Category Archives: FEI

Competitions, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI, USEF

Leibler and Watson 108 Continue on to Freestyle at the FEI Young Rider World Cup Dressage Final in Germany

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Isabelle Leibler and Watson 108 National Young Rider Dressage Championships (SusanJStickle.com)

Lexington, KY – Isabelle Leibler and Watson 108 performed flawlessly Friday while representing the U.S. at the FEI Young Rider World Cup Dressage Final Grand Prix, and are moving forward to the B Final on Sunday in the Freestyle.

“We were mistake free and I finished the first day very proud of myself and of Watson for staying focused throughout the exciting distractions,” Leibler said. “The competition has been absolutely amazing so far. It is like nothing I have ever seen before: big, bright, and electric.”

Leibler (Greenwich, CT) and the 14-year-old Westphalian gelding were invited to represent the U.S. at the 2011 Finals after posting the highest average in the FEI Young Rider Freestyle Test at CDI-Ys during the qualifying period. This pair landed in Germany after a strong 2011 campaign that included winning a team Bronze medal and two Gold medals, individual and freestyle, at the Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Riders Championships presented by Gotham North. Additionally, they were crowned National Young Rider Dressage Champions at the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Championships.

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Truppa Tops the Line-Up in Frankfurt

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Valentina Truppa pictured with Lisa Wells from Reem Acra after her victory, riding Eremo Del Castegn. Photo: FEI/Karl-Heinz Freiler.

Frankfurt (GER), 18 December 2011 – Valentina Truppa won the fifth leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage 2011/2012 series in Frankfurt, Germany today with a great performance from Eremo Del Castegno.  The 25 year old rider from Monferrato in Northern Italy, a prolific winner already in her career, pinned Germany’s Monica Theodorescu and Dorothee Schneider into second and third places respectively, while Sweden’s Patrik Kittel finished fourth ahead of The Netherlands’ Hans Peter Minderhoud in fifth.

It was a disappointing day for German super-star Isabell Werth who threw down the gauntlet with victory in yesterday’s preliminary Grand Prix, but who had to settle for sixth place this time around in the Grand Prix Freestyle to Music.  While her flamboyant nine-year-old, Don Johnson, showed flashes of brilliance, the accumulation of mistakes during their lively test proved too expensive.

Today’s result has boosted Truppa to runner-up spot on the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Western European League 2011/2012 leaderboard which is now headed by Kittel, but it is very tight at the top.  Just three marks separate the three leading riders going into the next leg of the series at Mechelen in Belgium after Christmas.

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Bechtolsheimer Leads British Whitewash at Olympia

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Laura Bechtolsheimer steered Mistral Hojris to victory as British riders dominated the fourth leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage series. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.

Olympia (GBR), 14 December 2011 – Laura Bechtolsheimer led the cavalry-charge, as British riders sensationally claimed the top four places in the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage 2011/2012 qualifier at Olympia in London, Great Britain tonight.  Riding Mistral Hojris, the horse with which she claimed three silver medals at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA last year, the 26 year old rider scored 83.975 to pip fellow-countrywoman Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, while 2011 European silver medallist, Carl Hester, slotted into third with Uthopia.  And, rounding up the host-nation whitewash, Richard Davison steered Hiscox Artemis into fourth.

“I’m thrilled,” said Bechtolsheimer. “We won the Grand Prix here last year, but we have never won the Freestyle, and this is such a special show – the home crowd are great.  It means everything to have won this competition!” she added.

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

Team USA Places Fourth at FEI Junior and Young Rider World Endurance Championship

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Kelsey Kimbler on Cody Canuck and Mary Kathryn Clark on DA Al Capone walking in. Photos courtesy Kelly Kimbler

Lexington, KY – The U.S. finished fourth among 19 teams Saturday in Abu Dhabi, UAE, at the FEI Junior and Young Rider World Endurance Championship despite an uphill battle that included an injured horse at the first inspection.

“What an exhilarating team effort and realistically an unexpected result – but privately hoped for,” said Chef d’Equipe Emmett Ross.

Unexpected, in part, because Natalie Muzzio’s horse Khalil Asam was not able to ship, resulting in the loss of Team member Steven Hay. Then, at the first inspection on Friday, Kyle Gibbon’s horse, Misu Koran, owned by Stephen Rojek, presented with a sore shoulder and was not able to start. There are five vet checks throughout the race to check the horse’s soundness and metabolic capacity in order to be allowed to continue.

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

FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Riders 2011

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STAR PERFORMANCE FROM STIRLING AS URUGUAY TAKES TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL GOLD by Louise Parkes

15-year-old Martin Stirling rode the nine-year-old Vendaval to Team and Individual gold at the FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Riders 2011.

Abu Dhabi (UAE), 12 December 2011 – Martin Stirling was the star turn at the 2011 FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Riders in Abu Dhabi over the weekend when the 15-year-old schoolboy led Uruguay to Team and Individual glory.

The French stood in silver medal position on the team podium ahead of the Australians who took bronze, and it was Australia’s Allix Jones who was runner-up for the Individual title. Firming up the dominant position of the Uruguayan squad at this biennial event, Oriana Ricca claimed Individual bronze while team-mate, Maria Pereira, took the Best Condition Award after finishing individually seventh with Mi Jade.

It was a surprise result all round, with high expectations that riders from the United Arab Emirates would feature prominently. The UAE’s Hussain Ali Al Marzouqi steered his horse, Sergai, to win the last FEI World Endurance Champion for Juniors and Young Riders held in Hungary in 2009, while Ahmad Ali Al Sabri and Alizee de Marjolaine claimed the Open category gold at the European Junior and Young Rider Endurance Championships in 2010.

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

Miranda Turns On the Magic in Geneva

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Brazil’s Alvaro de Miranda produced a thrilling jump-off round from AD Ashleigh Drossel Dan to win the sixth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping series in Geneva, Switzerland today. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.

Geneva (SUI), 11 December 2011 – Brazil’s Alvaro de Miranda claimed maximum points and set himself on the road to the series Final with a breath-taking victory riding AD Ashleigh Drossel Dan in the sixth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Western European League at Geneva, Switzerland this afternoon.  With 16 of the world’s best horses and riders through to the closing stages, the second-round race against the clock was a thriller in which the lead changed again and again.  But with the advantage of being last to go, and with a superb round sprinkled with a little luck, the 38 year old rider and his 13 year old gelding scorched home to clinch it in style.

A measure of the quality of today’s competition was the prize-winning line-up, with 2011 European Champion Rolf-Goran Bengtsson from Sweden having to settle for runner-up spot despite a jump-off run with Casall la Silla that looked surely unbeatable.  And in third place was one of the fastest men on the planet, Patrice Delaveau from France who set the arena alight with Orient Express who seemed airborne from start to finish.  Today’s result boosts Bengtsson’s position at the top of the series leaderboard, but Miranda has climbed onboard in 18th place.  And the Brazilian is now altering his game-plan for the rest of the indoor season, with his sights shifted to earning a spot at the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping 2011/2012 final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands next April.

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

Boyd Exell Does Magic in Geneva

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Boyd Exell (AUS), winner of the fifth FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 qualifier held in Geneva (SUI) this weekend. ©Rinaldo de Craen/FEI

Geneva (SUI), 10 December 2011 – Boyd Exell (AUS) won the fifth leg of the FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 in Geneva, Switzerland, this afternoon. Exell competed in the Swiss city for the fourth time winning every edition. The crowd and the electric atmosphere in the arena today contributed to another magic performance. Dutch drivers Koos de Ronde and Theo Timmerman finished in second and third place.

Difficult enough

Falk Böhnisch of Germany had designed a difficult course for the seven drivers competing in Europe’s largest indoor arena, known for its unique features such as the water and the small slope, which make it resemble an outdoor marathon course. Böhnisch and President Ground Jury Hans Peter Rüschlin made some small adjustments to today’s course making it better and smoother for the horses.

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

Mary King Celebrates $50,000 HSBC Windfall

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Mary King (GBR), who débuted the HSBC Rankings armband in July, now secures 50,000 USD bonus as rankings leader at the end of the 2011 season. Photo: Barry Gomer.

Lausanne (SUI), 8 December 2011 – Mary King (GBR), who recently claimed 150,000 USD after becoming this year’s HSBC FEI Classics champion, is celebrating yet again after clinching a 50,000 USD bonus as the HSBC Rankings leader at the end of the 2011 season.

King, who celebrated her 50th birthday in June of this year, will be presented with her prize at the British Equestrian Writers’ Association annual awards lunch on 15 December at the London International Horse Show in Olympia (GBR).

This is the first time King has finished the season at the top of the rankings since being declared world number one at the end of 1991. First and second place finishes in the HSBC FEI Classics in Kentucky (USA), third at both Badminton and Burghley (GBR), fourth at Pau (FRA) and eighth at Luhmühlen (GER) gave King a season-end tally of 601 points. This put her at the top of the HSBC Rankings with a 15-point lead over William Fox-Pitt (GBR), who finished the season in second place, 73 points ahead of Andrew Nicholson (NZL).

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, FEI, FEI, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping

Margie Engle and Indigo Grab Victory in FEI World Cup Grand Prix, CSI 2* at Holiday and Horses

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Indigo and Margie Engle. Photos © ManciniPhotos

Wellington, FL – December 3, 2011 – The $50,000 FEI World Cup Grand Prix was the highlight class of the week at the Holiday and Horses Show, hosted by Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. Margie Engle of Wellington, FL, and Indigo were able to secure the victory in the FEI World Cup qualifier, and Engle also finished second with Lord Spezi. The show concludes on Sunday, December 4.

Anthony D’Ambrosio of Red Hook, NY, set the course for 42 entries and six were able to find the path to a clear round. “I thought it was a good course,” Engle said. “The oxer to oxer one stride you don’t see very often. You need to have that for World Cup courses. It’s a real scope test and you need a legitimate horse to do it. There were a lot of rails in different places. If you’re going to do World Cup Finals, you need that. He tested everything; he tested carefulness, he tested scope, the verticals were quite tall. I thought he did a great job.”

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Excellent Exell to the Fore Again in Budapest

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Boyd Exell (AUS), winner of the fourth FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 qualifier held in Budapest (HUN) this weekend. ©Rinaldo de Craen/FEI

Budapest (HUN), 4 December 2011 – Just a week after his first FEI World Cup victory of the season in Stockholm, Boyd Exell (AUS) repeated that winning performance by scoring at the fourth leg of the FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 in Budapest, Hungary today. Exell stayed ahead of home driver and favorite Jozsef Dobrovitz (HUN) and Stuttgart-winner Koos de Ronde (NED).

Change of horse
It was by no means a certainty that Exell would win again, however. One of his experienced leader horses, the 17-year-old gelding Spitfire, did not pass the first horse inspection due to a minor injury in his foot and Exell was forced to put his spare wheeler horse Clinton Star in the lead of his four-in-hand. Exell put Clinton Star to the test in the warm-up competition and the prizegiving ceremony on the first day, when he finished second behind Koos de Ronde. Exell’s gamble paid off and Clinton Star got even faster in today’s FEI World Cup Driving competition and contributed to the Australian’s second victory of the season. Following wins in 2008 and 2009, this was Exell’s third win in Budapest. Local hero Jozsef Dobrovitz, from the nearby village of Vecsés, was cheered on by his enthusiastic home crowd in the Laszlo Papp Arena and drove his team of Lipizzaner horses to a well-deserved second place.

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