Category Archives: FEI

Competitions, Eventing/H.T., FEI, FEI, Products/Services

Online Media Resources: HSBC FEI Classics in Pau

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Lausanne (SUI), 24 October 2012 – The HSBC FEI Classics 2012/2013 opening leg in Pau (FRA) begins this Friday, 26 October 2012.

To support media covering this exciting series, which unites the top end of the international Eventing circuit, the FEI is providing its usual wide range of online information resources.

HSBC FEI Classics Press Kit
The comprehensive online press kit can be viewed here: www.feipresskits.org or can be downloaded as a PDF.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, FEI

Dream Team of Olympians Kick Off HSBC FEI Classics 2012/2013 at Pau

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William Fox-Pitt, winner of last year’s HSBC FEI Classics, is pictured here at Pau (FRA) last year with Oslo. (Image: Kit Houghton/FEI)

Lausanne (SUI), 22 October 2012 – The organising team at Les Etoiles des Pau (FRA), 24-28 October 2012, the first event in the HSBC FEI Classics 2012/2013 season, have described this year’s entry as “a dream” with members of the gold, silver and bronze medal-winning teams at the London 2012 Olympic Games heading to the popular CCI4* in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the hope of gaining a valuable early foothold on the HSBC FEI Classics leaderboard.

Germany’s Michael Jung, the first rider in history to hold Olympic, World and European titles simultaneously, heads a distinguished field with Leopin FST, the horse on which he won on home ground in Luhmühlen earlier this year, and will be viewed by many as the man to beat.

Britain’s Olympic team silver medallist William Fox-Pitt, winner of three HSBC FEI Classics titles (2012, 2010, 2008) and a record 50 CCIs, has entered three horses: Navigator, the 2010 runner-up back in action after a year on the injury list, Bramham (GBR) winner Chilli Morning, a stallion and new ride for Fox-Pitt this year, and the nine-year-old Bay My Hero, a recent runner-up at Blenheim (GBR) CIC3* in the eight- and nine-year-old class.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI

Cornelissen Leads Dutch Domination at Odense

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Adelinde Cornelissen steered Jerich Parzival to win the opening leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage 2012/2013 series. Photo: FEI/Annette Boe Østergaard.

Odense (DEN), 21 October 2012 – Dutch riders claimed the first two places in the opening leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage 2012/2013 series at Odense in Denmark today where defending champions, Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival, scored a convincing victory.

Edward Gal, series champion in 2010 with Totilas, lined up second with Blue Hors Romanov while Danish riders filled the next two places.  Anna Kasprzak, at 22 years of age the youngest competitor in today’s Freestyle, pipped the considerably more experienced partnership of Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Digby when slotting into third, while Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven and Don Auriello lined up fifth for Sweden.

It was an exciting test from Cornelissen whose career highlights include back-to-back Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage titles in 2011 and 2012, double gold at the 2011 European Championships, and individual silver at this summer’s Olympic Games in London, all partnering the chestnut gelding who, at 15 years of age, still sparkles.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

Bost Celebrates His Birthday with Super Victory in Helsinki

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Roger Yves Bost celebrated his 47th birthday today with victory in the second leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping 2012/2013 Western European League. Photo: FEI/Tapio Mäenpää.

Helsinki (FIN), 21 October 2012 – Roger Yves Bost celebrated his 47th birthday in style when clinching maximum points in the second qualifying leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Western European League at Helsinki, Finland today.  Riding Castle Forbes Myrtille Paulois, the enigmatic Frenchman whose jumping technique often seems to defy the laws of gravity, produced another one of his trademark heart-stopping rounds to pip Spain’s Sergio Alvarez Moya and Carlo in a nail-biting 14-horse jump-off.  Jeroen Dubbeldam and BMC Utascha, winners of the opening round at Oslo a week ago, had to settle for third place this time out. But the Dutchman now holds a strong lead at the top of the series table. With 35 points already to his credit, he only needs one more strong result to ensure his spot at the final in Gothenburg, Sweden next April.

The start-list was reduced from 40 to 39 due to the late withdrawal of Finland’s Mikael Forsten who broke his hand when landing awkwardly over a fence in an earlier class at his home fixture this morning.  This was very bad luck indeed, as he is not long recovered from a broken arm sustained while competing in the Grand Prix at Hagen, Germany last year.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI

Greek Riders Claim Lion’s Share of the Medals at Markopoulo

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(left to right ): Kyveli Tzortzaki, Vassilili Voltairou (partially obscured), chef d’equipe Emmanouella Mousamas, Melina Zografou Alexiou and Lyda-Evdokia Anesti. (Alexis Vassilopoulos/FEI)

Lausanne (SUI), 19 October 2012 – The Greek hosts of the Balkan Dressage Championships welcomed five visiting nations to Athens, but kept hold of all of the gold medals on offer, as well as claiming all three individual medals in both the junior and senior championships.

Staged at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre, site of the equestrian events at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, the Balkan Dressage Championships ran alongside last month’s Balkan Jumping Championships, in which Greek riders also dominated.

While the Dressage Championships attracted a smaller field than the Jumping Championships, there were still 42 riders and horses from six nations to battle it out for the honours, so competition was hot.

Awarded top marks by four out of the five judges, Kyveli Tzortzaki led the home side to gold in the children’s team championship with the impressive six-year-old Hannoverian mare Highnessy Newland. This new partnership, which has only been together since the summer, then went on to take individual honours as well, with all five judges this time putting them in first. Next in line was team mate Vassiliki Voltairou with Chiron, who held on for silver by a slim margin from Lina Uzunhasan and Sjonie, members of the Turkish silver medal squad in the team championship.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Driving, Events, FEI, FEI, USEF

Suzy Stafford Upgraded to Silver Medal for 2011 FEI World Driving Championships for Combined Ponies

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Suzy Stafford at the 2011 FEI World Driving Championships for Combined Ponies. (Marie de Ronde)

Lexington, KY – Suzy Stafford (Wilmington, DE) represented the U.S. at the 2011 FEI World Driving Championships for Combined Ponies in Lipica, Slovenia held September 21-25, 2011. She drove her Morgan-Arabian Cross mare Josephine to an impressive finish in the cones phase and was awarded the Bronze medal in the Singles Pony Championship. Stafford has been notified by the FEI that the Swedish single pony driver Susanne Ankermark driving Windy Boy Rocket has been disqualified. The results of the competition have been updated, now awarding Stafford and Josephine the Silver medal, adding to her already remarkable resume.

Stafford has represented the U.S. at four World Championships, medaling every time. In 2005 Stafford became the youngest and the first American driver to win an Individual Gold medal in international competition. She drove Cefnoakpark Bouncer to first place at the World Pony Driving Championship in England. In 2007, Stafford and Cefnoakpark Bouncer helped the U.S. team bring home a Bronze medal at the World Single Pony Championships held in Dorthelyst, Denmark. Stafford and Courage to Lead represented the U.S. at the World Pony Driving Championships in Germany in 2009 and earned a Bronze medal.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI

Star-studded Line-up for Opening Leg of New Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Series

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Defending champions, Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival, will be striving for their third consecutive Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage title. Photo: Kit Houghton/FEI

Lausanne (SUI), 16 October 2012 – Double-Dutch champions Adelinde Cornelissen and her great gelding Parzival will head up a star-studded field for the opening leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage 2012/2013 series at Odense, Denmark next weekend.

The collection of early points on the road to the series Final that will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden next April is always desirable. And while defending champion Cornelissen needs only to show that both she and her bright-chestnut horse are in competitive form, the partnership that claimed individual silver at this summer’s London Olympic Games will surely be the ones to beat. They will face strong opposition, however, from some of the other big names of this sport which continues its development, and dramatic growth in popularity, with every passing year.

Helen Langehanenberg (GER) was runner-up at the 2011/2012 Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, last April. And Ground Jury President, Ghislain Fouarge, said that day that it was a very close call between the German rider who stood second and the winner, Cornelissen, whose degree of difficulty in the programme of movements selected for her Freestyle test gave her the advantage. Langehanenberg is also scheduled to line out at this weekend’s season-opener to the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage series in which riders compete in a preliminary Grand Prix to decide the order of go for the following day’s Freestyle which stands alone in deciding the end result.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, FEI

Germany Triumphs with First FEI Nations Cup Eventing Series Win

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(left to right): Michael Jung, Bettina Hoy, Julia Krajewski and Ingrid Klimke with Chef d’Equipe Hans Melzer. Photo: Jon Stroud/FEI

Lausanne (SUI), 15 October 2012 – The German team produced yet another first-rate performance to win at Boekelo (NED), the final leg of the inaugural FEI Nations Cup Eventing, and rounded off what has been an outstanding year for the country’s senior riders with a comfortable victory in this new series.

Germany’s talented squad, which included two members of the Olympic gold medal winning team in London – Michael Jung and Ingrid Klimke – beat the chasing New Zealanders by just 6.6 penalties.

Boekelo, which is always a great favourite with riders for its end-of-season atmosphere, drew a record-breaking 12 teams for the last leg of the FEI Nations Cup Eventing series.

Germany, the only nation to have competed in five of the six legs of this exciting trial series, has dominated from the outset, scoring its fourth win in Boekelo following victories at Fontainebleau (FRA), Strzegom (POL) and Aachen (GER).

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Competitions, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, Show Jumping, USEF

Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team Jumps Two Places and Finishes Sixth at Boekelo

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Boekelo, The Netherlands – Every member of the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team that entered the show jumping arena at the Military Boekelo CCIO3* Sunday leapt up the leaderboard and helped the U.S. team improve to 6th place in the final Nations Cup standings. Leading the way for the Americans were Jonathan Holling and Downtown Harrison.

Holling (Ocala, FL) and Constance Ann Holling’s Trakehner/Thoroughbred gelding were just shy of a double clear round. They jumped flawlessly, but came in just over time and ended with 1 fault. “I was really thrilled with [Downtown Harrison],” said Holling. “Other than possibly shaving a second off a turn, he was pretty exceptional out there today.” Downtown Harrison’s performance helped Holling jump up the leaderboard twenty-five places and finish the Event in 31st position overall.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

Dubbeldam Dominates Star-Studded Field at Oslo Opening Leg

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Jeroen Dubbeldam and BMC Utascha SFN on their way to victory in the opening leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping 2012/2013 series. Photo: FEI/Annette Boe Ostergaard.

Oslo (NOR), 14 October 2012 – The Netherlands’ Jeroen Dubbeldam won the thrilling opening leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Western European League 2012/2013 series at Oslo, Norway this afternoon partnering BMC Utascha. The competition attracted a star-studded field that included three individual Olympic champions including the current title-holder, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat. But it was the Dutchman, who claimed gold in Sydney, Australia 12 years ago, who earned those all-important maximum points.

The cream really came to the top, and it was 2007 Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping series winner, Switzerland’s Beat Mandli, who slotted into runner-up spot with Louis, while Spain’s Sergio Alvarez Moya showed the potential of his new partnership with the former Nick Skelton ride, Carlo, when finishing a very close third. Fourth place went to another Dutchman, Maikel van der Vleuten with VDL Groep Verdi, while British riders filled fifth and sixth – the London 2012 Olympic team gold medal winning duo of Scott Brash and Hello Sanctos slotting in ahead of Will Funnell and Billy Congo.

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