusitanian breed. We can never forget what he did for the Lusitano horse,” Cordeiro said.

Dr. Gonzaga was extremely honored by the tribute and said the victory of preserving and promoting the Lusitano breed was a victory for all. “It was not the megalomania of a crazy Brazilian, but was actually a very well thought out plan,” Dr. Gonzaga said of his importation of Lusitanos to his Brazilian farm. “In the ‘70s many Brazilian horse lovers acknowledged that there was a gap in Brazil. The largest Portuguese speaking country had great horse breeds, but there was not a purebred Lusitano. And considering the strength of the Portuguese traditions, so deeply rooted in Brazilian society, that needed to be corrected. We thought that this wouldn’t get done with single imports, but would require a large number of mares coming to Brazil. And so it we did it. By the end of the 1980s, the horses began to emerge and now dominate the Brazilian equestrian world, which fills us with pride.”

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Equestrian Assistance, Eventing/H.T., Olympic Games, USEF

USEF Awards $120,000 in Land Rover Grants to Eventing High Performance Riders

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Lexington, KY – In Land Rover’s continued quest for excellence, the USEF has awarded Land Rover High Performance Grants to eight horse/rider combinations in their preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games. The Land Rover High Performance Eventing grants will help offset the expenses related to competing in Europe this fall. Building on last year’s support of the Land Rover U.S Eventing Team, USEF and Land Rover have created a new initiative: the Land Rover Competition and Training Grant Program for Eventing Riders.

The following horse/rider combinations will receive $15,000 grants:

William Coleman III and James Wildasin’s Twizzel
Phillip Dutton and Bruce Duchossois’ Mighty Nice
Will Faudree and Jennifer Mosing’s Andromaque
Will Faudree and Jennifer Mosing’s Pawlow
Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos Syndicate’s Neville Bardos
Boyd Martin and Henley House Stables’ Remington XXV
Clark Montgomery and Jessica Montgomery, Kathleen Kraft and Holly Becker’s Loughan Glen
Michael Pollard and Nathalie Pollard and Mieke Hanssens’ Icarus

In addition to the base grants listed above, there are performance incentive grants available as well to all US riders: $10,000 for a top 10% finish, $5,000 for a top 20% finish.

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Breeds, Rescue/Protection Sources

Welfare Ranchers Call Mustang Advocates “Hysterical”

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August 9, 2011 – Chicago (EWA) – The Progressive Rancher Magazine has issued a response to the article in Time Magazine on the Madeleine Pickens proposed wild horse sanctuary. It is ironic that the response accuses equine advocates of “misrepresentations and distortions” of truth but is full of the authors’ own misrepresentations and distorted truth.

The story, which was not available online, was immediately distributed in a press release by Sue Wallis of United Horsemen LLC., a staunch horse slaughter supporter and opponent of wild equine preservation.

Many western ranchers are licensed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to graze cattle on public lands for token fees well below the government’s administrative costs, leading opponents of the practice to refer to them as “welfare ranchers”. Since welfare ranchers on public lands are one of the driving forces behind the removals of America’s wild horses and burros, it came as no surprise that such a magazine would distort the truth to further their agenda for more removals.

Such is the widespread sense of entitlement in this community that they exhibit outright anger at having to share public lands they feel should be solely for the use of their privately owned livestock that currently outnumber mustangs by at least 50 to 1.

The article quotes long-time equine advocate, Willis Lamm, in an attempt to discredit all information from equine advocates. In response, Lamm commented, “It’s ironic that Sue Wallis, who along with her group that I have long considered to be included among those Hysteria Corps, laptop experts and self-promoters, would be so careless as to publish my criticisms of their very actions in her press release.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

FEI Americas Championship for Young Riders, Juniors, Pre-Juniors and Children 2011

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DOUBLE-GOLD FOR VENEZUELA AND ECUADOR by Louise Parkes

On podium, Pre-Junior Gold Medallist Emanuel Andrade (VEN), Silver Medallist Sofia Ribandeneira (ECU), and Bronze Medallist Javier Lopez (CHI). In front, Chief Steward Cesar Hirsch (VEN), Gloria de Cuesta, Show Director and President Ecuador NF, and Pablo Mayorga (ARG), FEI Second Vice-President. Photo: Guayquil Press.

Lausanne (SUI), 10 August 2011 – Host nation competitors claimed the Junior and Children’s titles, while Venezuela scooped gold in Young Riders and Pre-Juniors at the FEI Americas Championships for Young Riders, Juniors, Pre-Juniors and Children 2011 in Guayquil, Ecuador.  Staged at the Guayquil Country Club, which is home to an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, a soccer pitch, an Olympic swimming pool and an equestrian centre with its own veterinary clinic, the event attracted 75 competitors from eight countries including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil.

Guayquil is the largest and most populous city in Ecuador, and the nerve-centre for the country’s business and manufacturing industries.  Ecuador has produced a number of successful riders down the years including 2004 South American Young Riders Jumping Champion, Jose Penafiel.  And the home squad snatched three of the 12 medals on offer during the six-day fixture.

SWEPT ALL BEFORE THEM
The Venezuelans swept all before them in the Young Rider Championships with Luis Fernando Larrazabal steering Sacramento to gold, Martin Jeri claiming silver with Olympe du Fouquet and Luis Muro taking bronze.  Larrazabal is based at G&C Farms in Wellington, Florida, USA along with his brother Juan Andres and is coached by Venezuelan Olympian Pablo Barrios.

Luis Fernando already has an impressive career record, finishing seventh in the Children’s Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2005, fifth in the Pre-Juniors in Caracas, Venezuela in 2006 and taking the silver medal in the Junior Championship at last year’s FEI Americas Championships which re-visited Caracas.  And he went one better than his brother, Juan, who was silver medallist in the 2010 Young Riders Championship behind Martin Jeri who took gold on that occasion.  This year Jeri had to settle for silver with his nine year old chestnut Selle Francais.

Continue reading FEI Americas Championship for Young Riders, Juniors, Pre-Juniors and Children 2011 →