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Archive for March 9th, 2010Shahinian-Simpson Flies into the Lead in the Final WEG Selection TrialWEG Long List Named California rider Nicole Shahinian-Simpson posted her third clear round of the five-leg 2010 Alltech World Equestrian Games Selection Trials Sunday, which helped her and Tristan (Ilan Ferder, owner) to spring past Richard Spooner and take the lead overall with only nine faults. She also tied for 15th place (33 faults) with Kilkenny Rindo (Kilkenny Crest, owner). Her accomplishment earned her and Tristan a spot on the team’s Long List and the opportunity to compete with other top riders in Europe this summer. Spooner, after holding the lead aboard Cristallo (Show Jumping Syn., owner) for two legs of the competition, dropped two rails Sunday and ended the Trials with a total of 14 faults and landed in second. Two riders tied for third with 16 faults: Mario Deslauriers with Urico (Jane Clark, owner) and Beezie Madden on Danny Boy (Abigail Wexner, owner). Mclain Ward rounded out the top five aboard Rothchild (Sagamore Farms, owner) with 17 faults. Two other riders from the west coast made good showings at the Trials: Rich Fellers piloted Flexible (Harry & Molly Chapman, owners) to two clear rounds over the week, but with a rough ride in the second leg and a rail apiece in the last two, he ended with 24 faults and ninth place—and a spot on the Long List. Ashlee Bond rode Chivas Z (Little Valley Farm, owner) to two clear rounds during the Trials, but also had several rails down on other days and ended in 13th place with 31 faults. She was named as an alternate to the Long List. Angling for Better Position Take a position close to the gate to give your horse the chance to take hold of the cow. Your location will help you “train” your cow in the fence work. By AQHA Professional Horseman Bozo Rogers with Larri Jo Starkey In the working cow horse, strategy can make the difference between handling your cow efficiently and letting her run down the rail without you. Everything starts with a little mental exercise. If you can think like the cow, you can be ready to handle whatever she throws your way. Opening Gambit The point of boxing is to teach the cow to honor your horse. To do that, you need to “train” the cow to move away from your horse when you’re in her eye. If you are halfway down the pen when you call for the cow, you give the cow time to come to you, and a bad cow will run by you. I like to sit about 50 feet from the end of the arena so that when the cow steps into the arena, the first thing she sees is me moving toward her. When she sees me, she’ll veer, forcing her to honor the horse before she does anything else. Celebration of Hunters – Gulf Coast 4I am not even sure where to start to tell you about the stellar week in Gulfport. It was a “celebration of hunters” for sure. The show was a WCHR event and on Thursday afternoon, Janet McCarroll hosted a USHJA Lunging Clinic in both Spanish and English. She had about 50 people attend the clinic and I was told over and over what a great job she did along with Dr. Juan Gamboa to explain the safe and proper way to lunge a horse. Great Idea Janet and congrats on the success. On Friday, The Gulf Coast Magnolia Classic hosted the USHJA International Hunter Derby with 43 exhibitors. Paul Jewel and Allen Rheinheimer along with the entire Gulf Coast Classic Company crew worked long into the night cutting brush and setting an incredible course. If you want to watch a round or 12, click here: http://equisvideo.com/winnerscircle/index44.html. The days started with a breakfast sponsored by Dr. Gamboa and Adequan. Everyone loved those home made biscuits… Thanks Juan and Caroline for your support. We then watched great class. Solem Soars! Callan Solem and Allison win the $50,000 Ring Power Grand Prix, Presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Sunday at HITS Ocala © ESI Photography. Callan Solem and Allison, owned by Quiet Winter Farm/BJ Maghan, on course in Sunday's $50,000 Ring Power Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS Ocala. OCALA, FL (March 8, 2010) — It was starting to feel like Florida again as the warm weather arrived just in time for Callan Solem and Allison, owned by Quiet Winter Farm/BJ Maghan, to win the $50,000 Ring Power Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, for their third Grand Prix victory this winter at HITS Ocala. “She’s [Allison] a good girl,” said Solem of New Jersey, who took second in Thursday’s $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. “I thought the first round was really smooth – Allison just loves this sport so much, she knows when it’s Sunday and gets very excited.” Starting the class that featured 24 competitors on a course designed by Danny Foster, was Maryland native Tracy Magness and Tarco Van Ter Moude, owned by Mr. and Mrs. John Bartko. Magness set the bar high with a clean round to earn the first spot in the jump-off. Four rounds later, Aaron Vale of Morriston, Florida, and Paparazzi, who were the winning team of Thursday’s $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, followed Magness to the jump-off with a clean round. Without a moment to waste, Solem and Allison showed next with a clean round, as the jump-off continued to grow with the biggest names of High-Performance riders at HITS Ocala. All about Alfano! Jennifer Alfano Wins the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby at HITS Ocala © ESI Photography. Jennifer Alfano and Fantabulous on course in Sunday's $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby at HITS Ocala. OCALA, FL (March 9, 2010) — Jennifer Alfano was both fantastic and fabulous on Fantabulous, as they beat out 51 other horse-and-rider pairs to win the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby on Sunday at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, Florida. “We’re thrilled!” exclaimed Alfano, of Buffalo, New York, who stood next to Fantabulous’ owner, Michelle Shaulinski. Fantabulous, a nine-year-old Dutch warm blood with the nickname “Fred”, is a First Year horse. “This was Fred’s first Derby,” said Alfano. “It was a really nice course and he handled it perfectly – even with jumping outside the ring he did really great and I’m very excited for him.” On the course designed by Jamie Alder, Alfano and Fantabulous had the highest score in the first round with an 89. Second place winner Callan Solem and Barbara Scott’s Cinderella followed closely with a first-round score of 88. HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing News 2/2010: First Event at Tallahassee, FL (USA)
Mara Dean Is First Off the Mark in 2010 HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing Mara Dean (USA) has become the first rider to post a winning score on the HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing leaderboard, following an emotional pillar-to-post victory in the Florida sunshine at the Red Hills International CIC***-W at Tallahassee (USA). Riding her veteran 15-year-old Irish-bred Nicky Henley, who was coming back into competition after sustaining a tendon injury at the 2007 Pan-Am Games, Virginia-based Dean held off the always serious challenge of Phillip Dutton (USA), riding Truluck, 4th at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR) last year. Laura Kraut and Cedric Capture Top Prize in $150,000 CN U.S. Open Grand Prix, CSIO 4* at 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival Nicole Shahinian-Simpson and Tristan. All photos © 2010 Randi Muster Nicole Shahinian-Simpson Rides Tristan to Top of the List for USEF WEG Selection Trials Wellington, FL – March 7, 2010 – The $150,000 CN U.S. Open Grand Prix, CSIO 4* was today’s highlight event and Laura Kraut (USA) with Cedric, owned by Happy Hill Farm, were victorious. Second place went to Beezie Madden (USA) and Danny Boy, owned by Abigail Wexner, while Nicole Shahinian-Simpson was third with Tristan, owned by Ilan Ferder and Tal Milstein. Nearly 3,000 spectators turned out to watch today’s grand prix. For the USEF WEG Selection Trials, the final leader was Nicole Shahinian-Simpson on Tristan, who finished with just 9 faults over the five trials. In second place for the trials were Richard Spooner and Show Jumping Syndicate’s Cristallo, who had 14 total faults. Mario Deslauriers and Urico, owned by Jane Clark, sit in third with 16 total faults, tied with Beezie Madden and Danny Boy. The eighth week of the FTI WEF is sponsored by CN and concluded with today’s competition. The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of competition that conclude on April 4, 2010, and they will be awarding almost $6 million in prize money through the circuit. FEI World Cup Dressage 2009/2010 – Revised List for FinalThe line-up for the final of the 2009/2010 FEI World Cup Dressage series which will take place at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands from 25-27 March has been revised. The USA and Canadian Federations have confirmed that, due to health issues for either horses or riders, there will be no representatives from the North American League, so the two available slots will now be taken by reserve riders Tinne Vilhelmson Silfven from Sweden and Poland’s Katarzyna Milczarek who previously applied for any available extra starting places. Both of these riders became eligible through meeting the criteria laid down for participation at the final which includes the necessity to have competed in at least three qualifiers and the achievement of a score of at least 68.0% on each occasion. As the reigning Olympic and nine-time World Cup title-holder Anky van Grunsven from The Netherlands has not qualified this year and the 2008/2009 FEI World Cup Dressage series winner Steffen Peters of the USA has decided not to defend his title, a new champion will be crowned in the Brabanthallen at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in two weeks time. Adequan Joins Live Oak International Combined Driving Event as 2010 Sponsor Adequan, a leading joint medication company, has joined the Live Oak International Combined Driving Event as a sponsor. Live Oak will host the Single and Four-In-Hand National Championships March 25-28, at Live Oak Plantation in Ocala. (Photo courtesy of Live Oak.) Ocala, FL (March 9, 2010) – Adequan, a leading joint medication company, has joined the Live Oak International Combined Driving Event as a sponsor. The premier driving event in North America, Live Oak will host the Single and Four-In-Hand National Championships March 25-28, at Live Oak Plantation in Ocala. “We are thrilled to have Adequan join us as a sponsor this year,” said Susan Gilliland, event director. “Adequan will be an obstacle sponsor, sponsoring our new tower obstacle on the marathon course.” Now in their 18th year, Live Oak International is known for offering world-class carriage competition as well as exciting entertainment and shopping. “Thousands of fans attend the event every year and tailgating is a wonderful part of the weekend,” Gilliland said. “Our tailgaters have a bird’s-eye view of our marathon cross country course which features seven obstacles. The Adequan tower obstacle was built this year and it is always exciting to have a new obstacle on the course.” In addition to the marathon, combined drivers participate in dressage and cones. “Live Oak also offers spectators an action-packed four days including a trade fair, classic car show, a coaching exhibition and a 5K and 10K run on the final day, sponsored by the Marion County YMCA.” Chester Weber Donates “Carriage Ride for Two” during Marion Cultural Alliance Silent Auction Chester Weber, the seven-time US National Four-In-Hand Combined Driver, donated a “Carriage Ride for Two” during the silent auction at the “Once upon a Dress” gala at Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club. (Photo courtesy of Live Oak Combined Driving) Ocala, FL (March 9, 2010) – Anne King grew up riding horses and has always had an interest in carriage driving. When King learned that Combined Driver Chester Weber, the seven-time US National Four-In-Hand Champion, was going to offer a “Carriage Ride for Two” during the silent auction at the “Once upon a Dress” gala at the Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club, she didn’t hesitate about bidding. “As soon as I heard about the carriage ride with Chester, I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” King said, adding that she and her husband, Chris, thoroughly enjoyed their time with Weber. “I am really interested in driving and it was very exciting meeting Chester and visiting Live Oak.” King said Weber was the ultimate host while she and her husband visited Live Oak, showing them the barn and introducing them to all of the horses that make up his famous and award-winning Team Weber. “Then Chester took us out on the marathon carriage with the four-in-hand,” King said. “I had lots and lots of questions and Chester answered all of them. The whole experience was really wonderful and we had a great time.” |
