Category Archives: Championships

AQHA: More Exhibitors Recognized at This Year’s World Shows

The American Quarter Horse Journal — The American Quarter Horse Association will be recognizing a new level of exhibitors at four of its world championship shows this year.

At the 2011 Built Ford Tough AQHYA, Adequan Select, Bank of America Amateur and Fedex Open world championship shows, AQHA will recognize the top three Intermediate exhibitors in each youth, amateur, Select and open class.

“This is a great way to introduce some of the show or competition-leveling concepts that AQHA has been exploring over the last couple of years,” said AQHA President Peter J. Cofrancesco III. “Recognizing the Intermediate exhibitor is a way to shine the spotlight on exhibitors who have worked hard to qualify for our world shows and are tough competitors at our world shows year after year, but don’t make it into the top 10.”

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Hannah Goodson Earns Top Honors in Junior Hunters at Kentucky Spring Classic

Hannah Goodson-Cutt and Caretano at the Kentucky Spring Classic. Photo Credit: Holly Whiteman

Lexington KY – May 21, 2011 – Today was another beautiful sunny day at the Kentucky Spring Classic, held at the prestigious Kentucky Horse Park. The Stonelea Arena presented championship honors in the Junior Hunter Divisions as they wrapped up their second day of competition. Hannah Goodson-Cutt earned two tricolors with her mounts Caretano and Superman in the Junior 16-17 Hunter Divisions. Catherine Tyree also earned championship and reserve championship awards with her mounts Savant and Concetto in the Junior 16-17 Hunter Divisions.

The Small Junior 16-17 Hunter Division awarded championship honors to Hannah Goodson-Cutt and Caretano. The duo earned three blue ribbons, and red and yellow ribbons to secure the championship honors.

“He was good in all his rounds,” noted Goodson-Cutt. “Yesterday, he was good in all his rounds. He went amazing and I was very happy with our results. Today was also good and he feels really great and feels soft and I am excited for how he will be at Devon.”

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FEI Central Asian Endurance Championship 2011

Bissemaganbetov Captures Gold as Kazakhstan Scoops All the Medals, by Louise Parkes

Lausanne (SUI), 24 May 2011 – The host nation of Kazakhstan captured all the medals at the 2011 FEI Central Asian Endurance Championship staged in Talgar earlier this month.  Altyngali Bissemaganbetov claimed gold, while Amangeldy Munaitbayev took silver and Kairzhan Andybay clinched the bronze.  Just six of the 16 starters completed the 80kms course, and the only non-Kazakh in the final line-up was the sole competitor from Turkmenistan, sixth-placed Oleg Karabayev.

Bissemaganbetov made history as he secured his success riding the Adai horse Oyly.  The Adai, a breed native to Kazakhstan, was only recently awarded an official pedigree following tests conducted by a State Commission in the Mangistau Steppes earlier this year. These horses are cherished for their hardiness, and Oyly proved just how tough they can be.

GROWING
The sport of Endurance is growing in the region, and Kyrgyzstan was also represented as the competition got underway on 15 May.  Talgar, which lies close to the city of Almaty, is at the foothills of the Zailiisky Mountains where the Asian winter-sports championships regularly take place.  The town is also on the Silk Road – the network of trade routes that stretches across Asia, linking East to West – and close to the Caspian Sea.  Demonstrating the spread of the sport, some of the competitors travelled over 500 kilometres to compete in the championship.

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Eastwood and Taylor Ann Adams Earn Championship at Kentucky Spring Horse Show

Taylor Ann Adams and Eastwood at the Kentucky Spring Horse Show. Photo Credit: Holly Whiteman/PMG

Lexington KY – May 15, 2011 – The first week of the Kentucky Spring Horse Show wrapped up the first week of a two-week long horse show event.  On Wednesday, May 18, the series will pick up again with the Kentucky Spring Classic.  Riders and spectators experienced summer-like weather conditions throughout most of the show with a touch of rain putting only a slight damper on the last two days. The Junior Hunter Divisions concluded with championship honors being awarded in the Stonelea Arena. Despite the rainy forecast, riders turned out to the ring in mint condition, ready to compete.

Taking the show in the Large 16-17 Junior Hunter Division was Taylor Ann Adams and Eastwood. The pair won the championship prize with two blue ribbons.  Shawn Casady and Stars Go Blue earned the reserve championship tricolor.

Adams, who has only competed Eastwood once before, was all smiles after their performance.  The duo fought the cold and rain to come out of the ring victorious, “Eastwood was amazing. I hate competing in the rain and the cold.  I couldn’t really see the jumps so I really just had to trust that he was going to be there and he was.”

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2011 Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Selection Trials Set to Get Underway in Illinois

Lexington, KY – The prestigious Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program kicks off this Friday at Dressage at Lamplight in Wayne, IL, with the first of three regional Selection Trials aimed at selecting the U.S. representatives for the 2011 FEI World Breeding Championships held in Verden, Germany, August 3-7, 2011.

The three selection trials include Dressage at Lamplight in Wayne, IL, May 20-22; Dressage at Flintridge in La Canada-Flintridge, CA, May 26-29; and VADA/NOVA Summer Dressage in Leesburg, VA, June 3-5.

In order to qualify for the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Short List, horses must have earned an overall score of 8.2 or better at one of the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Selection Trials or via international competitions.

The 2010 winners included: Central Champion Six-Year-Old GP Super Crusador, owned by Grand Prix Equestrian and ridden by Kassandra Barteau; Central Champion Five-Year-Old WakeUp, owned and ridden by Emily Wagner; Western Champion Six-Year-Old Selten HW, owned and ridden by Elizabeth Ball; Western Champion Five-Year-Old Bellino, owned and ridden by Mark Carter; Eastern Champion Six-Year-Old De Facto, owned by Martha Singh and ridden by Christopher Schruefer; Eastern Champion Five-Year-Old Suntreader, owned by Pamela Erdman and ridden by Inga Janke.

For more information about the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program, please visit http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/breedsdisciplines/discipline/alldressage/NatlYHProgram.aspx or contact Jeannie Blancq, USEF National Director of Dressage at jblancq@usef.org.

Suzy Stafford Long-Listed for 2011 FEI World Pony Driving Championships in Slovenia

Suzy Stafford has been long-listed for the 2011 FEI World Pony Driving Championships with her registered Arabian-Morgan mare Miss Josephine. (Photo courtesy of Meredith Fetters)

Chester County, PA (May 19, 2011) – Gold medalist Suzy Stafford has been long-listed for the 2011 FEI World Pony Driving Championships with her registered half Arabian mare Miss Josephine. Stafford operates her Stafford Carriage Driving facility out of Chester County in Pennsylvania from April to December and is stationed in Aiken, South Carolina from January through April.

“I am very excited that Josephine has been long-listed for the Pony Driving Championships,” Stafford said. “I have owned her since September of 2010 and she doesn’t have quite the show experience that many of the other ponies I have competed had, but she does have the quality and the talent to win. I am confident she will be ready for the World Championships by September.”

Although their partnership is relatively new, Stafford and Josephine have already proven they have the drive to win. The pair won the Reserve National Single Pony Championships at Live Oak International earlier this year and as the most consistent competitors in three selection trials held in Florida, Stafford and Josephine drove away as the winners of the Triple Crown of Driving sponsored by Live Oak International, the Sunshine State CDE and Little Everglades CDE.

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HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships 100-Day Countdown

Lausanne (SUI), 18 May 2011 – The 100-day countdown to the HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships 2011 is being celebrated today at an international media event held at Luhmühlen (GER), which on 25-28 August will be hosting the championships for the fifth time since they were created in 1953.

Eventing legend Captain Mark Philips (GBR) welcomed guests to the brand new site, which is expected to attract record numbers of fans this year to commemorate the 30th running of the FEI European Eventing Championships. He was joined by German team coach Hans Melzer and Olympians Marina Köhncke (GER) and Andreas Dibowski (GER).

HSBC has agreed a further three-year term as global sponsor of FEI Eventing to include title sponsorships of the HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships in both 2011 and 2013 and the HSBC FEI Classics until the end of 2013. Luhmühlen will host the third leg of the HSBC FEI Classics 2011 series on 16-19 June.

HSBC has supported the FEI Classics series since 2008 and will be contributing US$ 1 million in prize money over the next three years, which represents the biggest prize pot on offer in Eventing on an annual basis.

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Historic ASPCA Maclay National Championship Finds a Home in Kentucky

PHOTO: ©2010 Rebecca Walton - 2010 ASPCA Maclay National Champion Hayley Barnhill winners circle presentation

Lexington, Kentucky – May 17, 2011 – The 2011 Alltech National Horse Show has made the move to Lexington, Kentucky, and along with the glitz, the glamour, the prestige and the big money classes at this classic American tradition, the show will also feature one of the nation’s longest running and most coveted national championships, the ASPCA(R) (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Maclay National Championship.

The Alltech National Horse Show, 128th edition, will be staged at the Alltech Arena at the world-renowned Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, site of last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The show runs from November 2-6, 2011, with the Maclay Finals taking center stage on the final Sunday.

Over the years the ASPCA Maclay Finals have been termed the “proving ground of champions” and the ultimate test for America’s young riders. And in the case of this classic test of horsemanship skills, that’s certainly more fact than hype.

“It’s the culmination of a long year of competition, it’s the final national championship, and with all of the history behind it, it’s just a great event to be a part of,” said top trainer Missy Clark, who, during the course of her stellar career as one of the nation’s very best teachers, has sent nine different ASPCA Maclay National Champions to the ring. “If you look back at the names on the Maclay trophy, you see so many names of riders that have gone on to do great things in their careers. If you can get through the Maclay Finals, you can go on and do anything. If you win that class, you’ve got the goods; you’ve got the ingredients to do great things.”

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Romania’s Bogdan Takes Individual Title as Bulgaria Scoops Team Gold

(L to R) the gold medal winning Bulgarian team of Veselin Petrov, Svetlin Ivanov and Illyan Iskarov with (on right) newly-crowned Individual Balkan Eventing Champion Milashcon Bogdan from Romania.

Romania’s Milashkon Bogdan claimed individual gold at the 2011 FEI Balkan Eventing Championships in Shumen, Bulgaria last Sunday.  The host nation’s Iliyan Iskarov slotted into silver medal position ahead of fellow-countryman Veselin Petrov in bronze while the only other finisher, Bulgaria’s Svetlin Ivanov, was fourth – thus ensuring a clear-cut victory for Bulgaria in the team championship.

A total of eight horse-and-rider partnerships started the competition, and it was Romania’s Viorel Bubau and the seven year old chestnut mare, Arctic, who held the lead after dressage when producing a test that earned 53.94 from the Ground Jury that consisted of Germany’s Carl Heinz Boess (President), Katherina Luchechi (ITA), Yuri Valev (BUL) and Peter Eck (BUL).

CLOSE BEHIND
Bogdan and his 10 year old Westphalian mare, Lady Kera, were close behind on a score of 53.91 in second place however, so when the leader, and third-placed Ozhan Sezer (Pinar) from Turkey, were eliminated on cross-country day then the score-board changed dramatically.

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Elections and Allocation of FEI Championships and Finals

Lausanne (SUI), 10 May 2011 – Carmen Barrera (ESA) and Roberto Luiz Giugni (BRA) were elected chairs of regional groups V and VI respectively by the FEI Extraordinary General Assembly which was held on 6 May 2011 in Lausanne (SUI).

The following FEI Championships and Finals were allocated by the FEI Bureau during its meeting on 5 May:

2012

JUMPING

FEI European Jumping Championships for Young Riders, Juniors and Children, Ebreichsdorf-Magna Racino (AUT), August (exact dates TBC)

DRESSAGE

FEI European Dressage Championships for Young Riders and Juniors, Bern (SUI), 8-15 July

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