Category Archives: Competitions

World Dressage Masters Palm Beach Announces Change to Line-Up

Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro. Photo courtesy of British Dressage

Wellington, FL – January 6, 2012 – Organizers of the World Dressage Masters presented by Axel Johnson Group have been informed that the stallion Totilas and his rider Matthias Rath of Germany will be unable to attend the WDM Palm Beach presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach, which is set to take place January 26th to 28th.

“I received a call this morning from Paul Schockemöhle, one of the owners of Totilas,” said WDM Palm Beach organizer Noreen O’Sullivan of Wellington Classic Dressage. “I am very sorry to announce that Totilas will not be able to compete in this year’s World Dressage Masters Palm Beach. The owners feel the horse has just returned to light work after an injury and would not be ready for this event. We have already invited Totilas and Matthias to our 2013 WDM event. The owners and Matthias were very disappointed they would not be able to attend this year’s WDM Palm Beach but also said they look forward to accepting our invitation for next year if the horse is going well.”

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EquestrianCoach.com’s Bernie Traurig to Judge the College Preparatory Invitational January 13-15

Wellington, FL – January 5, 2012 – The legendary rider, trainer, founder and president of Equestrian.Coach.com, Bernie Traurig, is slated to judge the College Preparatory Invitational (CPI) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL.  The event runs from January 13th through the 15th.

“I am honored to be asked to judge this event and look forward to it. I was so impressed with the quality of riding at this spring’s IHSA Nationals and am anticipating much of the same here,” shared Traurig.

In its second year, the CPI provides college-bound high school students an opportunity to compete in a format similar to the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) while experiencing a world-class venue. The organizers of the CPI believe that equestrian talent, not finances, should dictate a rider’s opportunity to be a part of a collegiate team. The CPI provides the horses and tack for the show. Competitors incur no cost of transporting horses to the show. CPI riders compete on a level playing field aboard unknown horses before an audience of prospective equestrian collegiate coaches.

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“Salute to Driving” Benefit to Support the USET Foundation

The "Salute to Driving" will take place February 18-20, 2012. Photo By: Vicki Long.

Aiken, SC – January 4, 2012 – The Second Annual Salute to Driving fundraising event is pleased to announce that it will once again be held in Aiken, and Windsor SC, February 18-20, 2012, and will feature many exciting new additions. Last year’s debut event benefited this country’s High Performance Driving programs for the United States Equestrian Team Foundation, raising over $30,000. The exciting weekend event will feature a beautiful dinner and auction on Saturday evening, multiple driving clinics with some of the world’s top trainers, and a Combined Test Competition for any drivers Preliminary-Advanced on Monday. The Salute to Driving event is being held to help raise awareness and educate different audiences about the discipline of driving.

Salute to Driving will kick off its festivities on Saturday, February 18, 2012, with dressage clinics by Tjreed Velstra of The Netherlands and Hardy Zantke of California at Chateau Log and Courage to Lead Farms. Auditing these clinics is free, and Velstra will lead the USEF long listed drivers while Zantke teaches the developing drivers. Other special events include a hazard demonstration and clinic, harnessing demonstrations, and a carriage exhibit.

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Dressage at Devon to Focus on Capital Campaign and Dressage Education in 2012

Devon, PA (January 2, 2012) – America’s most prestigious Dressage Horse Show, Dressage at Devon has continued to grow and evolve over the past 37 years. The show has provided a top show venue for competitors, a unique “Norman Rockwell” style American shopping venue and has benefited various charities over the years. Over the past 21 years, Thorncroft Equestrian Center has been the charitable beneficiary of the Dressage at Devon horse show. This month Thorncroft Equestrian Center opted to move in a new direction for their fundraising efforts giving Dressage at Devon an opportunity to focus on the capital campaign allocating proceeds from the show to continued improvements at the show grounds and to focus on dressage education.

“It is a great time for Dressage at Devon to give even more back to the sport,” said Lori Kaminski, President of the Dressage at Devon Board of Directors. “Dressage at Devon has decided to take this opportunity to focus on our mission statement of producing a world class dressage and dressage sport horse breeding show, promoting the sport of dressage, and supporting dressage education. We have already initiated a capital campaign along with the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair Foundation to raise the funds needed to excavate and rebuild the schooling arena using the same high quality footing that has already been installed in the competition arenas. This improvement will include the necessary drainage and provide a safer environment for horses, riders, and handlers. Educational sessions for dressage judges and dressage sport horse judges are in the planning stages for 2012 and we are currently in the process of identifying the topics and presenters for the Wednesday evening forum and the weekend mini seminars.”

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Hunter and ASPCA Maclay Judges Announced for 2012 Alltech National Horse Show

Phillip DeVita. Photos © Kenneth Kraus

Lexington, Kentucky – January 2, 2012 – The Alltech National Horse Show, 129th edition, scheduled for the Alltech Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on October 31 through November 4, 2012, today announced the line-up of judges for the Hunter divisions and the ASPCA Maclay National Championship for this year’s event.

The debut of the Alltech National Horse Show last November closed with great excitement, receiving unanimous and rave reviews from the equestrian community. More than 560 horses and 350 riders from nine countries, including nine Olympic veterans competed in 2011 and this year’s event should prove to be even more successful.

Invited to judge the highly competitive hunter divisions for the 2012 edition are Phillip J. DeVita, Jr. from Apopka, Florida and Jimmy Torano, from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Both DeVita and Torano are two of the most popular and highly rated hunter judges in the United States, having officiated at most of the top ranked shows in the nation.

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NFHJA 2011 Year End Banquet

The 2011 NFHJA Year End Banquet will be held on Sunday, January 8th at the Ramada Inn on San Jose & 295.  Please note that the Banquet Information and Reservation Form is posted on the website.  Don’t forget to get those trophies out, engraved and polished before the banquet!  Please RSVP by returning the Reservation Form or by calling Sissy Foshee at 904.635.4231.

2012 Jacksonville Winter Series

The Winter Series in just 10 short days and we currently have stalls available for all 3 weeks.  Please call 904.993.2053 or email info@nfhja.com to reserve your stalls!  Late entry fees have also been waived for entries that are received through the end of the week!

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Saudi Equestrian Qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games

From left to right: Abdullah Sharbatly aboard Jalla de Gaverie; Ashraf (Sharbatly's groom); Badr Alfayes; Ramzy Al Duhami; HH Prince Faisal; and Kamal Bahamdan aboard Delphi at the CSI-W4* Doha (QAT). Photo credit: Saudi Equestrian

1 January 2012 – Saudi Arabia’s equestrian Show Jumping team, Saudi Equestrian, gained official qualification to the London 2012 Olympic Games (27 July – 12 August) at the CSI-W4* Doha (QAT) on Friday 30 December 2011. 15 teams, each with four riders, are now qualified in the equestrian team Show Jumping competition, which takes place over three days from Saturday 4 to Monday 6 August at the World Heritage Site of Greenwich Park.

The Saudi team secured its place in the Olympics during the Group F (Africa and Middle East Region) FEI Select Olympic Qualification event held in the Qatari capital of Doha (December 27-30, 2011).

News of officially qualifying for the Olympics follows earlier success in Doha: The Saudi Equestrian team claimed the coveted Nations Cup and Abdullah Sharbatly won the Grand Prix.

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Saudi Arabia and Jordan Qualify for London 2012 Olympic Jumping

Lausanne (SUI), 31 December 2011 – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has secured the final qualifying slot for the Jumping competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Saudi Arabia earned its qualification on the basis of the team’s combined classification among the FEI Olympic Group F teams – Africa and the Middle East – at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 and the 2011 FEI Group F Special Olympic qualifying competition, which took place on 30 December in Doha (QAT).

Jordan qualified one individual for London 2012 when Ibrahim Hani Bisharat, obtained the best classification among the Group F individual riders.

Doha hosted the final qualifying event for the team Jumping at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The 15 teams that will compete in London are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Great Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA and Ukraine.

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Fourth-in-a-Row Win for Boyd Exell

Boyd Exell (AUS), winner of the sixth FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 qualifier held in Mechelen (BEL) this weekend. ©Rinaldo de Craen/FEI

Mechelen (BEL), 31 December 2011 – Boyd Exell proved to be of a different class again in the sixth leg of the FEI World Cup Driving in Mechelen, Belgium. Exell remained untouched throughout the competition and stayed far ahead of his rivals Tomas Eriksson (SWE) and IJsbrand Chardon (NED). Mechelen is Boyd’s fourth consecutive win of the season after his victories at Stockholm, Budapest and Geneva. With only the Final in Bordeaux left for the triple FEI World Cup winner, Boyd can relax and enjoy his well-deserved holiday in his home country Australia for the next few weeks.

Exciting until the last moment

It was one of the best FEI World Cup Driving competitions ever in the Nekkerhal, which remained exciting until the very last moment. No less than eight drivers battled for a place on the podium. Second starter Georg von Stein drove a fast clear round, which more experienced indoor drivers like Koos de Ronde and Jozsef Dobrovitz were unable to beat. Tomas Eriksson was the first to beat Von Stein’s time and secured his place for the winning round. IJsbrand Chardon caused even more excitement by knocking a ball off the first obstacle, but finished only 0.48 seconds behind Eriksson and also qualified for the winning round. Boyd Exell finished the job without any hesitation and took the lead.

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Wathelet Wins on Home Turf at Mechelen

Gregory Wathelet and Copin van de Broy pictured receiving the winner’s prize of a Rolex watch from Mr Philippe De Baets, Managing Director, Rolex Benelux. Photo: FEI/Dirk Caremans.

Mechelen (BEL), 30 December 2011 – Gregory Wathelet scooped the honours for the host nation when coming out on top at the eighth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping 2011/2012 series at Mechelen in Belgium this afternoon.  And he did it in style, throwing down an impossible target when first to go with Copin van de Broy in the eight-horse jump-off, and sitting back to watch the rest line up behind him.

It was 2009 individual European Champion, Kevin Staut from France, who filled runner-up spot with the grey mare, Silvana HDC, while Belgium was prominently placed once more when Rick Hemeryck and Quarco de Kerambars finished third.  Germany’s Hans-Dieter Dreher (Magnus Romeo) slotted into fourth, while the fifth-place result for Denis Lynch (Abbervail van het Dingeshof) has promoted the Irishman to second spot on the Western European League leaderboard as 2011 draws to a close with reigning European Champion, Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, still at the head of affairs.

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