Category Archives: FEI

Championships, Competitions, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

Host Nation Spain Drawn First to Go in FEI European Jumping Championships

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Madrid (ESP), 13 September 2011 – Host nation Spain will be hoping to stay out in front after being drawn number one of 16 nations at today’s draw for the starting order in the FEI European Jumping Championships. The Spanish have never won the European Jumping title and are keen to reverse that trend on their home turf at Club de Campo de Villa Madrid this week.

Defending title holders Switzerland are fourth to go; France – the country of reigning individual champion Kevin Staut – are in 13th; and Germany, leaders in the FEI European Championship gold medal tally with six team titles, will start 14th.

The order of go for the FEI European Jumping Championships: 1, Spain; 2, Great Britain; 3, Poland; 4, Switzerland; 5, Ireland; 6, Netherlands; 7, Sweden; 8, Norway; 9, Italy; 10, Belgium; 11, Denmark; 12, Portugal; 13, France; 14, Germany; 15, Hungary; 16, Austria.

“Now I know what a warm welcome really means,” said Stephan Ellenbruch (GER), President of the Ground Jury, as temperatures soared and the Spanish summer returned to Club de Campo de Villa Madrid. Speaking at today’s draw, Stephan Ellenbruch said: “Maybe I should give the timetable for the swimming pool before we go into the draw!”

Show director Alfonso Segovia, who competed at both the Munich and Montreal Olympic Games, conducted the draw with FEI Jumping Committee Acting Chair, John Madden.

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

FEI European Junior Eventing Championships 2011 – Vale Sabroso (POR)

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BRITISH TAKE TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL GOLD by Louise Parkes

L to R - Kevin Seignier from France (Silver), Great Britain's Zoe Brenan (Gold) and David Doel, also from Great Britain (Bronze). Photo: FEI/Michael Steiger.

Lausanne (SUI), 12 September 2011 – Great Britain claimed team gold along with two of the three individual medals on offer at the FEI European Junior Eventing Championships 2011 at Vale Sabroso in Portugal over the weekend.  However the team silver medallists from Germany put up a spirited fight when the side was reduced to just three riders following last-minute injury problems and, leading through the dressage and cross-country phases, they were only pipped at the post in the final jumping test to finish ahead of the bronze medallists from France.

Zoe Brenan took individual gold for Britain riding Latino K while her compatriot, David Doel riding Kings Cross, scooped the bronze when finishing just 0.7 points behind Kevin Seigner and Or du Genet from France who slotted into individual silver spot.

The venue, in the beautiful Alcacer do Sol region, opened its gates to competitors from 15 nations – Italy, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland and The Netherlands – with eight countries vying for the team medals and a total of 52 starters.

HELD THE LEAD
The German team of Franziska Dennersmann (Rantan Plan Z), Charlotte Hachmeister (Kassio) and Josephine Wilms (Corvette D) held the lead after the dressage phase, with Ireland in second and Great Britain in third ahead of France.  This was a particularly good result for the Irish who do not always shine in the dressage department, but normally tend to come into their own when the jumping phases get underway.  However the Irish Juniors have clearly raised their game, and on this occasion Tori Dixon and Shadow Light were sharing third place on the individual leaderboard with Belgium’s Valentine Gabriel and Chopin Van’T Kattekwaad going into cross-country day on a score of 45.0.  German team member, Wilms, was lying second with a mark of 44.0 while British individual, Emily King, led the way with a mark of 41.9 from Mr Hiho.

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

FEI Open European Endurance Championships 2011 – Florac (FRA)

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PHENOMENAL PONTON TAKES INDIVIDUAL TITLE WHILE FRANCE TOPS THE TEAMS by Louise Parkes

The phenomenal Spanish partnership of Maria Alvarez Ponton and Nobby added the FEI European Endurance Championships 2011 Individual title to their remarkable record when taking gold in Florac, France yesterday. Photo: FEI/Gilly Wheeler.

Lausanne (SUI), 11 September 2011 – Spain’s record-breaking partnership of Maria Alvarez Ponton and Nobby took their fourth Championship title in a row when putting in another phenomenal performance at the FEI European Endurance Championships 2011 in Florac, France yesterday.  And the host nation had plenty to celebrate too, as Virginie Atger, Julien Goachet, Sunny Demedy and Benedicte Santisteva claimed the team honours for France.

Concerns about the intense heat in the days leading up to the event dissipated when a cooling mist shrouded the mountainous course as the riders set off with a racing start at 4.30am.  And it was an extraordinary sight as their headlamps guided the 76 competitors from 17 countries through the darkness over the early stages of their 160 kms challenge.  Florac is recognised as one of the toughest Endurance tracks in the world, with a climb to 1,665 metres at its highest point, and a completion, let alone a victory here, is a coveted achievement in this most demanding of equestrian sports.

The track did not follow the modern “clover-leaf” formula often used in the sport today, in which the loops return to a central base during the course of the race.  In contrast, the six loops on the Florac track stretched out over fresh ground and, while helping maintain the interest of the horses throughout, this presented a significant logistical challenge to the hard-working support crews and officials.

THE STUFF OF LEGEND
Ponton and Nobby are already the stuff of legend however.  The Spanish rider and her little 148cms super-champ broke all previous records with their hat-trick that included the 2008 World title, 2009 European title and then their gold medal winning performance at last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA.  And, a year later, they have now raised the bar even higher with their fourth extraordinary success.

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Championships, Competitions, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

FEI European Jumping Championships 2011 Preview

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MADRID PROMISES A FEAST OF FINE SPORT by Louise Parkes

Lausanne (SUI), 8 September 2011 – The FEI European Jumping Championships celebrates its 31st anniversary as the action begins at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in Spain next Tuesday.  At the inaugural Championship in Rotterdam (NED) back in 1957, where there were only individual medals on offer, just eight riders competed, and it was no surprise when Germany’s Hans Gunther Winkler took the title.

Fast-forward 54 years, and the 2011 fixture has attracted 85 riders from 22 countries, while 17 nations will fight it out for the team medals which were first introduced at Munich (GER) in 1975.  The team title on that occasion went to the host nation, which also claimed individual gold (Alwin Schockemohle), silver (Hartwig Steenken) and bronze (Sonke Sonksen).  The German record in these Championships is extraordinary – 45 medals in total including 14 individual and 6 sets of team gold.  Their nearest challengers in terms of supremacy are the British, but with a relatively modest 28 medals, including six individual and four team gold, they are a long way adrift of their German counterparts.

PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT
Staged every two years, in the middle of the Olympic cycle, the FEI European Jumping Championships are particularly significant in the season preceding the Olympic Games.  With London 2012 growing ever-closer, there is great pressure on the non-qualified nations to take this final opportunity to earn one of the three remaining places.

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Competitions, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

Swiss Win FEI Promotional League Series by Convincing Margin

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Steve Guerdat was one of the riders who helped secure Switzerland's return to the top-level FEI Nations Cup 2012 through victory in the 2011 FEI Promotional League series this season. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.

Lausanne (SUI), 8 September 2011 – As predicted, Switzerland has qualified for the 2012 FEI Nations Cup series having secured the 2011 FEI European Promotional League title by a convincing margin.  Finishing the season with 60.5 points, the Swiss completed with an advantage of 6.5 points over the runners-up from Sweden, while Italy placed third ahead of Spain.

The Swiss and Swedes were the main protagonists in the closing stages of the battle for the single qualifying spot available to the Promotional League Champions, each looking strong when making guest appearances in the top-level FEI Nations Cup 2011 series on their home turf this summer.  At St Gallen in June, the Swiss finished equal-second alongside the first-division British, while at Falsterbo in July the Swedes divided runner-up spot with the defending series champions from France.

In the end, it was their success in the final leg of the Challengers Series that clinched it for the Swiss as they collected the maximum 16 points available at Bratislava in Slovakia which boosted their position as the best six scores from their outings in both the Promotional and Challengers Leagues were calculated.

STRONG SWISS FOURSOME
It was the strong Swiss foursome of Martin Fuchs (Principal), Janika Sprunger (Uptown Bo), Steve Guerdat (Nino des Buissonnets) and Hensueli Sprunger (Kepi de Valse) that lined out at the Slovakian fixture, but they only pipped the runners-up from The Ukraine by a single fault, while Austria slotted into third.  A total of 16 faults in the first round put paid to Swedish chances here, as only the best eight nations returned in round two.  At the previous leg of the Challengers League in Sopot, Poland the situation had been reversed when the Swiss failed to make the cut while the Swedes picked up points for third place.

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Championships, Competitions, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2011 – Zagreb (CRO)

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BIG HAUL OF GOLD FOR THE GREEKS IN ZAGREB by Louise Parkes

Croatia's Kristina Grilec, Mirna Bacic and Janka Krasovec - gold, silver and bronze medallists in the Amazons (Ladies) Individual Championship at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2011. Photo: FEI/ BalkanJChPress.

Lausanne (SUI), 6 September 2011 – Greek riders were in flying form at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2011 staged in Zagreb, Croatia last weekend where they claimed eight of the 10 titles on offer.  Gold in the Ladies Individual and Team events were the only medals to escape their grasp as they ran riot through the remainder of the show programme, producing convincing wins at all levels.

Staged at the Karoca Horse Club in the Croatian capital city, the event attracted competitors from six nations – Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece.  President of the Ground Jury was Russia’s Vladimir Platov and the remainder of the Ground Jury panel were Mrs Mimi Kyrkinis from Greece, Turkey’s Mrs Gulfer Taneri, Bulgaria’s Mr Yuri Valev and Mrs Jasminka Pirs Petrakovic from Croatia.

SENIORS
In the Senior Team Championships, the Greeks clinched gold with a total of 22 faults which give them a significant 14-fault advantage over the silver medallists from Slovenia.  The Croatians took bronze, but with 55 faults on the board were a long way further adrift and 10 points clear of the Bulgarians who just missed out on the medals here.

Course designer, Olaf Petersen Jr., set a 1.30m track for the opening competition in which Alexandros Fourlis and his 12 year old bay mare GZS Cappucino Z, by Calvaro Z, raced home quickest in a time of 61.39 seconds.  From a start-list of 22 runners, it was Croatia’s Denis Gugic (Davita) and Filip Rozmaric (Cezar BB) who slotted into the next two places while Hanna Roberson-Mytilinaiou (Natacha Delaunay) from Greece was close behind in fourth spot.

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Championships, Competitions, Driving, Events, FEI, FEI

First European Title for IJsbrand Chardon

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Dutch champion IJsbrand Chardon won his first European four-in-hand title in Breda this weekend. Photo © Rinaldo de Craen.

Breda (NED), 1-4 September 2011 – Four-time world four-in-hand champion IJsbrand Chardon (NED) has added a new title to his long list of successes. Chardon won the first FEI Open European Driving Championships for Four-in-Hand since 1981, which were held in Breda, the Netherlands this weekend. Jozsef Dobrovitz from Hungary won the silver medal; the bronze medal went to Chardon’s fellow country- and teammate Koos de Ronde. The Dutch team took the lead from the very beginning and won the European team gold ahead of Hungary and Germany. Reigning world champion Boyd Exell from Australia won the Open category.

Determined
Although the emphasis of the competition was obviously on the European Championships, IJsbrand Chardon had another goal in Breda and that was to beat Boyd Exell. Exell managed to beat Chardon at every event where both drivers competed this year. Chardon is a winner at heart and is determined to beat Exell. In Breda, he came very close. Exell took the lead after a beautiful Dressage test whereas Chardon won the marathon. The difference between the rivals after the Dressage and Marathon competitions was only 0.10 penalty points in favour of Exell. In the final obstacle driving competition, second to last starter Chardon knocked a ball off the last pair of cones which gave Exell a wider margin, which the world champion did not even need in the end. Exell drove an excellent clear round within the time allowed and was declared winner of the Open category of FEI European Driving Championships for Four-in-Hands.

Risky
IJsbrand Chardon had mixed feelings afterwards. On one hand, he was happy to have won his first European Championships and on the other he was not pleased with his second place behind Boyd Exell. “I am a top sportsman and I like to win,” Chardon said. “I opened the attack on Boyd and focussed completely on beating him, which was very risky. Luckily, it went well and I did not lose but I would have preferred to compete against him in an equal battle.” Chardon, whose eldest daughter Jeannette rode in the two-star Eventing competition at Breda at the same time, competed with the 15-year-old Swedish warmblood Tango and the KWPN geldings Whooper, Zion and Darco in Dressage. KWPN-gelding Tomasson replaced Zion in the Marathon and Cones competitions.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI, Para-Equestrian

Freestyle Gold Medals Bring British Haul to a Magnificent Eight

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Denmark's Stinna Kaastrup and Labbenhus Snovs added Freestyle Grade Ib gold to Team and Individual silver at the FEI European Para-Equestrian Dressage Championships 2011 at Moorsele, Belgium yesterday. Photo: FEI/Liz Gregg.

Moorsele (BEL), 5 September 2011 – With the Team and three Individual titles already under their belt, the British brought their gold medal haul to a magnificent eight when adding victory in Freestyle Grades Ia, II, III and IV to their tally on the final afternoon of the FEI European Para-Equestrian Dressage Championships 2011 at Moorsele in Belgium yesterday.  Only Denmark’s Stinna Kaastrup prevented them from making it a complete whitewash in the closing stages of the event that produced fantastic competition and presented many new stars of the future.

It was one of the stalwarts of the sport who took the first Freestyle title on offer in Grade Ia when British veteran, Anne Dunham, claimed top of the podium after a test with the ever-reliable Teddy that earned her a personal best score of 79.200.  “He was just brilliant!” Dunham said of the horse that also helped her take team and individual honours.  Freestyle Silver went to British team-mate Emma Sheardon with Purdy’s Dream on a score of 74.100 while Sweden’s Anita Johnsson and Donar took bronze with 73.950, heading a strong challenge from Helen Kearney who became the first-ever Irish rider to claim a medal at the FEI European Para-Equestrian Dressage Championships the previous day. The 22 year old competitor, who hails from Dunlavin in County Wicklow and who only began riding three years ago, took Individual bronze in Grade Ia, and Irish Chef d’Equipe, Naomi Donoghue, said afterwards, “It was a tremendous day for Helen and the Irish Para Equestrian squad.  We have achieved our first European medal and I firmly believe there will be many more to come.”

CONVINCING MARGIN
Kaastrup won Freestyle Grade Ib by a convincing margin, pinning Austria’s Pepo Puch (Good Boy’s Feeling) into silver medal position ahead of Finland’s Katja Karjalainen (Rosie) in bronze.  The 17 year old Danish rider, double bronze and silver Freestyle medallist at last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, lives on Fyn, the third-largest of Denmark’s islands, and she trains intensively with the help of coach Lotte Straarup.  She began riding as a therapeutic pursuit and learned to really enjoy it with her first pony, whom she said, “was very nice, but a bit big!”

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HSBC FEI Classics – Fox-Pitt Makes History with Sixth Burghley Win

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William Fox-Pitt (GBR) made history with a record sixth Burghley victory when winning on Parklane Hawk with just a single Jumping time penalty to add to his Dressage score. Photo: Kit Houghton/FEI.

4 September 2011 – William Fox-Pitt (GBR) earned a standing ovation from the rain-soaked crowd as he clinched a record sixth title at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR), second-last leg of the HSBC FEI Classics.

Fox-Pitt showed all his famous finesse and calmness as he conjured a clear round with just one time fault on the sodden ground from Catherine Witt’s Parklane Hawk, an 11-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred by Grosvenor.

He has now beaten the five Burghley victories apiece for Ginny Elliot (GBR) and Mark Todd (NZL), and has equalled Lucinda Green’s (GBR) Badminton record of six wins on six different horses.

“This ranks as one of the best achievements of my life,” said a visibly emotional Fox-Pitt afterwards.

“I pretend to look relaxed, but deep down this really matters to me. It’s such an honour to win six times and to be among such legends as Mark, Ginny and Lucinda – and Mark’s still going, so perhaps he’ll beat me next time!

“I can’t believe what’s happened today. The horse was superb because the conditions were against us. I’m so lucky to have him to ride.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI, Para-Equestrian

Great Britain’s All-Female Quintet Exceeds All Expectations

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Moorsele (BEL), 3 September 2011 – Britain proved today that they still have the edge and remain the team to beat when it comes to Para-Equestrian Dressage. Indeed, as Britain’s first all-female quintet scooped team gold and 5 of the 15 available medals in the individual test, with three of the grades won by a British rider, there was little doubt left that they are in a league of their own.

Anne Dunham, Great Britain’s most experienced Para-Equestrian Dressage rider who has participated in every Para-Equestrian Dressage event of the Paralmypics since it was introduced on the programme in 1996, went on to win her 15th and 16th gold medals at a Championship (Paralympic, World and European), while new member to the British squad, Natasha Baker, convincingly took gold in Grade II. At just 21 years of age, Natasha is a passionate and determined professional, with four horses on the go and plans for Rio 2016. She has been on a gold medal spree since the beginning of the year, with gold at the national Championships in June, followed by more gold in Hartpury in July and then a spot on the British squad for the Europeans here in Moorsele. She has her sights clearly set one of the few spots on the British squad for 2012, but will be up against some tough competition.

“It’s been a thrilling year for Great Britain to have achieved the success that we have in both Dressage and Para-Equestrian Dressage. We have exceeded all expectations and now have to focus on getting ready for 2012, both in terms of preparing our athletes and also preparing to host the world’s best equestrians,” said Amanda Bond, Chief Executive of British Dressage, following today’s prize giving ceremony.

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