Comprising the United States team are four riders in the midst of very good 2012 seasons. Chris Hickey will ride Hilltop Farm’s Witness Hilltop with whom he recently won the Intermediaire I and Prix St. Georges at the Wellington Classic Spring Challenge. Shelly Francis will compete upon Patricia Stemple’s Doktor, Devon Kane upon Diamante Farm’s Destiny, and Caroline Roffman will look to continue her success with Pie. Roffman owns Pie and together they swept the FEI Prix St. Georges and FEI Intermediaire I classes at the $15,000 Wellington Dressage Classic CDI3* in March. Chef d’Equipe for the U.S. team will be Eva Salomon.
The competition will span two days beginning Friday, April 13th and continuing through Saturday, April 14th. All eight teams will contest the FEI Prix St. Georges class on Friday. The top five teams after the Prix St. Georges will compete for the Nations Cup title in the FEI Intermediaire I Freestyle on Saturday. The remaining three teams will compete in the FEI Intermediaire I class.
The winner of the $35,000 FEI Dressage Nations Cup will be determined by FEI Intermediaire I Freestyle scores only. FEI Prix St. Georges scores will be used to determine the top five teams but will not be used to determine final team placing.
Adding an extra level of excitement to the event will be the inclusion of a second U.S. team led by Chef d’Equipe Jenny Van Wieren-Page. Her team, made up entirely of riders on their own horses, will be comprised of Tom Noone & Fred Astair, Laura Graves & Verdades and Jane Cleveland & Rodeo Queen. Latin America will also field two teams for competition.
For more information about the WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO3* visit http://www.globaldressagefestival.com/.
Follow the 2012 U.S. Dressage Team at http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2012Dressage/.
For more information regarding USEF High Performance Dressage Programs, please contact Jenny Van Wieren-Page at JVanWieren@usef.org.