Category Archives: Show Jumping

Competitions, Events, Show Jumping, USEF

Beezie Madden Breezes to Glory on New Horse

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Beezie Madden and Cortes C. Photo: Stefano Grasso/GCT

She is steady, accurate and very focused.  She has a great team around her and today it all came together.  USA rider Beezie Madden romped off to an emphatic win in the VDL Groep sponsored Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Valkenswaard. Beezie claimed the win with a new team horse Cortes “C’ that she has only had for a few months.

This is just her second Global Champions Tour start this year and although Beezie has been competing on the Global Champions Tour since 2006, this is her finest result to date.

Course designing by Italian Uliano Vezzani was a delight for the spectators and riders.  The 15,000 spectators were not kept away by the wet conditions and stood shoulder-to-shoulder ringside and the stands were packed. The VIP marquee was buzzing with activity from the 500 or so guests all involved in the spirit of the competition.

Round two presented a completely unique track with many new fences added and nothing resembled from the first round.

Of the top eighteen combinations that travelled through to the second round, 12 were clear and it looked like too many at this stage.  Three riders on one time fault also went through along with the fastest three riders with four faults.

Continue reading Beezie Madden Breezes to Glory on New Horse →

Championships, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping, USEF

USEF Pony Finals Wrap-Up: August 10-14, 2011

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Sunday was the last day of the 2011 United States Equestrian Federation Pony Finals National Championships, and it began bright and early with exciting competition in the Covered Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. The EquiSport Insurance/USEF Pony Medal Finals brought the 2011 Pony Finals to an end. Leading the class from beginning to end with a solid two rounds over fences was Madison Goetzmann and Denmark to garner the championship prize.

The top 20 riders returned for the second round including nine medium ponies, four small ponies, and seven large ponies. Today’s courses were designed by Bobby Murphy and consisted of short lines, rollbacks, a halt, and a trot jump. Goetzmann was at the top of the order for today’s second round and executed another flawless trip making the lines look easy. Goetzmann of Skaneateles, NY, and Denmark proved to be unbeatable, eventually earning them the Easter Sunday Memorial Trophy donated by Ms. Catherine A. Kaiser and Ms. Jennifer T. Pesko. Katherine Strauss of Southampton, NY, and Sumerland were originally ranked tenth during their first course; however, with an exceptional second round they earned the reserve championship honors. Lucy Deslauriers of New York, NY, and Macy Grey were ranked eighth coming into the second round and earned the third place honors after an impressive round.

The judges were confident with their decision after the second round and the riders were not asked to return for a test phase. At the end of the day, Goetzman was named the 2011 EquiSport Insurance/USEF Pony Medal Winner aboard Denmark, while Strauss and Sumerland earned the reserve championship honors. Taking home third place honors was Deslauriers and Macy Grey, who performed excellent rounds during both phases of Sunday’s event.

Hunter Highlights: August 10-14

It was beautiful and sunny for the first day of the 2011 United States Equestrian Federation Pony Finals National Championship at the Kentucky Horse Park. Tuesday, the top ponies and riders from across the nation gathered at the Walnut Ring for the Green Pony Hunters Model and Under Saddle, as well as the Regular Medium Pony Hunter Model. Throughout the year riders have worked diligently to qualify for this prestigious event and compete for the winning honors.

Continue reading USEF Pony Finals Wrap-Up: August 10-14, 2011 →

Awards, Community/Charity, Competitions, Hunter/Equitation, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

OVATION Leading Rider Awards Announced for 2011 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival

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Erin Haas and Kimberly Seay. Photo: Randi Muster

Traverse City, MI – August 12, 2011 – Horse Sports by the Bay, Inc. is pleased to announce that the following riders achieved OVATION Leading Rider Status during the 2011 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival this summer at Flintfields Horse Park in scenic Traverse City, MI.

Courtesy of Gold Sponsor English Riding Supply, recipients received a $500 gift certificate, allowing them free rein with the 2011 English Riding Supply equestrian apparel and equipment catalog. Riders who earned this coveted award scored the highest total number of points in their respective section from all four weeks of recent competition.

English Riding Supply, located in Scranton, PA, represents the world’s greatest brands including OVATION, Veredus, Pessoa, and Mountain Horse, all of which are endorsed by the country’s most elite equestrian athletes.

The 2011 winners are:

Kelley Farmer, Professional Hunter Rider
Wilhelm Genn, Professional Jumper Rider
Carson Gibson, Junior Hunter Rider
Weatherly Stroh, Amateur-Owner Hunter Rider
Maddie Darst, Pony Hunter Rider
Paige Matthies, Children’s Hunter Rider
Sue Hehl, Adult Hunter Rider
Erin Haas, High JR/AO Jumper Rider (pictured)
Kimberly Seay, Low JR/AO Jumper Rider (pictured)
Lauren Keck, Adult Jumper Rider
Kady Abrahamson, Children’s Jumper Rider
Meehan Shirey, Equitation Rider

For complete results of the 2011 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival at Flintfields Horse Park, please visit www.horseshowsbythebay.com or www.horseshowing.com.

For more information on English Riding Supply please visit www.englishridingsupply.com.

Media Contact: Mason Phelps
Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
phone 561.753.3389  fax 561.753.3386
pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com

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

FEI European Pony Championships 2011, Jaszkowo (POL)

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BRITISH, GERMANS AND FRENCH DOMINATE IN POLAND by Louise Parkes

The gold medal winning British Jumping team at the FEI European Pony Championships 2011 in Jaszkowo (POL) - L to R - Graham Babes, Jessica Mendoza, Amy Inglis and Beth Vernon. FEI/Helen Revington.

Lausanne (SUI), 12 August 2011 – British riders took team and individual Jumping gold, Germany claimed two of the three Dressage titles, and France dominated the Eventing competitions at the FEI European Pony Championships 2011 staged at Jaszkowo, Poland from 26 to 31 July.

JUMPING
The Jumping team Championship was an exciting and close-fought affair, with just one fault separating the victorious British from the fighting Irish at the end of the day, while the Dutch were much further adrift when claiming bronze.  The British had the whip hand after the first round with clears from all four riders, and the Irish were five faults in arrears while having to count a single time penalty from Max O’Reilly-Hyland (Rock Dee Jay), and an additional four faults when both Michael Duffy (Kadia Mouche) and anchor Emma O’Dwyer (Jacknell Street) left one on the floor.

But British pathfinder Amy Inglis (Nils D Hurl Vent) picked up 12 faults second time out, and although second-line rider Beth Vernon (Falaza) completed a double-clear, both Graham Babes (Dollar Girl) and Jessica Mendoza (Tixylix) made a single mistake to bring their tally to eight.  Bertram Allen had opened the Irish account with a first-round clear from Acapella Z, but this time they returned with four faults on the board, and despite great second-round clears from both O’Reilly-Hyland and O’Dwyer, they were obliged to count four more when Duffy also made a single error.  That single first-round time fault from O’Reilly-Hyland proved expensive in the final analysis.

The Dutch meanwhile rocketed up from sixth at the halfway stage to take the bronze. Jens Van Grunsven, nephew of dressage legend Anky Van Grunsven (Indorado), recovered from a 12-fault opening round to go clear second time out, Amber Fijen (Winning Mood) picked up five in round one and four next time out, Leon Tine Bruin (Scapa SB) made just a single mistake in round one but collected 17 on his return to the arena and Megan Laseur (Ensilla) followed a five-fault first effort with a clear to leave The Netherlands with a total of 18 faults.

Continue reading FEI European Pony Championships 2011, Jaszkowo (POL) →

Community/Charity, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, National Horse Show, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Kincannon and Conroy Guide Alltech National Horse Show’s Kentucky Debut

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ANHS mgt team, Bobby Murphy, Robby Murphy, Hugh Kincannon, Ellen Veitch and J. P. Bordeleau. Photo: © Kenneth Kraus/ PhelpsSports.com.

Lexington, KY – August 11, 2012 – When the Alltech National Horse Show makes it Kentucky debut in November, the first class production will be under the direction of one of the nation’s most trusted and experienced managements teams.

The Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition, will be held from November 2-6, 2011, at the beautiful, new Alltech Indoor Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. This year’s debut event is designated a CSI4*-W and the featured class, the $250,000 Alltech National Horse Show Grand Prix, will be a 2011/2012 FEI World Cup qualifying event. The ASPCA Maclay National Championships will take center stage on the final Sunday of the show.

Leading the production and heading up the management team are Co-Managers Hugh Kincannon and Leo Conroy.

Hugh Kincannon’s management resume is an impressive one.

Kincannon’s talents were evident early on in his career, as he developed a highly successful series of horse shows at his farm just outside of Cleveland, and then additional events in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1982, he joined forces with the Murphy family at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Since then, he and his team have been producing top rated USEF horse shows at the Kentucky Horse Park for over three decades. His spring and summer series of shows are always near sell-outs and are among the most popular and respected horse shows in the United States.

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Competitions, Events, Show Jumping, USEF

Fellers, Hough, Madden, and Spooner to Jump for U.S. at CSIO5* Spruce Meadows Masters Tournament

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Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will be represented by four show jumpers at the CSIO5* Spruce Meadows Masters Tournament, which runs September 7-11, 2011, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Please click on any athlete name for more information about that jumper.

The following horse/rider combinations have been named to represent the U.S.

Rich Fellers and Flexible (15-year-old Irish Sport Horse stallion owned by Mollie and Harry Champman)

Lauren Hough and Quick Study (12-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Laura and Meredith Mateo)

Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo (13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by Coral Reef Ranch)

Richard Spooner and Cristallo (13-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Richard Spooner)

Please visit www.sprucemeadows.com/index.jsp for more information.

*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

FEI Americas Championship for Young Riders, Juniors, Pre-Juniors and Children 2011

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DOUBLE-GOLD FOR VENEZUELA AND ECUADOR by Louise Parkes

On podium, Pre-Junior Gold Medallist Emanuel Andrade (VEN), Silver Medallist Sofia Ribandeneira (ECU), and Bronze Medallist Javier Lopez (CHI). In front, Chief Steward Cesar Hirsch (VEN), Gloria de Cuesta, Show Director and President Ecuador NF, and Pablo Mayorga (ARG), FEI Second Vice-President. Photo: Guayquil Press.

Lausanne (SUI), 10 August 2011 – Host nation competitors claimed the Junior and Children’s titles, while Venezuela scooped gold in Young Riders and Pre-Juniors at the FEI Americas Championships for Young Riders, Juniors, Pre-Juniors and Children 2011 in Guayquil, Ecuador.  Staged at the Guayquil Country Club, which is home to an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, a soccer pitch, an Olympic swimming pool and an equestrian centre with its own veterinary clinic, the event attracted 75 competitors from eight countries including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil.

Guayquil is the largest and most populous city in Ecuador, and the nerve-centre for the country’s business and manufacturing industries.  Ecuador has produced a number of successful riders down the years including 2004 South American Young Riders Jumping Champion, Jose Penafiel.  And the home squad snatched three of the 12 medals on offer during the six-day fixture.

SWEPT ALL BEFORE THEM
The Venezuelans swept all before them in the Young Rider Championships with Luis Fernando Larrazabal steering Sacramento to gold, Martin Jeri claiming silver with Olympe du Fouquet and Luis Muro taking bronze.  Larrazabal is based at G&C Farms in Wellington, Florida, USA along with his brother Juan Andres and is coached by Venezuelan Olympian Pablo Barrios.

Luis Fernando already has an impressive career record, finishing seventh in the Children’s Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2005, fifth in the Pre-Juniors in Caracas, Venezuela in 2006 and taking the silver medal in the Junior Championship at last year’s FEI Americas Championships which re-visited Caracas.  And he went one better than his brother, Juan, who was silver medallist in the 2010 Young Riders Championship behind Martin Jeri who took gold on that occasion.  This year Jeri had to settle for silver with his nine year old chestnut Selle Francais.

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Competitions, Events, Show Jumping, Training/Clinics

Rocky Mountain Show Jumping & Equestrian Events Design Pleased to Host a 3 Day Clinic with World Champion Philippe Le Jeune!

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Calgary, Alberta – The management of Rocky Mountain Show Jumping, along with Equestrian Events Design, is pleased at this time to announce that they will be hosting a special clinic with the 2010 World Champion of Show Jumping, Philippe Le Jeune of Belgium.

“We wanted to do something special this year to thank all of the exhibitors who have joined us this year at our competitions, and teaming up with Bea Jarzynska of Equestrian Events Design to bring the World Champion to Anderson Ranch seems like a great thing to do for those who support us here all year long” explained John Anderson of Rocky Mountain Show Jumping.

“I heard about Rocky Mountain Show Jumping from friends of mine and took a trip to Calgary during one of John’s shows earlier this year and thought it would be an excellent place for Philippe to teach a Clinic. He did one in Quebec earlier in the year, and it was a tremendous success, and John said, “Well if it’s good enough for the great folks in Eastern Canada, it’s good enough for me. Let’s do it!” said Bea of Equestrian Events Design.

The clinic is being hosted at the conclusion of the third Rocky Mountain Classic, and just prior to the Spruce Meadows Masters. As a means of thanking competitors who have competed at the Classics, it will be offered to them first before other entries are considered. “It is important that we treat our competitors well here at our events, and we try so hard to do new and innovative things at all of our tournaments to keep them exciting”

Continue reading Rocky Mountain Show Jumping & Equestrian Events Design Pleased to Host a 3 Day Clinic with World Champion Philippe Le Jeune! →

Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Driving, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, Show Jumping, Vaulting, Western/Reining

Five Nations Apply to Host 2015 FEI European Championships under New Bid Process

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Lausanne (SUI), 9 August 2011 — Organisers from five nations – Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, and Poland – have applied to stage a European championship for Seniors in one or several FEI disciplines in 2015 under a new bid process launched by the FEI in March of this year. The objective of the new bid process is to raise the profile of the FEI European Championships by selecting candidates able to deliver sporting events of the highest quality.

Aachen, host of the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games and the famous annual World Equestrian Festival, has expressed interest in the FEI European Championships 2015 in Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, Driving, Vaulting and Reining. The discipline which attracted the highest interest is Eventing, for which no less than five applications have been received.

The bidding process for the 2015 FEI European Championships for Seniors was launched in March 2011 and will run until April 2012. The process consists of two phases. During Phase I, the Applicant Phase which ended on 31 July 2011, applicants were required to indicate which one or more of the European Championships they would be interested in staging and provide information relating to their ability to meet minimum Championship requirements.

Phase II, the Candidate Phase, will begin on 1 September 2011. During the Candidate Phase, candidates will be required to provide greater detail on all aspects of the event. The Championships in the Olympic disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing will be allocated by the FEI Bureau in April 2012. The successful candidates for the Championships in the non-Olympic disciplines will be announced a year later in April 2013.

Enquiries relating to the bid process should be directed to FEI Legal Counsel Francisco P. Lima (francisco.lima@fei.org).

Media contacts:

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
ruth.grundy@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 45

Malina Gueorguiev
Manager Press Relations
malina.gueorguiev@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 33

Competitions, Events, HITS, HITS, Show Jumping

McLain Ward and Antares F Claim Back-to-Back Wins at HITS-on-the-Hudson VI

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© ESI Photography. McLain Ward captures his second victory of the week at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Sunday's $100,000 Strongid C 2X Grand Prix aboard Grant Road Partners' Antares F.

SAUGERTIES, NEW YORK (August 8, 2011) — McLain Ward and Grant Road Partners’ Antares F had another impressive week of show jumping at HITS-on-the-Hudson Week VI with back-to-back wins to dominate the competition in the Strongid C 2X Stadium. They took the blue in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Friday and closed out the summer circuit with a win in Sunday’s $100,000 Strongid C 2X Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health.

Course designer Bernardo Cabral of Lisbon, Portugal designed a first round track that proved to be one of the more difficult courses of the summer series, providing for some exciting show jumping. The course bested the entire starting field of 37 competitors, which included a slew of Olympians from around the world.

“I was looking for at least three or four clear,” said Cabral, who was still pleased with the outcome. “As it turns out, nobody was able to make it clear around the first time but there were rails just about everywhere on the field. Not a single spot in particular gave anyone trouble. I thought it was a proper course for a $100,000 class as far as difficulty goes and I think any of the four fault riders could easily have won today.”

Ward, who failed to go clear in the first round aboard two separate mounts, praised Cabral for his course.

“I thought Bernardo’s course was excellent. Actually, it was pretty phenomenal,” he said with a smile. “I think we’ve had an epidemic in American show jumping to drop the level of difficulty and not raise the standards to what they should be. We jumped for $100,000 today and I thought the course was very accommodating of that. This is the level we should be competing at.”

Continue reading McLain Ward and Antares F Claim Back-to-Back Wins at HITS-on-the-Hudson VI →