Category Archives: FEI

Championships, Competitions, Driving, Events, FEI, USEF

U.S. Shows Great Improvement Finishing Sixth at the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles

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Lezirias, Portugal – On Sunday all three U.S. drivers completed the cones phase of the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles, securing a sixth place team finish. This strong finish demonstrated a marked improvement for the U.S. Driving Team after having placed 11th at the 2010 World Championships. Leading the U.S. individually was Sterling Graburn, who completed his second World Championship in 22nd place.

Germany claimed the Team Gold medal, while Switzerland grabbed Silver and The Netherlands took Bronze. Top Individual honors went to Germany’s Christoph Dieker, with Silver and Bronze going to Michael Barbey of Switzerland and The Netherland’s Wilbrord Van Den Broek respectively.

Graburn (Georgetown, KY) and Larry Denny’s Ulano rebounded from a disappointing first phase that saw them down the order to secure a top 25 placing.  The 11-year-old Dutch Harness gelding completed the cones phones adding just 6.29 penalties after knock-downs at obstacles four and fourteen in addition to adding .29 points for exceeding the time allowed. The combination finished on a score of 144.55.

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

Christoph Dieker Is the New FEI World Single Driving Champion

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Double gold for Germany, double silver for Switzerland and double bronze for the Netherlands at the FEI World Single Driving Championships at Companhia das Lezirias, Portugal. ©Rinaldo de Craen/FEI.

Companhia das Lezirias, Porto Alto (POR), 16 September 2012 – Christoph Dieker (GER) has won the FEI World Single Driving Championships at Companhia das Lezirias, Portugal. Dieker came second in the dressage, stayed on silver after the marathon and only had one fault in the final obstacle driving competition. Bartolomiej Kwiatek (POL) was on gold before the cones, but sadly made too many faults and not only gave away individual gold, but also team bronze. Michael Barbey (SUI) won the silver individual medal; the bronze medal went to Wilbrord van den Broek (NED). The German team successfully defended their gold medal. The team silver was won by Switzerland and the bronze team medal was awarded to the Netherlands.

The wonderful site of Companhia das Lezirias has been hosting national driving competitions since 2000 and the Portuguese organizers were very proud to welcome 73 competitors from 20 nations at the very comfortable and well laid out competition site. Despite the hot weather conditions, the temperature on marathon day even raised to 40° Celsius, the competitions were run according to plan and all necessary precautions were taken to ensure the welfare of the participating horses. The competitors and spectators were treated to eight wonderful obstacles, designed by O-course designer Richard Nicoll (USA), who was amongst others also responsible for the courses at the first World Single Championships in Ebbs 1998 and in Astorp 2004. Nicoll received many compliments from the drivers for his challenging, but fair design.

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Championships, Competitions, Driving, Events, FEI, USEF

U.S. Drivers Complete Marathon at FEI World Driving Championships for Singles

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Lezirias, Portugal – The United States sent three drivers onto the marathon at the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles. The U.S. team now stands in eighth place after the completion of competition on Saturday that saw drivers navigate through eight hazards.

Sterling Graburn (Georgetown, KY) and Larry Denny’s 11-year-old Dutch Harness gelding Ulano made an accent up the leaderboard following a speedy marathon phase. The 2012 USEF National Single Horse Champions posted a blistering pace through hazard number four, navigating the obstacle in less than 44 seconds, resulting in the quickest trip of the day through there. However, they incurred two point penalties for knockdowns at hazards one and two keeping them from a faster marathon time.

Graburn and Ulano posted an overall time of 6:23.96 through all the hazards and now stand on a score of 80.79. They rose from 48th following the dressage to now stand 21st individually.

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Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Driving, Events, FEI, USEF

U.S. Stands Fourth at the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles Following the Dressage

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Lezirias, Portugal – The United States got off to a quick start at the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles as they stand fourth in the team standings following the first phase of competition with a score of 96.5. Leslie Berndl leads the way for the U.S. after scoring 46.46 in the dressage to stand in sixth place individually.

In the Team competition Germany leads on a score of 83.4, while Poland’s Bartlomiej Kwiatek leads the Individual championship after scoring 38.53 in the dressage.

Berndl (Newcastle, CA) was the sole U.S. competitor to perform her dressage test on Friday but she and Fritz Grupe’s 11-year-old KWPN gelding Uminco did not disappoint as they slotted themselves into the top ten.

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Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Driving, Events, FEI, FEI

Sterling Graburn to Represent the U.S. in Portugal

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FEI Single Driving World Championships Begin Today

Sterling Graburn and Ulano (Picsofyou.com)

GEORGETOWN, KY – SEPTEMBER 12, 2012 – It’s official! Kentucky-based combined driving National Champion Sterling Graburn and his equine partner Ulano will lead the team representing the United States at the 2012 FEI Singles Driving World Championships, which begin today in Lezirias, Portugal and run through September 16.

Graburn will begin his quest for the gold with the Dressage competition tomorrow morning. The Marathon phase will follow on Saturday and the three-day event will end with the Cones contest on Sunday.

Graburn, who is the head trainer at the Gayla Driving Center in Georgetown, KY, has had a banner year in 2012.

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

Greeks Dominate on Home Turf in Athens

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The Turkish team of (L to R) Husnu Dinc, Cagri Basel, Hasan Senturk and Horasan Sencer celebrate their victory in the Senior Team event at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships. Photo: FEI/Alexis Vassilopoulos.

Athens (GRE), 11 September 2012 – Greek riders proved a formidable force at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships when claiming three individual and three team titles on their home turf in Athens over the weekend.  The 2012 fixture took place at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre, venue for the equestrian event of the 2004 Olympic Games, and 170 riders from eight countries lined out for the event.

The Hellenic Secretary General of Sports, Mrs Kyriki Giannakidou and First Vice-President of the Hellenic Federation Mr George Lenos attended the Opening Ceremony at which the Hellenic Navy Band led the parade of nations.  With five sets of team medals and five individual titles up for grabs it was a busy schedule over the four-day fixture.

Children’s Championships

There were four nations in contention in the Children’s team competition in which the fences stood at 1.10 metres. And when Leonida Palegdas (Cenlata) and Stefania Cheinoporos (Championess) jumped double-clear, then only one of the four faults collected in each round by Dimitra Antypa (Varien) and Alexandros Kokkonis (Oleis de Chenee) had to be taken into account to give them a final total of eight.

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Championships, Competitions, Driving, Events, FEI, USEF

U.S. Driving Team Heads to Portugal for FEI World Driving Championships for Singles

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Sterling Graburn and Ulano (Picsofyou.com)

Lexington, KY – All eyes will be on Lezirias, Portugal this weekend as the U.S. sends three drivers to the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles in hopes of adding to their 2012 medal tally. Just a month ago, the U.S. Four-in-Hand Driving team clinched Team Bronze with Chester Weber grabbing Individual Silver at the World Championships in Riesenbeck, Germany. The Singles World Championships looks to be the largest to date with 79 competitors from 22 nations set to compete September 13-16.

Leading the U.S. team is the 2012 USEF National Single Horse Champion, Sterling Graburn (Georgetown, KY), who will drive his horse from those championships, Ulano, in Portugal. This combination has had a banner year in 2012 with the 11-year-old Dutch Harness gelding also collecting third place honors in the Little Everglades CDE and second place at the Live Oak CDE. Graburn makes a return trip to the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles after having represented the U.S. in 2006 in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy.

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

The British Do the Double Again at Strzegom

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(L to R) Individual silver medallist Emily King (GBR), individual gold medallist Sophie How (GBR) and individual bronze medallist Harold Megahey (IRL). Photo: FEI/Leszek Wojcik.

Strzegom (POL), 10 September 2012 – The British were the dominant force once again when claiming team and individual gold along with individual silver at the 2012 FEI European Eventing Championships for Juniors in Strzegom, Poland yesterday.  But it was a close-fought battle for the medals, with the defending champions meeting powerful opposition from the Irish who finished just three points behind in the team competition, and who claimed third and fourth places in the individual rankings.

The British record at these Championships, which were first staged in 1967, is second to none. And, having established the lead after dressage, they held on to win despite the loss of team member Isabella Innes Ker who was eliminated in Saturday’s cross-country phase.

A total of 83 riders from 18 countries – Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland – vied for the honours, while 15 nations lined out in the team competition.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Endurance Riding, Events, FEI, FEI

Team Gold for France in Tight Battle with Italians Who Claim Individual Glory

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Italy’s Mara Feola and Grigali put in a storming finish on the last loop to take individual gold at the FEI European Junior and Young Rider Endurance Championships 2012. Photo: FEI/Leonard Liesens.

Mont le Soie (BEL), 10 September 2012 – France claimed team gold and Italy’s Mara Feola took the Individual title at the FEI European Junior and Young Rider Endurance Championships 2012 at Mont-le-Soie in Belgium at the weekend. This stunning venue is nestled in the region of the High Ardennes with its dramatic landscape of dense forests, rivers and valleys. Mont-le-Soie is a well-known venue on the Endurance circuit, regularly hosting CEI events up to 160km, but this was its first-ever FEI Championship fixture.

A total of 61 horses and athletes were entered for the event, but following the pre-ride inspection three horses were judged not fit to start – Norway’s Shere Khan (Kine Eissland Holen), Finland’s only entrant Solomonas (Joona Mickelsson) and Belgium’s Cairo to be ridden by home rider Raphael Van Cauter who had just returned from the World Endurance Championships in Euston Park (GBR) where he partnered Taborah de Sier to a successful 22nd place.

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

Sophie How Won the European Eventing Championships for Juniors

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Individual winners/strzegom2012.pl

Strzegom, 09.09.2012 – The representative of Great Britain, Sophie How riding Pebbly Aga Khan, took the first place in the European Eventing Championships for Juniors. The best result among the Polish riders belongs to Piotr Dąbrowski competing on Pakiet.

The 18-year-old rider and her 11-year-old gelding Pebbly Aga Khan became the leaders already after the dressage test. The clear ride in the cross country and great result after the show jumping confirmed her excellent form. The competitor eventually scored the result of top of 35 penalty points and won a gold.

The vice champion title with the result of 42,50 penalty points belongs to British Emily King riding Mr Hiho. After the dressage test and the cross country the rider had taken the second place equal with Irish Tori Dixon, who all in all took the ninth position after the fence down on a show jumping.

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