Category Archives: Dressage

The Discipline of Riding Dressage

Champion Driver Suzy Stafford’s Pony Miss Josephine Shines in Dressage Phase of German National Pony Championships

Suzy Stafford and her half-Arabian Miss Josephine competed at the German National Pony Championships in Minden, Germany, placing second in the dressage phase. (Photo courtesy of Bettina Ruckelshaus)

Minden, Germany (September 8, 2011) – Gold medalist Suzy Stafford’s registered half-Arabian mare Miss Josephine put her best hoof forward in the dressage phase of the German National Pony Championships in Minden, Germany, placing second amongst a highly competitive field. Stafford and several other members of the U.S. team competed at Minden in preparation for the 2011 FEI World Pony Driving Championships in Slovenia.

“Josie and I started out well on dressage day. We came in second in dressage behind another U.S. pony team driver Shelly Temple. I was thrilled as Shelly and Cooper have been a pair for many years and have proven themselves as the dressage favorite in the States. Josie put in one of her best performances to date and I was overjoyed with how she did. Josie has only shown in the advanced level five times including Minden,” Stafford said.

Stafford said the marathon day was just as successful for Josie. “We had a good round and I was pleased how fit and ready she felt throughout the whole course. The rain the night before made for some slippery conditions but with the help of Janelle Marshal, my ‘rent a gator’ and Team Australia pony driver, we had a safe and noteworthy score. I felt Josie and my timing was a bit off due to the lapse of time in between shows, but now I feel the practice Josie and I had at Minden will help prepare us for the challenges ahead,” Stafford said.

Stafford and Josie were in second place going into the cones division; however, things didn’t go as smoothly as Stafford hoped. “We dropped to 11th place after the cones, which was very disappointing,” Stafford said. “But I will use this unfortunate circumstance to become a better driver, trainer and student under the influence of our coach Michael Freund. I think the cones issue was a biting problem in hindsight, so we have worked on that and should have things sorted out for the Championships.”

Continue reading Champion Driver Suzy Stafford’s Pony Miss Josephine Shines in Dressage Phase of German National Pony Championships

2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions Set to Begin

Heather Mason and Warsteiner. Photo: SusanJStickle.com

Gladstone, NJ – The first glimpse of the horses and riders competing at the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions was had at the USET Foundation Headquarters as more than 54 horses and two ponies made the annual pilgrimage to jog before the Ground Jury at the USEF National Dressage Championships. The sun didn’t make an appearance, as Northern New Jersey continues to be plagued with rain, but plenty of lovely horses did.

The star-studded cast of horses and riders includes two of the last three Collecting Gaits Farm /USEF Grand Prix National Champions, the reigning Individual Bronze medalist from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the reigning Individual Gold and Silver medalists from the 2003 Pan American Games, who were both also members of the Gold medal-winning Team.

For four days, Gladstone will feature the best that American dressage has to offer. With selection for the 2011 Pan American Games on the line in the Intermediaire I Championships, as well as six National titles, the competition which begins Thursday at 8:00 am in the Dick and Jane Brown Arena, promises to be world-class.

The Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Grand Prix National Championships features Ravel, Akiko Yamazaki and Four Winds Farm’s superstar who won the 2008 title in California with Steffen Peters. This pair also swept the 2009 CHIO Aachen, won the 2009 FEI World Cup Dressage Final, and was the highest placed U.S. pair at both the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, where they won two Individual Bronze medals. Peters also won the 2007 National Championship title on Lombardi. Tina Konyot was the 2010 champion on Calecto V – and they return to defend their title. This pair has had a quiet summer as Konyot recovered from a knee injury, but they were Peters and Ravel’s teammate on the 2010 WEG team, which placed fourth.

Continue reading 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions Set to Begin

Piaffe-Performance Team Shines at CDI Saugerties with Numerous Wins, the Two Highest Scores of the Show and a Clean Sweep of the Small Tour

Dr. Cesar Parra (center) stands with his team of riders from Piaffe-Performance at the CDI Saugerties. (Photo courtesy of Piaffe-Performance Farm)

Whitehouse Station, NJ (September 5, 2011) – Dressed in their navy blazers and khaki pants when they weren’t riding, the riders from Piaffe-Performance, led by international dressage rider and trainer Dr. Cesar Parra, were easy to spot at the CDI Saugerties show. The Piaffe-Performance team was on fire, burning up the scoreboard with phenomenal wins, excellent scores and personal bests.

Parra set the pace for his riders by making a clean sweep of the Small Tour classes aboard Grandioso, owned by Michael and Sarah Davis. “For Piaffe-Performance this was probably our most successful show ever. What an amazing weekend,” Para said. “Grandioso and I scored a CDI personal best of 75.614% in the Intermediaire I class. Our team also had the highest two scores of the show with multiple wins in the 3rd and 4th level classes.”

Kevin Kohmann and Federleicht rode away with the highest score of the show with a 78.9% while Nadine Buberl earned a 77.8% on Lindner. “Bebe Davis won the Pony test and showed her Rotano for the first time ever with a really nice score, showing what a bright future they have,” Parra said. “In the Junior CDI our riders placed first and second with Nicholas Torres Rodriguez and Silver Label winning both classes, with a score of over 70% on the second day. It was their first show together so I am very proud of them. I am also proud of Piaffe-Performance student Dominique Cassavetis who placed second in the same classes.”

The wins didn’t end there, as Chase Hickok and Krista Schrager rode away with first and second in the Young Riders. “John McGinty won his division of 4th level with Windsor, Susie won with Manny, Katie with Leo, Nadine did super with Superman and Aga showed off his new moves schooling through the weekend,” Parra said.

Continue reading Piaffe-Performance Team Shines at CDI Saugerties with Numerous Wins, the Two Highest Scores of the Show and a Clean Sweep of the Small Tour

Shelly Temple Takes 5th Place at the Minden CDE in Germany

On her quest to make the US Pony Driving Team for the second time, Shelly Temple and her Morgan gelding LR Ami B-Line (Cooper) have been training in Germany since August.

Shelly and Cooper competed at the Minden CDE in Germany, August 25-28, 2011.  Minden is a large event featuring the German National Championships.  The first day of competition began with a bang with their win in the Single Pony dressage class with a score of 43.39.

On marathon day Shelly took a conservative approach with Cooper to ensure he was safe on the technical and long course.  However, on day 3, cones, Shelly and Cooper turned it on.  They took 2nd place in cones with a double clear (i.e., making the time requirement with no faults).  “I was very pleased with my cones course; it was very smooth and Cooper went well,” states Shelly.  Overall, Shelly remarks that the German show was great and featured many excellent top pony drivers: “The Germans will be very hard to beat in Lipica [World Championships].”

Accompanying Shelly, Cooper, and her husband to Europe are the feeds, supplements, and equipment of her sponsors: Kentucky Equine Research, Kombat Boots, Purina feeds, Omega Fields, ThinLine, Leather Therapy, and Charles Owens.  Shelly is thankful for the support of her sponsors and donors: “This is truly a team sport as I couldn’t be here without the generosity of my sponsors and all the great people who have donated to Team Catalyst.”

Cooper is currently grazing grass and preparing for the World Pony Championships in Slovenia September 22-25.  She hopes to build upon her 2007 success as a member of the U.S. Bronze medal team as well as silver medallist in dressage.  To follow Shelly and Team Catalyst on their efforts to make the US Team for the 2011 Pony Driving World Championship visit her blog at http://catalystdriving.blogspot.com/.

For more information contact:
Shelly Temple
Windsor, South Carolina
rskydiver@aol.com
www.catalystdriving.com

Freestyle Gold Medals Bring British Haul to a Magnificent Eight

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!”

Continue reading Freestyle Gold Medals Bring British Haul to a Magnificent Eight

Great Britain’s All-Female Quintet Exceeds All Expectations

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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Sinead Halpin on Top for U.S. after Day Two at 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials

Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville. Photos: www. stockimageservices. com.

Lexington, KY – The dressage phase of the 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials concluded on Friday with incredibly close scores under sunny skies.  Only 10 points separate the top 21 places. The riders representing the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team are very much in the running heading into Saturday’s cross country. Eighty of the best eventing horses in the world are vying for top honors at one of the most prestigious CCI4* events in the world, and four of the five American horses are in the top 32.

Germany dominated the HSBC European Eventing Championships last week and it is the nation to beat again as Simone Deitermann and Free Easy NRW leads the way at Burghley with a score of 39.3. Deitermann is 4/10ths of a point clear of Thursday’s dressage leader William Fox-Pitt on Parklane Hawk. Fox-Pitt, who has won the event five times for the home team, rode Parklane Hawk to a second- place effort on a score of 39.7 – despite a two-point penalty for an error.

Sinead Halpin (Pottersville, NJ) leads the way for the U.S. with Carraig, LLC’S Manoir de Carneville, an 11-year-old Selle Francais gelding. The pair moved into 12th with an impeccable effort at their second CCI4* with a score of 46.0. Their effort was obedient and expressive, and they coped with the electric occasion of the main arena with class. Halpin’s trip to England, which also included the Hartpury CIC3* in August, was made possible by the Jacqueline Mars Training Grant awarded by USET Foundation. Halpin received the grant after placing third at the 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Bridgestone, an effort which earned her and Manoir de Carneville the USEF National CCI4* Championship.

The combination has forged a remarkable partnership, and their effort provided a harmonious impression that was rewarded by the judges.

Continue reading Sinead Halpin on Top for U.S. after Day Two at 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials

HSBC FEI Classics – Germany on Top Again after Dressage at Burghley

Simone Deitermann (GER) and Free Easy NRW took a slender lead after Dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. Photo: Kate Houghton/FEI.

Lausanne (SUI), 2 September 2011 – Simone Deitermann (GER) and Free Easy NRW are well known for their ability in the Dressage arena, but the German rider still said it felt “amazing” to be in the lead on her first visit to the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR), second-last leg of the HSBC FEI Classics.

“My horse was quite nervous,” she explained, “and he is not used to performing on a grass arena.”

Despite that, an excellent performance resulted in a score of 39.3 penalties, just 0.4 ahead of the first-day leader William Fox-Pitt (GBR) on Parklane Hawk.

Deitermann, 30, who was 12th at Badminton last year, missed out on the thrilling German domination at the HSBC FEI European Championships last weekend because she and Free Easy NRW had experienced problems in the build-up, including a fall at Bramham CCI3* (GBR).

“This is my chance to qualify for the London Olympic Games,” explained Deitermann, who was third after Dressage at the FEI Alltech World Equestrian Games in Kentucky last year before suffering a Cross Country fall at the last fence.

She has walked the Cross Country at Burghley with German team trainer Chris Bartle and says: “It is beautiful, but I think it will be quite tough for me.”

Continue reading HSBC FEI Classics – Germany on Top Again after Dressage at Burghley

UPDATED: Entries Confirmed for the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions

Steffen Peters and Ravel. Photo: SusanJStickle.com

Lexington, KY – With six USEF National Dressage Championships and selection for U.S. Dressage Team for the 2011 Pan American Games on the line, the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions is the place to be September 8-11, 2011.

The USET Foundation Headquarters plays host to the prestigious event in Gladstone, NJ which is headlined by the Grand Prix National Dressage Championships and the Intermediaire I National Dressage Championship (which also serves as the USEF Selection Trial for the U.S. Dressage Team for the 2011 Pan American Games).

Returning to vie for the title in the Grand Prix is Ravel. The most decorated American dressage horse in history makes his first trip to compete at Gladstone for owners Akiko Yamazaki and Four Winds Farms. With Steffen Peters, the 13-year-old Dutch gelding was the 2008 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Grand Prix Champion (contested in California), the 2009 Farnam/Platform USEF Horse of the Year, he won the FEI World Cup Dressage Final in 2009 and swept the CHIO Aachen that same year, he was also double Individual Bronze medalist at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Peters (San Diego, CA) will be looking to add another National Championship title to the horse’s resume – and 2011 marks a first for Ravel as well as a return for Peters. Peters hasn’t competed at Gladstone since he won the 2007 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Grand Prix National Championships with Lombardi.

Continue reading UPDATED: Entries Confirmed for the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions

Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos Lead the U.S. Effort after Day One at the 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials

Neville Bardos and Boyd Martin at Burghley. Photo: www. stockimageservices. com

Lexington, KY – American Boyd Martin rode confidently into the main arena at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials to put in a top 12 effort on the first day of dressage. Riding Neville Bardos, whose trip to England was made possible by a Land Rover Competition and Training Grant, Martin was accurate and produced an excellent effort at the CCI4*.

Neville Bardos’ appearance at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is something of a miracle after the 12-year-old Australian Thoroughbred gelding was trapped in a fire in Martin’s barn in May. Incredibly the little horse survived and recovered from the smoke inhalation, amazing all of his connections and veterinarians. His score of 47.9 at his first Burghley is a testament to the time and effort that Martin and his team have invested in him. Tenth at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games last year, Neville Bardos appears to be returning to form.

“I was pleased to get here and make it one-third of the way around so far,” said Martin. “That’s his weakest phase of the three and we got through it close to our best.”

The talk of the event has been the challenging cross country track, and Neville Bardos is renowned for his ability to run and jump. Only 10 points off the leader, Great Britain’s William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk (39.7), the Neville Bardos Syndicate’s hope is well within reach of a top placing.

Continue reading Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos Lead the U.S. Effort after Day One at the 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials