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*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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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, USEF

2011 USEF Pony Finals Get Underway at Kentucky Horse Park

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Opening Day Features Green Pony Hunter Model & Under Saddle

Find the Love and Alex Crown. Photo by Shawn McMillen Photography

Lexington, KY – 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. Today, 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.

The USEF Pony Finals offers three phases of competition, and the ponies are scored on conformation, way of moving under saddle and jumping ability. The young riders are subject to scoring based on equitation and skill at piloting their pony over fences. Winners are declared in all six divisions: small, small green, medium, medium green, large, and large green pony, and each year the points are tabulated to declare a USEF Green Hunter Pony Champion and USEF Regular Pony Hunter Champion, presented by Sallee Horse Vans.

The first event of the day was Small Green Pony Model, where Isabel Ryan of Locust Valley, NY, claimed the blue ribbon prize with Roll Call. The second place honors went to Parker Wright and Shenandoah Sirocco, owned by Sarah Berkowitz of Nottingham, PA. Lindsay Levine and Bit of Laughter, owned by Scott Stewart of Wellington, FL, rounded out today’s top three.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Events, JRPR

Piaffe-Performance Team Winning on Two Continents

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Piaffe-Performance Students Dominique Cassavetis and Chase Hickok Win Gold and Silver Medals at North American Junior and Young Rider Dressage Championships

Chase Hickok, a student at Piaffe-Performance Farm, riding Palermo at the 2011 USDF/Platinum Performance North American Junior and Young Rider Dressage Championships. (Photo courtesy of Sue Stickle)

Lexington, KY (August 8, 2011) – Dominique Cassavetis and Chase Hickok, students at Cesar Parra’s Piaffe-Performance Farm, mounted the medal podium at the 2011 USDF/Platinum Performance North American Junior and Young Rider Dressage Championships in Lexington, Kentucky, following an intense competition that included not only brilliant performances but severe storms as well. Despite the weather, the staff, friends and family at Piaffe-Performance were all smiles as Cassavetis rode away as part of the Junior Gold Medal winning team from Region 1 and Hickok won the Individual Silver medal in the Young Rider Freestyle and the Individual Bronze in the Young Rider Team test. While his students were winning in North America, Dr. Parra was wrapping up a successful European tour.  Parra and Grandioso, owned by Sara and Michael Davis, racked up impressive wins overseas and proving that they are formidable competition at the international level.

Katie Riley, Senior Trainer at Piaffe-Performance, was thrilled with the young rider’s results. “We are all so proud of Dominique and Chase. They really rose to their fullest potential and showed that they have very bright futures ahead of them,” Riley said. “Dominique was part of the NAJYRC Junior team aboard Charming Princess, and they won the Gold Medal which was absolutely fantastic.”

Hickok piloted Palermo, a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood, to Individual Bronze in the Young Rider Team test and to Individual Silver medal in the Young Rider Freestyle, earning at 70.725%. “This was our first time to do this freestyle in competition and we rode to Latin-themed music,” Hickok said. “The music is really great because it matches Palermo by having a lot of energy and personality. It also really showed off his gaits. He has the most heart of any horse I’ve known and really does his best for me every day. I also have to thank Katie Riley, for coaching me at the show, as well as Kevin Kohmann and Laura Pradels for their work on my freestyle. But mostly, my parents for their support and encouragement.”

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*Featured/Spotlights, Breeds, Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI

FEI World Championships for Young Dressage Horses, Verden (GER)

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ASTRIX DOES THE DOUBLE, BUT WOODLAND FAROUCHE IS THE SHOW-STEALER by Louise Parkes

The Hannoverian mare Woodlander Farouche, with Michael Eilberg on board, produced spectacular scores to take the 5 Year Old title at the FEI World Championships for Young Dressage Horses 2011. Photo: FEI/Karl-Heinz Freiler.

Lausanne (SUI), 8 August 2011 – Over 50,000 visitors descended on Verden, Germany for the FEI World Championships for Young Dressage Horses 2011 over the weekend as the KWPN stallion, Astrix, claimed his second gold medal in succession with The Netherlands’ Emelie Scholtens on board.  But the sensation of the event was the Hannoverian mare, Woodlander Farouche ridden by Great Britain’s Michael Eilberg, who took the coveted 5 Year Old title with a spectacular score of 9.72%.

Staged in the heart of Lower Saxony, these Championships have long been recognised as the cradle of the equine dressage stars of the future, and this year’s crop of youngsters were a truly exciting bunch.

TALKING POINT
The British-born Woodlander Farouche, bred by Lynne Crowden in Monmouthshire, England, became the talking point of the show when scoring 9.28 to win last Friday’s 5 Year Old Qualifier.  The judges awarded scores of 9.5, 9.2 and 9.7 for trot, canter and walk, and 25 year old Eilberg described the mare, which he has been riding since she was three years old, as “an incredible horse”.  Looking forward to Sunday’s final he added, “There is of course more pressure to come, but it is a good feeling that she has already presented such an outstanding performance. This strengthens the self-confidence of both of us,” he pointed out.

Second place went to Damon’s Divene, daughter of the double World Champion stallion Damon Hill out of a Rubin Royal dam and bred by Christian Becs.  Helen Langehannenberg steered the horse to a final score of 8.76, while two others shared third place.  Belgium’s Tom Franckx-Goen was awarded a mark of 8.64 with the Dutch-bred IPS Bon Bravour, and Germany’s Jessica Michel matched that with the Hannoverian Swing de Hus.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, FEI

Lindbäck Makes It Two in a Row at Malmö

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Niklas Lindbäck (SWE) and Mister Pooh scored back-to-back victory at FEI World Cup Eventing at Malmö (SWE).

Lausanne (SUI), 8 August 2011 – Niklas Lindbäck (SWE) and Mister Pooh, the super-talented horse many international riders would love to own, scored a brilliant back-to-back victory in the FEI World Cup event at Malmö (SWE), the penultimate competition in the 2011 series.

Lindbäck, who triumphed in 2010 and went on to impress at several other international events, including a fifth place at Badminton (GBR) this year, jumped clear in the final phase to take the top spot after overnight leader Ingrid Klimke (GER) on FRH Butts Abraxxas hit three fences.

“I am very pleased with how Mister Pooh jumped,” said Lindbäck. “We had a few mistakes in the dressage, but he is on great form ready for the Europeans. I didn’t expect to win again and to do it in front of a home crowd is great.”

Third after the Cross-Country, Lindbäck finished the competition with just 0.4 of a penalty in hand over the highest-placed German rider, 22-year-old Julia Krajewski, second on After The Battle, for whom it was a best three-star placing.

Kai Rüder (GER) had an expensive two rails down on the stallion Leprince des Bois and dropped from second to third, but he joked: “I’m keeping my clear round for the Europeans!”

Lindbäck now moves into 10th place in the FEI World Cup Eventing rankings, with one more event to go, at Haras du Pin (FRA). However, the main beneficiary from Malmö was Lucy Wiegersma (GBR), the sole British rider to make the long journey. She was fourth on Simon Porloe and seventh on Woodfalls Inigo Jones and now moves into eighth place in the rankings.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Catherine Pasmore and My Boy Top a Field of 60 to Claim Victory in Grand Prix Savelys of Chantilly

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Grand Prix win highlights a very successful week at Global Champions Tour locale

Photos: © 2011 by Chris Pasmore. Catherine Pasmore competing at Chantilly, France with My Boy

Chantilly, France – August 6, 2011 – A very busy week for Catherine Pasmore at the CSI 2* show in beautiful Chantilly, France, home of the 2011 Global Champions Tour event, was capped by a hard fought victory over a huge starting field of 60 in the highly competitive Grand Prix Savelys of Chantilly.

Pasmore, and her talented partner My Boy, were one of eighteen horse and rider combinations to go clear from that large group that started in Sunday’s main event.

Pasmore, who finished sixth in the qualifier (Prix ZEP Sport International) which reduced the number of entries from over 90 down to the 60 that eventually went to the post on Sunday, stuck to her game plan to nail down the top-notch international victory. She also used a taunt by her younger brother Will as further incentive and motivation for the win. “I went to the side of the ring to watch the first few in the jump off before getting on,” Pasmore detailed. “My little brother told me to stop stressing, because I wasn’t going to win anyway. After that I just wanted to go in and prove him wrong,” she laughed.

The undulating grand prix field offered up a number of challenges, which Pasmore and My Boy handled brilliantly. “The course didn’t seem too big when I walked it, but it certainly was technical enough,” she said. “The course designer did a brilliant job playing the hills in the ring. The way the lines rode really depended on how your horse jumped off the slope at each given jump. You really couldn’t compare it from horse to horse.”

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

British Pip the Irish in Dublin Duel

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Great Britain won the seventh leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2011 in Dublin, Ireland today. Pictured (L to R): Michael Whitaker, Robert Smith, Chef d'Equipe Rob Hoekstra, Nick Skelton and Scott Brash. Photo: FEI/Tony Parkes.

Dublin (IRL), 5 August 2011 – The British pipped their old rivals from Ireland in the seventh leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2011 at the Discover Ireland Dublin Horse Show in Dublin, Ireland today.  Just a week after the exciting jump-off at Hickstead (GBR) in which Germany won through, it came down to yet another three-round thriller with Nick Skelton going head-to-head with Billy Twomey.  And Skelton was in a class of his own as he steered Carlo home to clinch it for the British for the 25th time in the 85-year history of the event.

Belgium and France finished joint-third, while the USA slotted into fifth ahead of Germany.  The long-time league leaders from The Netherlands had a less successful day today when having to settle for seventh place, and Denmark came in last.  It was an improved performance from the Danes however.  Although they may be making an early departure from the top-level series at the end of their inaugural season, they will be stronger for the experience, and they have shown great courage and resilience throughout.

The countries really feeling the heat at the end of today’s classic clash were the Belgians and Americans, because only two points separate them on the league table going into the final leg in Rotterdam (NED) in three weeks’ time.  One of them is likely to join the Danes as the two lowest-placed teams on the FEI Nations Cup 2011 leaderboard are relegated to the FEI Promotional League at the end of the series.

LOST THEIR MOMENTUM
The French held sway on a zero score at the halfway stage this afternoon, but they lost their momentum when all four riders produced single errors second time out.  Alan Wade’s course proved plenty testing, with the triple combination at fence seven, the following vertical with water-tray, and the tricky planks all claiming a number of victims.  Britain’s Michael Whitaker explained, “Yes the combination was difficult, a triple bar to vertical to oxer, and it was tight in there, and then it was a short six to the water tray vertical.  It was a really good course, plenty difficult,” he pointed out.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, HITS, HITS, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping, USEF

Opening Day of USEF National Junior Hunter Championships – East Coast Crowns Winners in ASPCA Maclay, WIHS Equitation Classic and USEF/Pessoa Medals

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©ESI Photography. Kendell Adelberger and Redfield Farm’s Werner took home the top honors in Monday's ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship Medal.

SAUGERTIES, NEW YORK (August 2, 2011) — This week, HITS-on-the-Hudson is host to some of the best junior riders in the country as it welcomes the USEF National Junior Hunter Championship – East Coast to the Saugerties show grounds.

Action got underway yesterday with four equitation classes and will continue through Wednesday as Small Juniors 15 and Under, Large Juniors 15 and Under, Small Juniors 16-17, and Large Juniors 16-17 will compete for the National Championship as well as a Wild Card berth in the inaugural Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final at HITS-on-the-Hudson VIII this September.

“The Junior Hunter National Championships have been a highlight of the HITS-on-the-Hudson Summer Series and we are pleased to welcome the event back to Saugerties,” said HITS President and CEO Tom Struzzieri. “We felt strongly that this year’s Champions deserve a spot in the Hunter Prix Final and we hope this will help to contribute some additional excitement and attention to the Junior Hunter Finals.”

ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship Medal
Kendell Adelberger of Chester Springs, Pennsylvania kicked off three days of Hunter competition with a win in the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship Medal, aboard Redfield Farm’s Werner. Adelberger is trained by Emil Spadone and topped a field of 15 to capture the blue. The group faced a technical course in HITS’ Hunter Stadium and then their equitation was put to the test on the flat.

Continue reading Opening Day of USEF National Junior Hunter Championships – East Coast Crowns Winners in ASPCA Maclay, WIHS Equitation Classic and USEF/Pessoa Medals →

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

FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships 2011

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NEXT GENERATION RISE TO THE CHALLENGE AT TOUGH KENTUCKY CHAMPIONSHIPS by Louise Parkes

Avery Klunick, Alyssa Phillips, Alexa Ehlers and Victoria New, USA Area 5's Gold Medal Junior Eventing Team Champions. Photo: FEI/Anthony Trollope.

Lausanne (SUI), 1 August 2011 – A heat-wave and thunderstorms failed to throw the next talented generation off their stride at the FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championship which came to a thrilling conclusion at the Horse Park In Kentucky, USA yesterday.  Open to riders from the USA, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Islands, the five-day action-packed fixture attracted 250 entries, all hoping to make their mark in the five disciplines of Dressage, Endurance, Reining, Jumping and Eventing.

DRESSAGE
US Region 5 captured Young Rider Dressage Team gold.  Aylin Corapcioglu (Ruhmann), Madeleine Birch (Uceri), Catherine Chamberline (Verdicci) and Brandi Roenick (Pretty Lady) completed with a combined score of 198.104, but only pipped Canada BC/QC – Emily Fownes (Frapuccino), Mathilde Tetrault (Michelango), Anna Mylai Messier (Marzipan) and Esmee Ingham (Norseman) – by just over one point, while USA Region 8 were less than another point further adrift in bronze.

Roenick produced the highest score of the competition, 69.289, and the 16 year old from Arizona complimented her team-mates: “It’s an awesome opportunity to ride with these girls and really get to know them,” she said.  Canada’s Esmee Ingham put the Canadian silver medal in context.  “Since British Columbia is on the West Coast and Quebec City is so far east, for us to come together as a team having never met, and to take a medal is really incredible!” she pointed out.

Roenick had to settle for silver in the Individual Championship however when Isabelle Leibler (Watson) took gold and fellow-American Chase Hickok (Palermo) claimed the bronze.  And it was Hickok who moved into silver medal position in the Freestyle in which Leibler’s flawless performance with her 14 year old Westphalian gelding earned a winning score of 74.00. “He just felt like he was right there for me… it was the most amazing feeling,” Leibler said.  Mackinzie Pooley claimed the bronze with her last ride in international competition with the 20 year old Oldenburg Jonkara.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Events, Show Jumping, USEF, USHJA

Team Show Jumpers Take the Stage at the 2011 Adequan/FEI NAJYRC

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Junior Gold Medal Jumping Team, U.S. Zone 4. Photo by Sportfot.

Lexington, KY – It was a clean sweep for the U.S. when Junior and Young Rider Show Jumping Teams vied in the USHJA North American Show Jumping Championships today.

In the Junior division, the team from U.S. Zone 4 led the victory gallop with their Gold medal in tow while the U.S. Zone 2 carried the Silver, and U.S. combined Zones 1/6 took the Bronze.

Michael Hughes and Shockwave, Hayley Barnhill aboard Toucan Tango, Hasbrouck Donovan on Delilah, and Frances Land with Merlin earned the first-ever Gold for Zone 4 with a team total of only 12 faults after two grueling rounds in the Rolex stadium.

While a steady four on the outside line and a difficult water jump caused rails to come down for many, the Zone 4 team persevered. Barnhill, aboard the 9-year-old Tango, went clear for both rounds, one of only six to do so.

“It feels amazing,” said the 18-year-old Barnhill. “Zone 4 has never won a gold medal here, and it’s just awesome to be the first ones to do it.”

Team Chef Kim Land (Frances Land’s mother) could not have been more excited. “I’m really proud of them, with how they helped each other,” she said. “They’ve had their ups and downs this week and today everybody just came together and got better and better.”

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