Category Archives: Dressage

The Discipline of Riding Dressage

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

Johnstone Sets the Target with Double Down Under

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Clarke Johnstone on Orient Express wins again in Sydney at the second leg of the FEI World Cup Eventing 2011. Photo: Rachel Smith/FEI

Lausanne (SUI), 9 May 2011 – As anticipated, Antipodean riders seized the chance to steal a march on their northern hemisphere colleagues in the 2011 FEI World Cup Eventing series by targeting the second leg, at Sydney’s Weekend of Equestrian World Cups (AUS).

New Zealander Clarke Johnstone followed up his victory at Kihikihi (NZL) last month by travelling across the Tasman Sea to pick up another win aboard Orient Express, his team bronze medal-winning mount at last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky (USA).

Only three riders have won two FEI World Cup events in a season: Michael Jung (GER) last year, Megan Jones (AUS) in 2009, and Nicolas Touzaint (FRA) in 2007. Johnstone’s two wins, plus a third at Kihikihi, gives him an impressive tally of 119 points.

With riders’ three best results counting towards the final rankings, which carry a first prize of €28,000 the New Zealander could prove hard to beat. He has further chances to improve his tally as he sets off for Britain this month to further his ambition of selection for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

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Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Events, JRPR, Training/Clinics

Dressage Master Walter Zettl Teams Up with Linda and Pat Parelli to Appear on Dressage Training Online

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Linda Parelli rides one of her own horses in a lesson with dressage master Walter Zettl. (Photo courtesy of Barbara Schnell)

Ocala, FL (May 5, 2011) – Classical Dressage Master Walter Zettl has built his successful dressage career on understanding the relationship between the horse and rider.  Zettl coaches Linda and Pat Parelli, founders of Parelli Natural Horsemanship, Inc., and regularly conducts private dressage clinics at the Parellis’ Ocala facility. Zettl recently spent time in Ocala with the Parellis, teaching and being taped for dressage videos which will appear on the Dressage Training Online website.

“The Dressage Training Online website is a wonderful venue for us to be included in,” said Linda Parelli. “Walter is a great bridge for us because he believes in what we are doing in natural horsemanship and he sees how closely our approach relates to the principles of truly classical dressage.”

Zettl taught lessons and was taped for the Dressage Training Online segments with Linda and her horse West Point as well as with Canadian Para-Equestrian Team member Lauren Barwick, a para-equestrian who won Gold and Silver Medals in the Beijing Paralympics in 2008. Barwick is a Four Star Parelli Instructor and a Senior Protégé in the Mastery program of the Parellis’ Natural Horsemanship Program.

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Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, FEI, Media/Radio/TV Sources

Dressage Radio Episode 102 – Reem Acra FEI World Cup Final

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German dressage journalist Kim Kreling joins Chris this week to review the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final from Leipzig, Germany. Take a listen right here.

Dressage Radio Episode 102 – Show Notes and Links:

  • Host: Chris Stafford
  • Photo Credit: Adelinde Cornelissen by the FEI
  • Guest: Kim Kreling

_______________________________________________

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Community/Charity, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Driving, Equine Assisted Therapy, Eventing/H.T., Events, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Luncheon at Port Mayaca’s Driving Trial to Benefit New Handicap Driving Program at VTRC

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VTRC's Skippy. Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Client

Loxahatchee, FL – May 4, 2011 – The Spring Horse Driving Trial at Port Mayaca Polo Club, Saturday and Sunday May 14th and 15th, will include a charity luncheon to benefit the new driving program at the Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center. The Luncheon will be held Saturday the May 14th during the Dressage and Cones portion of the competition in Okeechobee, FL. The competition will begin at 9 am and the luncheon will be served from 12 until 2pm. The competition is similar to 3 day eventing, including dressage, cones which is similar to the stadium jumping portion, and a cross country portion, including obstacles that will be driven on Sunday starting at 9am.

Proceeds from the luncheon will benefit the start up of VTRC’s new handicap driving program. The addition of a driving program will allow the center to meet the needs of people who may not be able to ride but will enjoy the camaraderie of the barn and the excitement of competition. VTRC Director of Development Susan Guinan has been committed to starting a driving program at VTRC for sometime. She began driving in the 1980s, and has competed at Gladstone and Devon and many other shows along the east coast. She continued her driving while living in England and was involved with the RDA driving program. She is pleased to be able to bring this opportunity to VTRC.

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Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Jane Savoie, Training/Clinics

Motivation from Moshi 60, by Jane Savoie

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I’ve been in love a few times in my life. The most recent mare I fell head-over-hooves for was a beautiful palomino Tennessee Walker, named Annie. Oh my gosh, that girl was a beauty! Long blond hair, lovely big hip, with the most elegant sashay as she’d walk down the road. My heart went pitter-patter every time she and her person rode by our barn.

I’d not seen her in awhile. I would watch the road hoping she would come by, but nothing. Then, a long time after I’d last seen her, Annie’s person stopped by our barn and told a friend that Annie was gone. She’d gotten into something poisonous and had severely foundered. Her owner tearfully shared that they had tried for months to save her, but she was in so much pain and her coffin bone had rotated so far, that the vet had suggested that the kindest thing to do was to end her suffering and put her down. Her owner was still distraught about the decision, not sure she had made the right choice. Annie’s person’s guilt and self-doubt was tearing her apart.

It’s a blessing to us horses that we live in the moment. We don’t fear death because we don’t project our thoughts into the future and wonder what it will be like when we leave this physical existence. We are now. Being now also means that in spirit we don’t have judgment as to the reason why we may have left the physical world. Of course our natural instinct is to survive, and our fight and flight instincts will kick in if we are threatened, but that’s not a conscious thought. That’s programmed impulse.

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Community/Charity, Competitions, Disciplines, Dressage, Events, Training/Clinics

Bill McMullin Wins Shadow Trailer Give-Away at Wellington Classic Dressage Challenge III Show

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West Palm Beach, Florida (May 2, 2011) – Many eager Florida dressage competitors awaited the announcement of the 2011 Shadow Trailer Give-Away at this past weekend Wellington Classic Dressage Show in West Palm Beach, Florida. A generous donation from Del-Raton Trailer Sales and Shadow Trailer Inc., Florida dressage competitors waited all season to see if they would be the lucky winner of the 2011 Shadow bumper-pull trailer.

FEI Dressage Rider and Trainer Bill McMullin happily accepted his new trailer. “The last group of horses just left this morning for Massachusetts and I wanted to make sure I made it to the show for the drawing. I have had a great season with my horses and clients, but it all went so fast. Winning this trailer is a great way to wrap up the Florida season!”

McMullin who resides in Wellington during the winter season and Stoughton, Massachusetts in the summer months rode Kim Quinlivan’s 9 year old mare, Rosabella, at the IHS Derby and Jim Brandon dressage shows. “What a great surprise. I want to thank the dressage show managing partners for organizing such great shows and Del-Raton Trailer Sales for making the trailer give-away possible,” McMullin added.

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Championships, Community/Charity, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping, USEF

2011 ANRC National Intercollegiate Championship

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Award presentations for ANRC National Championship (Flashpoint Photography).

Hardeeville, SC – The weather gods smiled on the American National Riding Commission (ANRC) the weekend of April 14-17 at their 34th annual National Intercollegiate Equitation Championships hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). While other areas experienced tornados and downpours, the Ronald C. Waranch Equestrian Center just outside Savannah, GA, in Hardeeville, SC, was spared. Fifty-two riders from 10 colleges were able to enjoy the beautiful facility, meticulously groomed arenas, challenging medal courses, and imposing new hunter trials fences.

The ANRC National Championship is a member event of the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) Affiliate Equitation Awards Program. The championship showcases the American Forward Riding System and the sporting horse. Judged on equitation, it rewards diversified skills in a three-phase competition. Competitors complete a dressage sportif ride, an outdoor hunter trials course and a USEF Medal-type hunter seat equitation course. Riders ride the same horse throughout the competition, and jumps do not exceed 3 feet in height. They also sit for a written test on riding theory and equine science. Teams may consist of two or three riders (with the lowest of the three scores dropped in each phase). Individuals also may compete.

For the first time this year, a Novice Division with fences at 2’6” was offered in addition to the 3’ Nationals Division. Seven colleges fielded Novice teams or individuals: Goucher College, Midway College, SCAD, St. Andrews Presbyterian College (SAPC), University of Georgia (UGA), The University of the South (Sewanee), and Virginia Intermont College (VIC). Midway, competing at their first Nationals, swept the Novice Division winning the team Championship over VIC. Midway’s twin sisters, Alison and Erinn Born, were Novice Individual Champion and Reserve.

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Competitions, Contributors/Press, Diana de Rosa, Disciplines, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, Show Jumping

Heart of the Carolinas Three-Day Event Finishes to Rave Reviews

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Low Score Winner Becky Brown and EZ Win Nikon Camera

Jim Baker and Wings. All photos by Diana De Rosa

The riders couldn’t say enough nice things about Heart of the Carolinas Three-Day Event in Chesterfield, SC at Southern Eighths Farm.  They loved the facility, the organization, the footing, the courses, the jumps – just everything.

When it was all over Jim Baker and Wings claimed the victory in the Beginner-Novice division (58.30).  “The format and the organization were topnotch.  I can’t say enough about it,” he readily commented.

Becky Brown and EZ dominated the Training level (32.90) and Anne Lane Maunder and Penny Lane (37.30) were the winners in the Novice division.  As the Low Score rider of the event, Brown was in awe when she was presented with a Nikon D3100 Camera Kit.  “I’m floored,” she commented.  “I can’t believe I won this camera.  We’ve all had our eye on it all weekend.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, Kentucky Three-Day, Show Jumping

King Reigns Supreme at Second Leg of HSBC FEI Classics in Kentucky

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Mary King (GBR) finishes first and second in the second leg of the HSBC FEI Classics in Kentucky (USA). (c) Amy Dragoo/FEI

Lexington, KY (USA) – Mary King (GBR), a regular visit to the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event for many years, at last goes home with a coveted Rolex watch, plus the lion’s share of the prize-money. In a superb display of cool horsemanship, she finished first and second and now has a convincing 10-point lead over Badminton winner Mark Todd (NZL) after the second leg of the HSBC FEI Classics.

King, 49, who was third at Badminton last weekend on Imperial Cavalier, has made history as the first rider in modern times to win a CCI4* on a home-bred horse, Kings Temptress by Primitive Rising, coincidentally the sire of last year’s winner, Cool Mountain, out of King’s own mare Kings Mistress.

In addition, King joins an elite band of riders – Ian Stark (Badminton 1988), Mark Todd (Burghley 1987) and Blyth Tait (Burghley 1998) – to finish first and second at a CCI4*.

She jumped clear on both her horses, and, having ridden out of order on the Davies family’s 10-year-old Fernhill Urco, at his first CCI4*, had the luxury of knowing she was unbeatable before she entered the stadium on Derek Baden’s Kings Temptress.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, Kentucky Three-Day, Show Jumping, USEF

King Crowned Champion of 2011 Rolex Kentucky CCI4*

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Halpin Takes USEF National CCI4* Championship on First Try

Mary King and Kings Temptress. Photo by Shannon Brinkman/USEF.

Lexington, KY – Mary King was not going to be stopped in her quest to take a Rolex watch back to Great Britain. Lying first and second after the cross-country at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Bridgestone –  with Kings Temptress and Fernhill Urco – she did not flinch in the final show jumping phase and jumped an immaculate double-clear round on both horses.

For the first time in history, the champion and reserve champion of America’s only CCI4* was the same rider. King was confident and excited coming into the show jumping, and she rode with a professionalism that was inspiring.

Kings Temptress added nothing to her fourth-placed dressage score of 47.7, they jumped immaculately around Saturday’s cross-country course and then sealed the win over today’s jumping track. King took home top honors with her 11-year-old homebred mare, who is now owned by Derek Rostron Baden. Her closest competition was her stablemate, Fernhill Urco, who emerged from his first CCI4* with second-place honors after only adding eight time faults to his dressage score. The Portuguese-bred grey gelding owned by Sue and Edwin Davies and Janette Chinn, jumped an immaculate clear round and really proved himself at the level. His clear round, jumped out of order due to the proximity of the placings, gave King great confidence to know that whatever happened with the second horse, the top honors were going home with the British veteran.

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