Category Archives: Dressage

The Discipline of Riding Dressage

Britain Leads Medal Hunt Halfway through Para Dressage World Championships

October 5, 2010 – Lexington, KY – Great Britain, the team expected to win the gold medal at the Para Dressage World Championships, has taken the lead halfway through the team competition. Germany stands second, with the Netherlands third and Denmark fourth.

The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games mark the first time that para dressage has been part of the World Games.

“[The British team hasn’t] lost a gold medal at a major championship since the sport started, so there is a lot pressure,” said Sophie Christiansen of the British team, whose score of 69.41 percent in grade Ia team test on Rivaldo Of Berkeley aided the British effort. “I went to [the 2004 Athens Paralympics] at 16, so I know how to deal with the pressure. We have so much support, and that gives us Brits the upper hand.”

Continue reading Britain Leads Medal Hunt Halfway through Para Dressage World Championships

Chardon & Weber Share Lead after First Day of Driving World Championships at the WEG

Chester Weber

October 7, 2010 – Lexington, Ky., – The battle has begun for the Individual and Team medals in the Four-In-Hand Driving World Championships, held as part of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, and tied for the top spot are two of the sport’s biggest names.

IJsbrand Chardon of The Netherlands was the second driver in the arena for the opening Dressage phase, and he turned in a spectacular performance to score a 35.97.

In the next to last position was Chester Weber, driving for the United States, and he turned in the identical score to stand tied with Chardon for first place.

Neither Chardon nor Weber is a stranger to this top level of competition.  Chardon, a legend in the sport of Driving, has been Dutch National Champion twenty-one times and has won medals in four World Equestrian Games, including Team and Individual Gold.  Weber has won eight consecutive U.S. National Championships and has a Team Silver Medal from the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

Continue reading Chardon & Weber Share Lead after First Day of Driving World Championships at the WEG

Great Britain Is Golden in Para Dressage World Championships at Alltech FEI WEG

October 7, 2010 – Lexington, KY – Great Britain continued its historical domination of the Para Dressage World Championships by taking the team gold, and sweeping all three individual medals in the Grade Ia division, as well as the individual gold and silver in grade Ib. These medals follow yesterday’s gold-medal performance by Sophie Wells, bringing to seven the total British medal count in para dressage at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Leading the British charge was Sophie Christiansen, 22, who took individual gold in the grade Ia test with a score of 76.100 percent and provided a crucial score for her team. Christiansen was overcome when her score was announced.

“My trainer decided I should ride for longer today. I normally ride for 15 minutes, and today I rode for 30 minutes,” she said. “I’m so happy with him because he just took care of me. That score is the highest I’ve ever gotten in the individual test. The feeling afterward is so wonderful. I was so nervous this morning!”

Continue reading Great Britain Is Golden in Para Dressage World Championships at Alltech FEI WEG

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 Day 13 Para Dressage Championships

The British team of Sophie Christiansen, Lee Pearson, Anne Dunham and Jo Pitt claimed team gold in the Para Dressage Championship at the WEG today. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton

UNBEATABLE BRITS TAKE TEAM GOLD ONCE AGAIN AS CHRISTIANSEN, VAN DE SANDE AND PEARSON CLAIM INDIVIDUAL TITLES by Louise Parkes

Lexington, 7 October – The British were in stunning form in the Para Dressage Championship at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA, when winning the team title, taking a clean sweep of the medals in the Grade 1a Individual, and gold and silver in Grade 1b.  It was The Netherlands Petra Van de Sande who put a stop to their gallop when winning Grade 2 ahead of Germany’s Britta Napel, while Denmark’s Caroline Cecilie Nielsen took bronze.

Britain’s Para Dressage record is outstanding – they have never been beaten in the battle for the World title since taking team gold on their home turf in Hartpury in 1991.  But their shining star, the formidable Lee Pearson who predictably also took the Grade 1b gold in convincing fashion today, said tonight that the standard of the sport is improving rapidly and that he and his team-mates no longer have the advantage they have grown accustomed to – the margins are getting tighter all the time.

Continue reading Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 Day 13 Para Dressage Championships

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 Day 13 Four-In-Hand Driving Championship

USA’s Chester Weber is the joint-leader after the first day of Driving Dressage. Photo: FEI/Rinaldo Craen

WEBER AND CHARDON SHARE EARLY LEAD AFTER FOUR-IN-HAND DRIVING DRESSAGE by Cindy Timmer

Lexington, 7 October – With twelve more competitors to go, USA’s Chester Weber and title defender IJsbrand Chardon from The Netherlands have already set the standard in today’s driven dressage, with the two drivers scoring the same marks to take the early lead.

The many spectators were treated to wonderful dressage tests in the Driving Stadium, which was blessed with a warm autumn sun.

Chardon was second to go in the morning and put down a wonderful performance which was awarded by the international Ground Jury with a score of 35.97 penalty points to go into first place. With the Swedish warmblood geldings Isovlas Tango and Isovlas Paganini in the lead of his team and the Dutch warmblood horses Zidane and Whooper in the wheel, Chardon produced a near faultless dressage test.

Continue reading Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 Day 13 Four-In-Hand Driving Championship

Combined Driver Chester Weber Back on the Airwaves Just Days before Competing in WEG

Chester Weber is preparing to compete in the WEG. Only days before competing, Weber was a guest on the Holistic Talk Radio Show with host LA Pomeroy. (Photo courtesy of JRPR)

Lexington, KY (October 6, 2010) – Only days before competing in the Combined Driving event at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Combined Driver Chester Weber took to the airwaves to talk about the Games, his team of horses and his desire to keep things natural and simple. Weber, who was at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, was a guest on Holistic Horse Radio with LA Pomeroy.

As the reigning USEF National Four-In-Hand Champion for a record eight years in a row, Weber will drive into the Games with all eyes on his team of bay Dutch horses. Well known for setting goals and achieving them, Weber said his goal at these Games – his third time to compete in the World Equestrian Games – is to do his best. “I really am ready for these Games and I do believe I have my best team ever,” Weber said. “I have a fantastic organization around me from my horses to my team of people. We are going to go out and give it our best.”

Continue reading Combined Driver Chester Weber Back on the Airwaves Just Days before Competing in WEG

2010 Radio Show Episode 121 by SUCCEED – Vaulting, Para, Driving and Glenn’s Quest

Today we covered Para, the start of vaulting with an early lead by the USA and driving starts tomorrow. Plus, Glenn went on a quest to find adventure at the horse park! Listen in to what happened with that….

2010 Radio Show Episode 121 by SUCCEED – Show Notes and Links:

  • Hosts: Samantha Clark and Glenn the Geek
  • Location: The International Equestrian Festival in downtown Lexington.
    Recording at 7:00 PM every night. Stop down and join us.
  • Guest: Kegan Smith, South African Vaulter
  • Guest: Georgina Bloomberg – ASPCA Exhibit
  • Guest: John Nicholson, Director of Kentucky Horse Park
  • Guest: Great Britain – Vaulting Team
  • See all of the videos and pics from today on Facebook.
  • Coverage: Follow all the coverage of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games on the Horse Radio Network.

_________________________________________

Listen Now, Download or Subscribe:

Listen Now
Subscribe Zune

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 Day 12 Para Dressage Championship

Hannelore Brenner and Women of the World claimed individual gold in Grade 3 of the Para Dressage Championship at the WEG today. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.

INDIVIDUAL GOLD FOR WELLS AND BRENNER by Louise Parkes

Lexington, 6 October – Great Britain’s Sophie Wells and Germany’s Hannelore Brenner claimed the first individual gold medals in the Para Dressage Championship at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA today.

Wells, who is also highly-competitive in able-bodied sport and who competed on the fifth-placed British team at the European Young Riders Championship at Kronberg in Germany this summer, scooped the Grade 4 title.  She produced a forward, flowing test with no mistakes from her chestnut gelding Pinocchio to score 71.677 which left her just over 1.5 points ahead of silver medallist Frank Hosmar from Germany while Denmark’s Henrik Weber Sibbesen claimed bronze.

Continue reading Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 Day 12 Para Dressage Championship

Americans Sweep Presentation to Start Driving World Championships at Alltech FEI WEG

October 6. 2010 – Lexington, KY – The Americans who will be contesting the Driving World Championships wish today’s presentation competition counted toward the medal scores, but they don’t. It was just for fun and beauty — and a bottle of champagne presented to each of the 17 drivers who took part.

The three judges declared Chester Weber the winner, awarding him 49.5 of a possible 50 points. James Fairclough (48.33) and Tucker Johnson (48.17), who’ve been Weber’s championship teammates for most of the last two decades, finished second and third.

The grooms and drivers spent about 10 hours polishing the horses, harnesses and vehicles, before putting on their finest driving livery. Not all drivers in these World Championships took part in this presentation.

Continue reading Americans Sweep Presentation to Start Driving World Championships at Alltech FEI WEG

Wells and Brenner Gather Gold in Para Dressage World Championships

October 6, 2010 – Lexington, KY – British riders have traditionally dominated the medals at the Para Dressage World Championships, and Sophie Wells lived up to that history by taking individual gold in the grade IV individual test, aboard the flashy chestnut Dutch Warmblood, Pinocchio. Her score of 71.677 percent gave her the definitive lead over the Netherlands’ Frank Hosmar, and Denmark’s Henrik Weber Sibbesen at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

“I was quite pleased with my test,” said Wells, 20. “ My horse was a little difficult to warm up, but I thought that the trot work was actually quite good. He came against me a little bit when I picked up the canter after the walk, but then he came back to me again, which was good.  When we were in here on Monday, he was quite distracted by the open corners, but today he was much better.”

Hosmar, 42, was equally thrilled with his score of 70.129 percent aboard his bay Dutch Warmblood Tiesto.

Continue reading Wells and Brenner Gather Gold in Para Dressage World Championships