Category Archives: Show Jumping

Countdown to London 2012 Olympic Games Enters Final 100 Days

Lausanne (SUI), 18 April 2012 – Today, 18 April, the world celebrates 100 days to the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

This summer the British capital will play host to the Olympic Games for the third time in history. From 27 July to 12 August, London will welcome 10,500 athletes representing 204 National Olympic Committees for the 27th edition of the Summer Olympic Games. More than nine million tickets have already been sold to spectators around the world.

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USET Foundation to Host Benefit Fiesta at Del Mar National Horse Show

Del Mar, CA – April 16, 2012 – The United States Equestrian Team Foundation is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a benefit in support of the United States Equestrian Olympic Team during the 2012 Del Mar National Horse Show. On Friday, May 4, guests are invited to join the Foundation for Margaritas, Fiesta Food, and Lively Music at Barn W of the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The event will get underway at 6:30p.m, following the Olympic Show Jumping Observation Event.

Robin Parsky, USET Foundation Trustee and Co-Chair of the Development Committee, will be chairing the event with her husband Gerry Parksy. “We often host USET Foundation Fundraisers in California, so we were looking for this opportunity to support the Team, and this is perfect timing,” she explained. “We will be inviting the exhibitors, horse owners, and USET Gold Medal Members from the West Coast. The Del Mar National is the largest and most prestigious show in California, so this is a great opportunity for us to get together and help raise money for the Team.”

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FEI World Cup Finals Set to Begin in The Netherlands

Margie Engle topped the North American East Coast League standings. (Photo by Sportfot)

Lexington, KY – The U.S. contingent arrives in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands with expectations of strong performances at the 2012 FEI World Cup Finals. In total, 11 riders have travelled to Holland to compete in the most prestigious indoor competition of the year. The United States will be represented by two dressage riders in the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final, while nine jumpers will contest the Rolex/FEI World Cup Final. The Finals will run April 17-22 at the Indoor Brabant.

Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final

Both Jan Ebeling and Shawna Harding make a return trip the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final, after having impressed in 2011. For Ebeling (Moorpark, CA) this will be the third time he has competed Rafalca in the Finals, they also competed in 2009 and 2011. They head to ‘s-Hertogenbosch on the heels of second place finishes at the Mid-Winter Dressage Festival and in the $5,000 FEI Rancho Valencia Grand Prix Freestyle. After making their World Cup debut last year, Harding (Aiken, SC) and Come On III have improved throughout the 2011/2012 season and are poised for a strong result.

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Atlanta Summer Classics – Something for Every Rider

Nearly $300,000 in Prize Money Up for Grabs

Pony Power ©Flashpoint Photography

April 15, 2012 – St Johns Island, SC – Still undecided on summer plans? Bob Bell, President of Classic Company, would like to tempt you. “Our summer events are bursting at the seams with great offerings! We’ve taken exhibitors’ horse show wish lists and made them a reality!”

The Atlanta Summer Classics, held at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, GA, is a USEF AA rated two week event beginning June 13 through June 24. This year’s event will play host to the inaugural $25,000 Pony Hunter Derby Classic. “This will be the first of two $25,000 Pony events for the summer. We have some of the country’s best talent in our pony sections and I think it’s time they get rewarded for their efforts,” Bell said. The second Pony Hunter Classic will be held in July at the Charleston Summer Classic.

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Equestrian Stars Head to New York City for USOC “Invasion” of Times Square

Buck Davidson and My Boy Bobby will both be in New York on April 18th (Mike McNally)

Lexington, KY – Three Olympic hopefuls and a former USEF National CCI4* champion horse will be part of a United States Olympic Committee’s invasion of Times Square in New York on April 18th. April 18th marks the 100-day countdown to the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games and the USEF will field three humans and one horse as part of a 75 athlete celebration.

2011 Pan American Games medalists Heather Blitz (Team Gold and Individual Silver in dressage) and Buck Davidson (Team Gold and Individual Bronze in Eventing) along with 17-year-old phenom Reed Kessler, who won last month’s USEF Selection Trials for the U.S. Show Jumping Team, will represent their sport, and their disciplines, all day on April 18th.

Davidson will also bring Carl and Cassandra Segal’s My Boy Bobby, the 2009 Rolex/USEF National CCI4* Champion to the event, a hugely successful horse – My Boy Bobby will represent the other half of the equestrian sport.

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Long Listed Show Jumping Riders Prepare for Kentucky Spring Horse Shows Observation Events

2012 Olympic Trials for Show Jumping Winner Reed Kessler has had great success with Mika at the Kentucky Horse Shows for many years. Photo By: Rebecca Walton/PMG

Lexington, KY – April 13, 2012 – The Kentucky Spring Horse Shows are just around the corner and some of the nation’s top riders are gearing up for the two-week event. The first week of competition, the Kentucky Spring Horse Show CSI3*, May 9-13, 2012, has been designated by the USEF as a 2012 US Show Jumping Team Observation Event. Long Listed riders such as Reed Kessler, Margie Engle, Beezie Madden, Mario Deslauriers, and Christine McCrea will all be at the event to showcase their talent to the Selection Committee.

The jumper highlights in the Rolex Stadium during the first week will include the $35,000 Welcome Cup on May 9th. This will be followed on Friday, May 11th by the $50,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic and on Sunday, May 13th by the $75,000 Commonwealth Grand Prix. These two major competitions are Observation Events for the US Show Jumping Team.

Seventeen-year-old Reed Kessler was the winner of the 2012 USEF Selection Trials for the US Show Jumping Team, and has been competing at the Kentucky Horse Shows for many years. “I am really excited,” she expressed. “I think it’s a terrific venue. It’s a perfect test and a great observation site to prepare for London because it’s another big, impressive ring, so that’s why we decided to show there.”

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US Show Jumping Chef d’Equipe to Undergo Treatment for Cancer

Lexington, KY – U.S. Show Jumping Chef d’Equipe George Morris will be undergoing treatment for prostate cancer this spring.

Morris will remain in his position of Chef d’Equipe and will stay closely involved with the program, the selection process and the riders even though he will be unable to travel to the Observation Events.

Morris has asked Robert Ridland (who was recently named the Morris’ successor beginning in 2013: http://www.usefnetwork.com/news/8096/2012/2/21/robert_ridland_approved_for_us_sh.aspx) to attend the Observation Events and monitor the technical aspects of those competitions and report to Morris.

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News from the 2012 Adequan FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships

Winners from NAJYRC 2011 (Brant Gamma)

Lexington, KY – Less than four months before the Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 Championships, planning is already well underway. Five disciplines (a total of 9 championships for juniors and young riders) will take part in the only FEI Championship to be held annually in North America. This year the event will run July 17-22, 2012.

Schedule:

The Tentative Competition Schedule for competitors is available here: http://www.youngriders.org/Schedule.aspx, and as soon as the Draft Schedules get approved by the FEI they will be posted. We have made some changes this year to the schedule, as we are sharing the Kentucky Horse Park with Breyerfest, not with the Kentucky Summer Horse Show.

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In Memoriam: Camilla Enemark (DEN)

Denmark’s Camilla Enemark competing on Regino at the FEI European Jumping Championships 2011 in Madrid, Spain. Image: Benedicte Krüger Nielsen.

Lausanne (SUI), 12 April 2012 – Camilla Enemark, the 31-year-old Danish Jumping rider, passed away on Tuesday (10 April) after losing her battle against an aggressive brain tumour first diagnosed in 2006.

Born on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1980, Camilla started riding competitively when she was 12 years old, going on to claim the Danish national championship in 1996.

Despite undergoing chemotherapy, she rode on the Danish team at last year’s FEI European Jumping Championships at Spain’s Club de Campo Villa de Madrid with Regino, and also competed in the FEI Nations Cup Top League 2011 series in Hickstead, Dublin and Rotterdam.

Camilla was married to jumping rider Peter Enemark, and together they ran the sales and training barn PC Horses in Næstved, just south of the Danish capital Copenhagen, training Jumping horses from novice level up to Grand Prix.

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Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani – The Rolex One to Watch for April 2012

Al Thani riding Dukhan at the CSI2* Big Tour in Valkenswaard (NED) in August 2011. Photo: SPORTFOT/Rolex

11 April 2012 – The Rolex One to Watch for April 2012 is awarded to Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani (QAT). Currently based in Qatar, Al Thani trains with Jan Tops during the summer months at the Dutchman’s stable – Stal Tops – in Valkenswaard (NED). The 29-year-old jumped from 348th to 197th during March – a move up the Rolex Rankings of 151 places.

Showcasing the recent rise in quality of The Gulf Cooperation Council region’s Jumping riders, Al Thani has produced numerous outstanding performances on all nine horses that he competes with. Al Thani has taken part in some of the world’s most prestigious Jumping competitions, including the FEI World Cup Jumping – Arab League, the Global Champions Tour, and the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 in Lexington, Kentucky (USA).

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