Melanie Smith-Taylor makes a return to discuss developing horsemanship with Mindy Bower. Hanne Christensen from HRN affiliate World of Show Jumping reviews Aachen and Falsterbo. And we have another WOW moment; listen in.
Kelley Farmer and Clearly. Photo Credit: Katie Anich/PMG
Traverse City, MI – July 21, 2011 – With the weather hot and steamy today at Horse Shows by the Bay Series III, riders were literally rolling up their sleeves and getting down to business. Hunt coats were waived as the day progressed, adding visible intensity to the competition in the hunter rings. By day’s end, Peter Pletcher had earned the impressive Grand Performance Hunter title, blazing past the host of skilled equestrians entered in this week’s classes. Kelley Farmer continued to impress as well, sweeping the Conformation Hunter division with a scorching set of wins. Both the Performance Hunter and Conformation Hunter classes took place in the R. L. Polk Family main hunter ring at Flintfields Horse Park in Traverse City, MI.
With nine entries, the 3’6″ Performance Hunter division was bound to be both competitive and fun. Peter Pletcher and Sleepy P Ranch’s Primero earned the top honors with 31 points throughout the division. Primero and Pletcher have had a very successful time so far at Horse Shows by the Bay in the High Performance division. There was a tie for reserve champion this week in the 3’6″ Performance Hunters between Kara Roposa on Carentino, owned by Alexander Cooper, and Caroline Weeden on Condanas, owned by Lacey Gilbertson. Both horse and rider pairs earned a total of 16 points and with neither riding in the under saddle portion, they both had the same number of points over fences and were able to share the title.
Elizabeth Scoville and Bianca Buschor’s The New Yorker also had impressive rounds in 3’3″ Performance Hunters, taking home second place in both over fences classes today. When talking about her rides today, she said, “I think practice makes perfect, but perfect practices makes perfect. The New Yorker is a young, very inexperienced horse that actually has a little bit of mileage in the jumpers. We’ve been doing these types of hunter courses to give him the mileage that he needs, and what’s been really exciting here has been to see him understand his new job. Like now, for instance, to see him standing so calmly here at the ring, waiting for the jog and practically falling asleep, is so great because previously, he would start to get anxious when it was jump-off time. He’s been very excited here so far, we’ve been doing the greens and the performance hunters, and we just keep going back in until we get it right, and we got it right this afternoon.”
Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will be represented by five show jumpers at the CSIO Rotterdam, which runs August 24-28, 2011 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Please click on any athlete or team name for more information about them.
The following horse/rider combinations have been named in ranked order to represent the U.S.
Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo (13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by Coral Reef Ranch)
Laura Kraut and Cedric (13-year-old Dutch-bred gelding owned by Happy Hill Farm)
Lauren Hough and Quick Study (12-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Laura and Meredith Mateo)
Christine McCrea and Romantovich Take One (11-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Windsor Show Stables)
Mario Deslauriers and Urico (10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Jane Clark)
France's double Olympic champion Pierre Jonqueres d'Oriola, who has died at the age of 91.
Lausanne (SUI), 20 July 2011 – France’s double Olympic champion Pierre Jonqueres d’Oriola passed away at his home in the Pyrenees on Tuesday 19 July. He was aged 91.
Born on 1 February 1920, d’Oriola won individual gold in the Jumping at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki riding Ali Baba. This was the second Olympic medal for the d’Oriola family in Helsinki. Only six days earlier his cousin Christian d’Oriola had won gold in the fencing.
Twelve years later in Tokyo, Pierre Jonqueres d’Oriola again took individual Jumping gold, this time on Lutteur B, and led the French to team silver. D’Oriola’s was the only gold for France in the Tokyo Olympics, earning him special congratulations from General de Gaulle and the rider received a hero’s welcome on his return to his homeland.
He won individual gold at the 1966 world championships in Buenos Aires (ARG) with a new horse Pomone B. D’Oriola rode in the change-horse final against three other legendary names in the sport – José de Borhoques (ESP), Raimondo d’Inzeo (ITA) and Nelson Pessoa (BRA) – to become the first French rider to claim the title. D’Oriola went on to take silver in the team event at the Mexico Olympics in 1968, his fifth and final appearance at the Olympic Games.
Hans-Dieter Dreher riding Magnus Romeo in the Rolex Grand Prix at the 2011 CHIO Aachen. Photo: Kit Houghton/Rolex
20 July 2011 – The Rolex One to Watch for June 2011 is German rider, Hans-Dieter Dreher. Based at the Grenzland Stud in Eimeldingen, Germany, the 39-year-old jumped from number 386 to 231 during June – a move up the Rolex Rankings of 155 places.
The Rolex One to Watch is an initiative which identifies the rider who has made the biggest jump within or into the Top 250 of the Rolex Rankings the previous month.
Hans-Dieter Dreher was born in Schopfheim in February 1972 and grew up on his parents’ riding yard in Adelhausen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. He started riding as a six-year-old and was trained by his father, Horst Dreher, who was himself a successful rider in the region at this time.
Hans-Dieter began show jumping at nine years old, and by the age of 13 had won his first title as junior champion of Baden-Wuerttemberg. After completing school, he finished his professional education as a rider and later worked at a stable in Alsace, France for three years. He currently rides and trains at the Grenzland Stud in Eimeldingen in the south of Germany, owned by Dr. Carmen Vogt-Brändlin.
CULPEPER, VA (July 19, 2011) – Silvio Mazzoni of Leesburg, Virginia and his own Remonta Habano captured their second Grand Prix victory at HITS this year by winning Sunday’s $40,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS Culpeper. The duo also won the blue in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at the Ocala Winter Classic this winter.
Prior to the start of Sunday’s main event, the Topaz Vaulters, an equine gymnastics spectacle, gave a special performance to kick off an afternoon of show jumping. Course designer Jose “Pepe” Gamarra of Ellenton, Florida made the $40,000 class his debut at HITS Commonwealth Park. His first round saw seven horse-and-rider combinations go clear and then return for the jump-off.
“The course was great,” said Mazzoni, who gained momentum for Sunday’s victory after a fourth-place finish in Friday’s $15,000 Brook Ledge Open Jumper Prix with Remonta Habano. “It was a very technical track, which asked a lot of the right questions.”
First to return in the jump-off was Alexa Lowe of Upperville, Virginia aboard Windsor Farm Sales’ Amicello. The team wasted no time in setting the Great American Time to Beat at 45.306 seconds with a clear effort.
Mazzoni followed and easily took the lead with a blistering time of 39.741 seconds.
KAZAKHSTAN’S SOLOVYOV TAKES INDIVIDUAL GOLD, RUSSIA SCOOPS TEAM TITLE by Louise Parkes
Peter Solovyov (Liebestraum Z) is awarded with his individual gold medal at the FEI Central Asian Open Jumping Championships 2011. Photo: FEI/Alexander Buikevich.
Lausanne (SUI), 18 JULY 2011 – Peter Solovyov took individual gold for the host nation at the recent FEI Central Asian Open Jumping Championship staged in Astana, Kazakhstan where Russia won the team title. This was the third major fixture to take place in Kazakhstan this year, following the Endurance and Dressage Championships which were held in May and June. It is a measure of the development of, and enthusiasm for, the equestrian disciplines in the region that the 2011 calendar has been such a busy one. And Solovyov’s victory is a major boost to the small National Federation which boasts a panel of just five riders in its senior Jumping squad this season.
Solovyov’s march to individual glory was a gradual one, with his opening effort with It’s Me du Mesnil leaving him 23rd in a field of 26 starters. It was Russia’s Karin Ruslan and Migdolas who came out on top here, ahead of Kazakhstan’s Talyat Islamov and Atom in second while another Russian, Sergey Shepelin, steered Amigo into third place.
Astana, which officially became the capital city of the newly-independent Kazakhstan in 1997, was only granted its name the following year. In Kazakh, the word Astana means “capital”, but it also has Persian origins referring to a “threshold”, and, located where it is, on the cross-roads between East and West, that threshold has been crossed by many of its neighbours this summer as they have pursued their equestrian hopes and dreams. Competitors from five nations – Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Urkraine – lined out in these championships.
CULPEPER, VIRGINIA (July 18, 2011) – Accomplished professional Patty Stovel and Shoal Creek Stables’ Kenya won Saturday’s $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix to highlight a week of tough competition in the hunter rings of the Cavalier Classic at HITS Commonwealth Park in Culpeper, Virginia.
Stovel of Chester Springs, Pennsylvania and Kenya were the top horse-and-rider team out of the 34 that showed over Saugerties, New York course designer Rian Beals’ first-round track. They also sat atop the 12 pairs that advanced to the second round as they scored a first-place check. More importantly, the talented duo added their names to the list of top contenders for the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final, which is scheduled to roll into HITS Saugerties in September.
“There were some great horses and riders in this class, and for us to come out on top – proves that we belong,” said Stovel. “I am heading up to Saugerties for the next three weeks, where I plan to show in the Devoucoux Hunter Prix, which will be a huge advantage since the big class will take place right in Saugerties.”
Stovel finished on Sunday with a total score of 175 and led the charge at HITS Culpeper, boasting the top score in both rounds and winning the class by 10 points. Jonelle Mullen Stern, of Warrenton, Virginia, rode Carolyn Williams’ Delorian to a second-place effort and junior rider, Emma Kennedy of Ocala, Florida, took third aboard Donald Stewart’s Van Guard.
Steffen Peters and Ravel Sunday at CHIO Aachen. Photo: Ken Braddick/ dressage-news.com.
Aachen, Germany – Team USA wrapped up the 2011 World Equestrian Festival CHIO in Aachen, Germany, with more strong performances, including a second-place finish for Steffen Peters and Ravel in the Grand Prix Freestyle CDIO and a win for show jumper McLain Ward on Rothchild.
Peters and Ravel, owned by Akiko Yamazki and Four Winds Farm, stepped up their game today and gave the best dressage horse in the world a run for his money in the Grand Prix Freestyle CDIO for the Deutsche Bank Prize.
The judges gave Ravel and Peters technical scores of 77.25, 77.00, 80.50, 80.50, and 76.75, along with artistic scores of 86.00, 83.00, 83.00, 89.00, and 87.00 for an overall 82.000% – just .825% off the winning score set by Matthias Rath of Germany and Totilas.
According to Dressage-news.com, Peters said, “It felt fantastic. I’m still searching for words to describe it. The icing on the cake was the reaction of the crowd. That was a huge honor. I finished fifth in the Grand Prix and the Special, so to come within fractions of Totilas and Parzival in the freestyle is amazing.”
Johns Island, SC — July 17, 2011 — How often during the heat of summer can an exhibitor in the Southern portions of the US say they enjoyed horse showing? While much of the equine community is experiencing uncomfortable temperatures, participants at the Charleston Summer Classics are being treated to a resort like atmosphere.
Week one at the Mullet Hall Equestrian Center welcomed riders with a vacation sensory overload – from pleasant ocean breezes billowing across the beautiful grounds – to put them in a beachy frame of mind to tropical drinks under the ringside tent each afternoon. “Exhibitors are enjoying a resort escape that just happens to include a horse show! Everyone is having a ball,” Bob Bell, President of Classic Company, said. The Charleston Summer Classic is one of Bell’s Boutique Shows, which he defines as: “Boutique (boo teek)-noun- A horse show that is fashionable and unique. Always held at wonderful venues with excellent accommodations for special horses, owners, and riders. Always includes parties, trendy classes, and fun events. Always has stylish trophies and rewards for Grand Champions. Always has Mimosas on Sunday mornings.” Bell even designed class schedules to allow exhibitors and their horses more time for fun on the multitude of white sandy beaches, a mere 10 minutes away.
