Category Archives: *Featured/Spotlights

Special features, spotlights, headlines

*Featured/Spotlights, Dressage, Events, Olympic Games, USEF

USEF Report from First Pre-Olympic Games Dressage Clinic

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David Wightman on Partous with Anne Gribbons and Steffen Peters (Photo: USEF Archives)

Lexington, KY – The first of six pre-Olympic Games Dressage Clinics kicked off at beautiful Epona Farm in Thousand Oaks, CA. These clinics, a joint effort by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the USET Foundation will help prepare horses and riders for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Linda and Michael Fowler were gracious hosts at Epona Farm. Nine horses (with seven riders) worked with USEF Technical Advisor Anne Gribbons and Olympian Steffens Peters. For two days the riders focused on schooling the Grand Prix and then rode a test in front of Gribbons. Gribbons is also an FEI 5* judge.

“Going into 2012 it was useful for the riders to practice the new Olympic Grand Prix Special test,” said Jenny Van Wieren-Page USEF Director of Dressage, High Performance. “Another important aspect of these clinics is planning the 2012 competition and training schedules with Anne.”

Continue reading USEF Report from First Pre-Olympic Games Dressage Clinic →

*Featured/Spotlights, Contributors/Press, Dressage, Driving, Endurance Riding, Eventing/H.T., FEI, Para-Equestrian, Show Jumping, Vaulting, Western/Reining, World Equestrian Games

Rolex Signs Partnership Agreement with Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014

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Geneva (SUI), 13 December 2011 – Rolex has become an official partner of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014. The agreement was signed today, 13 December, in Geneva (SUI), home town to Rolex and venue of the sixth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping 2011/2012.

The Swiss luxury watch maker has been involved in equestrian sport since 1957 and is a major force behind many of the sport’s finest events and riders. The brand’s association with the FEI World Equestrian Games dates back to 2002 and Rolex was the official sponsor of last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky (USA).

FEI Secretary General Ingmar De Vos welcomed the news of the Rolex partnership with Normandy 2014. “The FEI is delighted that Rolex, one of the world’s best brands and a dedicated partner to equestrian sport, has renewed its cooperation with the FEI’s flagship event, the FEI World Equestrian Games,” he said. “Rolex’s loyalty to our sport is exceptional and we are looking forward to the Games in Normandy, which are expected to stage absolutely top-class sport in an area renowned for its connection with the horse.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Endurance Riding, Events, FEI, FEI, USEF

Team USA Places Fourth at FEI Junior and Young Rider World Endurance Championship

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Kelsey Kimbler on Cody Canuck and Mary Kathryn Clark on DA Al Capone walking in. Photos courtesy Kelly Kimbler

Lexington, KY – The U.S. finished fourth among 19 teams Saturday in Abu Dhabi, UAE, at the FEI Junior and Young Rider World Endurance Championship despite an uphill battle that included an injured horse at the first inspection.

“What an exhilarating team effort and realistically an unexpected result – but privately hoped for,” said Chef d’Equipe Emmett Ross.

Unexpected, in part, because Natalie Muzzio’s horse Khalil Asam was not able to ship, resulting in the loss of Team member Steven Hay. Then, at the first inspection on Friday, Kyle Gibbon’s horse, Misu Koran, owned by Stephen Rojek, presented with a sore shoulder and was not able to start. There are five vet checks throughout the race to check the horse’s soundness and metabolic capacity in order to be allowed to continue.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Endurance Riding, Events, FEI, FEI

FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Riders 2011

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STAR PERFORMANCE FROM STIRLING AS URUGUAY TAKES TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL GOLD by Louise Parkes

15-year-old Martin Stirling rode the nine-year-old Vendaval to Team and Individual gold at the FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Riders 2011.

Abu Dhabi (UAE), 12 December 2011 – Martin Stirling was the star turn at the 2011 FEI World Endurance Championship for Juniors and Young Riders in Abu Dhabi over the weekend when the 15-year-old schoolboy led Uruguay to Team and Individual glory.

The French stood in silver medal position on the team podium ahead of the Australians who took bronze, and it was Australia’s Allix Jones who was runner-up for the Individual title. Firming up the dominant position of the Uruguayan squad at this biennial event, Oriana Ricca claimed Individual bronze while team-mate, Maria Pereira, took the Best Condition Award after finishing individually seventh with Mi Jade.

It was a surprise result all round, with high expectations that riders from the United Arab Emirates would feature prominently. The UAE’s Hussain Ali Al Marzouqi steered his horse, Sergai, to win the last FEI World Endurance Champion for Juniors and Young Riders held in Hungary in 2009, while Ahmad Ali Al Sabri and Alizee de Marjolaine claimed the Open category gold at the European Junior and Young Rider Endurance Championships in 2010.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Community/Charity, Competitions, Events, Show Jumping, Sydney Masters-Durieux

Youngest Rider at Gucci Masters/Paris Teams with Friend for Toys for Tots Drive

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Emanuel Andrade Newest Junior Ambassador to the Step by Step Foundation

Daniela Stransky riding Starlight and representing Venezuela at the 3rd annual Gucci Masters in Paris. Photo by Sophie Durieux.

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL – December 12, 2011 – Daniela Stransky made her European show jumping debut at the 3rd annual Gucci Masters, which ran from December 2 to 4, 2011 in Paris, France. The 15 year old was the youngest rider at the prestigious international horse show and the only competitor representing Venezuela.

Cheered on by her mother Liliane Stransky, the founder of the international charity Step by Step Foundation (www.stepbystepfoundation.com) and owner of Stransky’s Mission Farm in Wellington, Florida, and her trainer Hector Florentino of the Dominican Republic, Daniela piloted her mare Starlight to two fault free and speedy rounds.  Just out of the ribbons, the tenacious teen vowed to return next year with her friend and fellow Venezuelan rider Emanuel Andrade (15).

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

Miranda Turns On the Magic in Geneva

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Brazil’s Alvaro de Miranda produced a thrilling jump-off round from AD Ashleigh Drossel Dan to win the sixth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping series in Geneva, Switzerland today. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.

Geneva (SUI), 11 December 2011 – Brazil’s Alvaro de Miranda claimed maximum points and set himself on the road to the series Final with a breath-taking victory riding AD Ashleigh Drossel Dan in the sixth leg of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Western European League at Geneva, Switzerland this afternoon.  With 16 of the world’s best horses and riders through to the closing stages, the second-round race against the clock was a thriller in which the lead changed again and again.  But with the advantage of being last to go, and with a superb round sprinkled with a little luck, the 38 year old rider and his 13 year old gelding scorched home to clinch it in style.

A measure of the quality of today’s competition was the prize-winning line-up, with 2011 European Champion Rolf-Goran Bengtsson from Sweden having to settle for runner-up spot despite a jump-off run with Casall la Silla that looked surely unbeatable.  And in third place was one of the fastest men on the planet, Patrice Delaveau from France who set the arena alight with Orient Express who seemed airborne from start to finish.  Today’s result boosts Bengtsson’s position at the top of the series leaderboard, but Miranda has climbed onboard in 18th place.  And the Brazilian is now altering his game-plan for the rest of the indoor season, with his sights shifted to earning a spot at the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping 2011/2012 final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands next April.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Driving, Events, FEI, FEI

Boyd Exell Does Magic in Geneva

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

Geneva (SUI), 10 December 2011 – Boyd Exell (AUS) won the fifth leg of the FEI World Cup Driving 2011/2012 in Geneva, Switzerland, this afternoon. Exell competed in the Swiss city for the fourth time winning every edition. The crowd and the electric atmosphere in the arena today contributed to another magic performance. Dutch drivers Koos de Ronde and Theo Timmerman finished in second and third place.

Difficult enough

Falk Böhnisch of Germany had designed a difficult course for the seven drivers competing in Europe’s largest indoor arena, known for its unique features such as the water and the small slope, which make it resemble an outdoor marathon course. Böhnisch and President Ground Jury Hans Peter Rüschlin made some small adjustments to today’s course making it better and smoother for the horses.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Dressage, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping

The Wellington Equestrian “Alliance”? NOT! by Robert Dover

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I woke up this morning with only thoughts of taking my Mom to the Cleveland Clinic to hear the oncologist’s report on her cancer as well as concerns with having to finally place my Dad in an Alzheimer’s facility in Texas.

Life has a way of reminding us that it goes by way too fast and how important it is to have our loved ones and the friends you trust (including our wonderful 4-legged ones) around you at all times. With the help of amazing sponsors, great horses, and a passion for the sport I love, I have had a great career including the honor of representing our great nation on the dressage team at six Olympic Games. Life, however, is full of imposters, whose posing, scheming, and distortions have the sole intention of pursuing their own agenda regardless of truth usually at a great cost to others. One of the keys in life is identifying, exposing, avoiding, and then overcoming their disruptions. We all have had our experiences and stories to share!

So while checking my morning email, I have to tell you how shocked I was to read the Newsletter that was sent to me stating that the “Wellington Equestrian Preservation Alliance was doing all it can to “stop controversial developer Mark Bellissimo and Wellington Equestrian Partners from destroying and ruining the equestrian preserve.” The newsletter was full of angry terms that incite. Terms like scheming, speculation, declining home values, crime, uncertainty, anxiety, insecurity, increased danger to horses, noise, traffic congestion, lack of green space, the list goes on. Then I read about the high-rise condominiums, a mall, a fairgrounds, and an RV Park. It was a negative, intentionally inaccurate, full of exaggeration, fear mongering campaign only meant to once again scare and disrupt this community that I call home and love. It was time to take a deep breath, reflect, and voice my opinions.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Contributors/Press, Revolution Sports, Show Jumping

The Rolex One to Watch – December 2011

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Annelies Vorsselmans riding Eurocommerce Cleveland in the CSI** Masters Grand Prix at the Gucci Masters 2011 in Paris (FRA). Photo: SPORTFOT/Rolex

08 December 2011 – The Rolex One to Watch for December 2011 is Belgian rider Annelies Vorsselmans. Based at Stal Eurocommerce, situated approximately 130 kms to the East of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the 27-year-old jumped from number 334 to 245 during November – a move up the Rolex Rankings of 89 places.

Born on 28 June 1983, and brought up in Belgium, Vorsselmans started to ride at a very young age, and as a child grew up surrounded by horses and ponies. During her childhood years Vorsselmans rode Dressage, and not without merit; she qualified for the national finals held in Mechelen, Belgium three times. It was after Vorsselmans’ father gave her his Jumping horse that her focus started to move away from Dressage.

When Vorsselmans was 18 years old she had to make a tough, life-affirming decision: to either carry on with her studies, or alternatively to pursue a life dedicated to riding horses professionally. Having chosen the latter option, Vorsselmans ended up at the Eurohorse stables of renowned Dutch rider and horse dealer, Axel Verlooy, and it was during her time there that Vorsselmans says she really learned to ride. Based in Grobbendonk, Belgium, Verlooy currently employs Harrie Smolders and his son, Jos Verlooy, and, between the three of them, they operate a very successful equestrian outfit.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Dressage, FEI, Olympic Games, Para-Equestrian

Fifteen Para-Equestrians Secure London 2012 Training Grants

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New Zealand’s Frances Dick, one of 15 international Para-Equestrians to secure Eurovestech training grants in the countdown to London 2012. Image: Equestrian Sports New Zealand.

Lausanne (SUI), 8 December 2011 – Fifteen Para-Equestrians from five different countries have secured a share of a €25,500 London 2012 training grant from Eurovestech plc, the pan-European development capital fund.

Three riders from Hong Kong, Israel, New Zealand, Poland and Russia will use the grants to fund their training, with London 2012 Paralympic qualification as their major goal.

The grants were launched in July this year to support Para-Equestrians from nations where funding is limited and who have not won medals at the Paralympics, World Championships or World Equestrian Games since 2004.

New Zealand’s Frances Dick, who is aiming to compete at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, is delighted to be awarded a training grant. “My dream of bringing home a medal from the London 2012 Paralympics has just got a whole lot closer and the grant comes at a time when funding is critical in the countdown to 2012.”

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