Category Archives: FEI

US Is Golden with Young Riders & Juniors in SmartPak Reining Championships

Eventing and Show Jumping Start Competition

Reining Junior Team Gold - USA Southeast on their victory lap (Waltenberry)

Lexington, KY – The Reining Team Championship competition was tightly contested today at the Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC) with Team USA South-Central claiming the top of the podium in Young Rider Competition and Team USA Southeast in the Gold position for Juniors.

The NAJYRC runs through Sunday, July 22, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Five disciplines (a total of 9 championships for juniors and young riders) will take part in the only FEI Championship to be held annually in North America. The NAJYRC is the premier equestrian competition in North America for Junior and Young Riders, ages 14-21.

**Please be aware that tomorrow’s Show Jumping team classes for Juniors will run in the Rolex Stadium at 4:30 p.m., followed by the Young Riders competition.

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British to Show the Way on Home Turf at Hickstead

FEI Commercial Manager Nathalie Taylor (left) and Show Director John Farmer (right) at the draw for the starting order in tomorrow’s seventh leg of the FEI Nations Cup. Photo: FEI/Lotte Stevens.

Hickstead (GBR), 19 July 2012 – The host nation is unfazed by being drawn first to go in the penultimate leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012 series at Hickstead (GBR) tomorrow afternoon.  A week ahead of the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games the British are in bullish form, and Chef d’Equipe, Rob Hoekstra, said today, “I am not really concerned by starting first, the riders I brought have ridden here many times and they know what they’re doing. It’s brilliant to be at Hickstead a week prior the start of the Games – riding in front of your home crowd is a great test,“ he added.

The order-of-go for the seventh leg of the series is: 1, Great Britain; 2, Netherlands; 3, Germany; 4, Ireland; 5, Sweden; 6, France; 7, Belgium; 8, Switzerland.

Experienced

The British contingent is indeed an experienced one, and includes Peter Charles who will fly the Union Jack at Greenwich Park when the Olympic Jumping competition gets underway on 8 August.  He has been selected for the Games with Vindicat, but will line out tomorrow with Nevada.  Joining him in tomorrow’s team will be Tina Fletcher, riding the Olympic reserve horse Hello Sailor, and of course no side at Hickstead ever seems quite complete unless a member of the legendary Whitaker family is included.  John Whitaker, who has enjoyed many famous days at the Sussex venue, will partner Argento while William Funnell rounds up the team with Billy Angelo.

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United States Region 5 Takes Dressage Young Rider Team Gold Medal for Third Consecutive Year; Canada/Quebec Wins Dressage Junior Team Gold

Gold medal winning team dressage young riders from Region 5 (Susan J. Stickle)

Lexington, KY – The first medals of the 2012 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC) were awarded today to the dressage teams for juniors and young riders. The dressage competition is sponsored by Platinum Performance and the United States Dressage Federation.

Region 5 from the United States – Madeline Birch, Victoria Fernalld, Brandi Roenick, and Devon Wycoff – took the gold medal and accomplished this feat for an amazing third year in a row. U.S. Region 7 won the silver medal, while the Canada/Quebec team were bronze. In the junior team competition, Nicole Babich Moran, Laurence Blais Tetreault, Frederique Bourgault, and Naima Moreira Laliberte for the Canada/Quebec team won the gold medal. U.S. Region 7 won another silver medal, and U.S. Region 9 was bronze. The NAJYRC runs through Sunday, July 22, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.

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The 2012 Adequan/FEI NAJYRC Welcomes 261 Athletes in Five Disciplines

Young Eventers from Area II Take Part in the NAJYRC Opening Ceremonies (Brant Gamma Photography)

Lexington, KY – The 2012 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC) is proud to welcome all of the 261 young athletes that will compete in five disciplines over the next five days. The NAJYRC is held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Today, the NAJYRC hosted the athletes, trainers, friends, and family at the Opening Ceremonies.

Five disciplines (a total of 9 championships for juniors and young riders) will take part in the only FEI Championship to be held annually in North America. The NAJYRC is the premier equestrian competition in North America for junior and young riders, ages 14-21. This year, young equestrians have come from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, and Guatemala to vie for team and individual FEI medals in the three Olympic equestrian disciplines of show jumping, dressage, eventing and the FEI World Equestrian Games disciplines of reining and endurance.

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Triple Gold for van Lierop as Dutch Dominate Juniors, Young Rider Double for Denmark’s Dufour

Dana van Lierop and DJ Tiesto secured a golden hat-trick for The Netherlands at the FEI European Dressage Championships for Young Riders and Juniors 2012. Photo: FEI/Valeria Streun.

Lausanne (SUI), 15 JULY 2012 – Dana van Lierop was the show-stopper as The Netherlands scooped all gold in the Junior division, while Denmark’s Cathrine Dufour recorded a Danish double in the Young Riders at the FEI European Dressage Championships for Young Riders and Juniors 2012 which drew to a close in Berne, Switzerland today.

Germany, so dominant when claiming five of the six titles on offer in 2011, took just a single title this time around when topping the Young Rider Teams.

The Championships were staged at The National Horse Centre of Switzerland, a green oasis in the heart of Berne with stabling for over 200 horses, outdoor and indoor arenas, and facilities for a wide range of equestrian activities including Driving, Jumping and Eventing.  The Centre previously played host to this same fixture 18 years ago.

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First FEI European Driving Championships for Children, Juniors, and Young Drivers Hailed a Great Success

The podium in the Nations Competition of the FEI European Driving Championships for Children, Juniors and Young Drivers 2012 ©Mark Wentein/FEI.

Wiener Neustadt (AUT), 15 July 2012 – The first edition of the FEI European Driving Championships for Children, Juniors and Young Drivers will be remembered as a great success despite the wet weather. The Theresianic Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt, Austria welcomed 39 drivers from eight nations.

The competition
The Championships comprised three categories. The first one was for Children aged between 12 and 14, the second for Juniors aged between 14 and 18, and the third one for Young Drivers between 16 and 21 years old. All competed with single ponies. The competition was run according to FEI Rules with an official Dressage test followed by a marathon and a final obstacle driving competition. The marathon, designed by O-course designer Gunnar Larsson from Sweden, included three obstacles in the Children’s, five in the Juniors’ and six in the Young Drivers’ categories.

Professional attitude
The hot weather held during the Dressage phase but the marathon and the obstacle driving competitions took place in the pouring rain. The Organisers managed to ensure the event went smoothly for all competitors. The young drivers displayed a very professional attitude which helped preventing accidents despite the slippery ground.

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Sweden Wins Through in Three-Round Thriller at Falsterbo

Jens Fredricson’s brilliant jump-off performance with Lunatic clinched the honours for Sweden in today’s sixth leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012. Photo: FEI/Lotta Gyllensten.

Falsterbo (SWE), 13 July 2012 – Sweden snatched victory in the sixth leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012 on home turf at Falsterbo today. As the competition progressed it seemed that glory was destined for France for the second week in succession, but in the best tradition of top Nations Cup competition it was unpredictable to the very end, and the result came down to a three-way, third-round race against the clock.

And it was London-bound Jens Fredricson who clinched it for the host country, in confident and convincing style, riding his super-fast 14 year old gelding, Lunatic.  This was Sweden’s fourth FEI Nations Cup victory on home soil in the last 10 years and the host country fielded its full team of Olympic riders, although not all were partnering their Olympic mounts.

Great Britain slotted into runner-up spot when William Funnel’s pathfinding jump-off time with Billy Angelo was almost three seconds off the pace and the French, who had looked sure-fire winners in the opening stages, had to settle for third as Jerome Hurel and OHM De Ponthual left a pole on the floor third time out.  “This was no Olympic Games,” said Fredricson afterwards. “You certainly can’t compare it to what we will expect in London, but it was so great to win at home in front of our own crowd and it’s the perfect result with the Olympics only a few weeks away now.”

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Sweden under Pressure on Home Turf in Falsterbo

(L to R) Falsterbo Show Director Jan-Olaf Wannius, FEI Commercial Manager Nathalie Taylor, British Chef d’Equipe Rob Hoekstra, German Chef d’Equipe Heinrich Hermann Engemann, Swiss Chef d’Equipe Stephane Montavon and Irish Chef d’Equipe Robert Splaine. Photo: FEI/Lotta Gyllensten.

Falsterbo (SWE), 12 July 2012 – The host nation will be feeling the heat as the sixth leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012 gets underway on home soil in Falsterbo, Sweden tomorrow afternoon.  Drawn second-last to go, Sweden also lies seventh of the eight competing nations on the series leaderboard, sharing the same score as the bottom-placed Irish whose aggregate score has them at a slight disadvantage.  For both sides, tomorrow is a crunch clash as they attempt to pull themselves off the wrong end of the league table with only two further legs of the series remaining after tomorrow’s competition.

And today’s draw was not kind to the Irish who will be first into the ring at 14.30 local time.

The order-of-go is as follows:  1, Ireland; 2, Germany; 3, Great Britain; 4, Switzerland; 5, Netherlands; 6, France; 7, Sweden; 8, Belgium.

HANDSOME LEAD

Germany holds a handsome lead in the series after a double of wins, at Rome (ITA) in May and Rotterdam (NED) in June, and consistently good placings including runner-up spot in Aachen (GER) last week where the French came out on top.

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Germany Extends Series Lead with Great Olympic Send-Off at Aachen

The German quartet of (left to right) Michael Jung, Sandra Auffarth, Ingrid Klimke, Dirk Schrade, with the Chef d’Equipe Hans Melzer, held off the British challenge to win the FEI Nations Cup Eventing at Aachen and extend their lead in the series. Photo: Kit Houghton/FEI

Lausanne (SUI), 7 July 2012 – Germany scored a morale-boosting win in the fourth leg of the FEI Nations Cup Eventing, held on their home ground at Aachen (GER) and their final selection trial before the London Olympic Games.

The Germans, who also won last month in Strzegom (POL), have now opened up a 20-point lead in the FEI Nations Cup Eventing over the Dutch, with two events to run in this new series. Great Britain, the runners-up in Aachen, are in fourth place but on the same points tally as third-placed France.

Australian Christopher Burton took the individual honours on Under Discussion, but he had elected to ride Haruzac (10th) for the team and the Australian effort disintegrated when Sam Griffiths was eliminated across country on Real Dancer and Clayton Fredericks withdrew Bendigo after Dressage and Jumping.

The defending Olympic champions had left nothing to chance in the team contest, fielding European team gold and individual silver medallists Sandra Auffarth (GER) and Opgun Louvo, who finished fourth, plus reigning world and European champion Michael Jung (GER) on his recent Luhmühlen winner Leopin, eighth, Dirk Schrade (GER) on Hop And Skip, seventh, and Ingrid Klimke (GER) with her 2008 Olympic gold medallist Butts Abraxxas, 18th.

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Fabulous French Fly to Victory in Aachen

Penelope Leprevost and Mylord Carthago jumped double-clear to help clinch pole position for France at the fifth leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012 in Aachen. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.

Aachen (GER), 5 July 2012 – In a super-tough clash that tested character to the limit, it was the French who came out on top at the fifth leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012 series at Aachen, Germany tonight.

Henk Nooren’s team displayed grit and determination as they pipped the much-fancied host country whose deep pool of riding talent has been somewhat diminished in recent days.  An extraordinarily poor performance from the anchor partnership of Marco Kutscher and the stallion Cornet Obolensky has left even more questions hanging in the air ahead of Germany’s final Olympic selection next Sunday night.

The Irish battled hard to finish a creditable third ahead of Switzerland in fourth and Great Britain in fifth, while the 2011 winners from The Netherlands had to settle for sixth this time around.  The Swedish team was reduced to just three after a fall for Peder Fredricson and H&M Arctic Aurora Borealis in the first round, and they slotted into seventh ahead of the Belgians whose big score of 40 faults saw them tail the rest of the field.

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