WESTPORT, CT – October 21, 2011 – Who Will Be Inducted into the America’s Favorite Equestrian Hall of Fame? Voting ends on October 31, 2011. America’s Favorite Equestrians will be selected based on the athletes with the highest number of votes recorded in each of the eight disciplines.
The announcement will be made at the America’s Favorite Equestrian Victory Celebration on Friday, November 4, 2011, at 9:30 p.m., at the Alltech National Horse Show in Lexington, Kentucky.
Germany’s Victor Brusewitz riding on Airbus secured third place at the first FEI World Cup Vaulting Final in Leipzig (GER). Photo: Matt Lewis/Getty Images for FEI.
Lausanne (SUI), 13 October 2011 – The inaugural FEI World Cup Vaulting series will open with the first of five qualifiers in Kiel (GER) tomorrow (14-15 October), where seven athletes from four nations will battle it out at the Sparkassen Arena.
Victor Brusewitz (GER) and Lukas Klouda (CZE), who secured third and fourth places at the first FEI World Cup Vaulting Final which took place at Leipzig’s Partner Pferd in April, will compete against 19-year-old Torben Jacobs (GER).
University of Cologne student Pia Engelberty (GER), who topped the leaderboard going into the Leipzig Final and came out fourth, will be up against Rikke Laumann (DEN), Sarah Kay (GER) and the USA’s number 3 ranked vaulter Mary McCormick.
The world’s top ten male and female vaulters (listed here) will then compete in four further qualifiers in Munich (GER), Salzburg (AUT), Paris (FRA) and Leipzig (GER).
WESTPORT, CT – October 1, 2011 – The results of Round 4 of America’s Favorite Equestrian are in. Three equestrians in each of the eight disciplines that participated in the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games have moved onto the Final Round.
“America’s Favorite Equestrian is an innovative and contemporary concept designed to engage the equestrian community,” said John Long, CEO, United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). “It is an exciting project to be a part of because the proceeds benefit so many worthy causes supported by The EQUUS Foundation.”
“Like any new program, getting the word out is always a challenge”, said Lynn Coakley, President, The EQUUS Foundation. “We hope that the America’s Favorite Equestrian program will help us build grass roots support within the equestrian community to improve the quality of life of horses and promote the use of horses to enrich the lives of those in need. A $5 donation multiplied by the many who already know the magical and powerful impact of horses in our lives will go a long way.”
Who Will Win? Voting ends on October 31, 2011. America’s Favorite Equestrians will be selected based on the athletes with the highest number of votes recorded in each of the eight disciplines.
ECCLES AND LOOSER MAINTAIN SUPREMACY AND GERMANY CLAIMS DOUBLE TEAM GOLD by Louise Parkes
Great Britain's Joanne Eccles showing the spectacular style that helped her win her second consecutive Senior Female Individual title at the FEI Open European Vaulting Championships for Seniors and Juniors. Photo: FEI/ www.pixbank.org
Lausanne (SUI), 24 August 2011 – Great Britain’s Joanne Eccles and Switzerland’s Patrick Looser maintained the form that clinched their 2010 world titles when winning the Female and Male Individual gold medals at the FEI Open European Vaulting Championships 2011 at Le Mans, France last weekend. German vaulters were strong however, taking both Senior and Junior Team gold, and the Pas de Deux and Junior Male titles, while Italy’s Silvia Stoppazzine claimed the Junior Female Individual honours.
Over 200 competitors from 19 countries – Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Italy, Hungary, Great Britain, Russia, Republic of South Africa, Mauritius, Belgium, Czech Republic, Norway, Poland, Finland and Sweden – gathered at Le Mans for the 15th edition of these Championships. The success of the Vaulting competitions at last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, USA has led to a tremendous upsurge of interest in this sport which originally emerged from ancient Greece, where warriors were trained to ride independently of their horses as they brandished weapons. Today it is a competitive discipline, open to both men and women, in which both dynamic and static gymnastic elements are combined and performed on a catering horse. It demands outstanding physical fitness from the vaulter and a harmonious relationship with the horse and longeur.
SENIORS
Germany got off to a great start when pipping Switzerland in Thursday’s Senior Team Compulsory Test, but the result was reversed on Saturday when it was the Swiss who came out on top in the Freestyle while, once again, Austria slotted into third. And it was a close-fought affair in Sunday’s decider with the judging panel of Veronique Girard, Elzbieta Dolinska, Gaby Benz, Heddy Boelsma Den Hartog, Ute Schoenian and Anna Kull unafraid to award high marks where appropriate. The biggest score of the day came from Ute Schoenian, at E, who awarded 9.773 to the German side whose longeur Jessica Schmitz and horse Arkansas 51 rounded up a great performance. The final German total of 8.300 left them just .053 clear of the Swiss silver medallists, while Austria completed in bronze medal position with 7.980 on the board.
Beezie Madden and Cortes 'C'. Photo by Stefano Grasso/GCT
Jumping The U.S. show jumpers had a strong showing in the final week of the two-week Horse Festival in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands. Beezie Madden and Cortes ‘C’ claimed victory in the weekend’s most prestigious class; the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Valkenswaard sponsored by the VDL Groep. In only their second grand prix together, Madden and Cortes ‘C’ were the fourth and last pair to go in the jump-off, storming to the win in a time of 38.38 seconds. Ireland’s Denis Lynch riding Lantinus 3 was second and Jur Vrieling and VDL Bubalu of The Netherlands claimed third place.
On Friday, Laura Kraut and Teirra were third in the Medium Tour 1m45 CSI5* against the clock class. Cortright Wetherill and Carlos were second in the Special Invitational 1m35 CSI1*.
On Saturday, Wetherill claimed a fourth-place finish with Whoops in the Special Invitational 1m25 CSI1*. Wetherill finished his competition week by riding Carlos to a second-place finish in the Special Invitational 1m35 CSI1* against the clock.
Lausanne (SUI), 16 August 2011 – The 15th FEI Open European Vaulting Championships for Seniors and Juniors will see over 200 athletes from 19 nations bidding for the medals tomorrow in Le Mans, France (17-21 August).
Reigning Individual World and European Champion Joanne Eccles (GBR) will be on a mission to retain her title against competition from 33 Female Individual Vaulters.
World and FEI World Cup Vaulting Champion Patric Looser (SUI) and European Champion Nicolas Andreani (FRA) will also be going head-to-head with 14 other Senior Male Athletes in the battle for this year’s European Vaulting Champion title.
In addition, eight Senior and 10 Junior Teams of seven Vaulters will compete at the Championship, along with 12 in the Pas de Deux.
Ten vaulters from South Africa, along with Junior Individual Male Lambert Leclezio from Mauritius, are also making the journey to this year’s FEI Open European Vaulting Championships, making it a truly international affair.
“Spectators in Le Mans will see highly impressive Athletes delivering powerful and original performances as Individuals, Teams and Pas de Deux,” said Ian Williams, Director Non-Olympics Sports at the FEI.
“We will see well-known Champions vying for the top spot and witness many more international Vaulters pushing themselves to the limit to come up through the ranks – it will be an extremely exciting Championship.”
Woodside Vaulters (Courtesy of Woodside Vaulters).
Denver, CO – More than 300 top equestrian vaulters in the United States came together this weekend at the National Western Complex in Denver, CO for the USEF/AVA National Championships – and they did not disappoint.
The Woodside Vaulters of Woodside, CA, gained the top spot on the podium in the Team Championships. The A team consists of Katharine Wick, Gabe Aniello, Allysa Bonora, Tessa Divita, Kathryn Jaggers, Siddartha Kreaden, Katherine Salisbury. The team vaulted on Stanford, lunged by Julie Divita.
“Our team competition was especially good this year, at all levels, from the lowest levels to the highest level,” said Linda Bibbler, Vice President of Competitions for the American Vaulting Association (AVA). “I was happy to see such strong representation from all parts of the country. All together the quality of the individual vaulters, pas de deux, and teams was very high.”
The Woodside Vaulters continued to dominate with Patrick Stevens, the Men’s Individual National Champion, on Agado lunged by Julie Divita, and Giovanni lunged by Krista Mack. In 2007, Stevens was the USEF/AVA National Vaulting Champion in the Silver Men’s division, and in 2009 he was second. In 2010, Stevens finished sixth at the USEF/AVA National Vaulting Championships.
For the second year in a row, the Women’s Individual National Champion was Mary McCormick, one of America’s most decorated vaulters. McCormick, of Mt. Eden Vaulters, Saratoga, CA, vaulted on Sir Anthony Van Dyck (aka “Spike”) lunged by Carolyn Bland. McCormick was named USEF Vaulter of the Year in 2007 and 2009.
Next year, the AVA/USEF National Vaulting Championships will take place at the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, August 1-5, 2012.
Lausanne (SUI), 9 August 2011 — Organisers from five nations – Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, and Poland – have applied to stage a European championship for Seniors in one or several FEI disciplines in 2015 under a new bid process launched by the FEI in March of this year. The objective of the new bid process is to raise the profile of the FEI European Championships by selecting candidates able to deliver sporting events of the highest quality.
Aachen, host of the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games and the famous annual World Equestrian Festival, has expressed interest in the FEI European Championships 2015 in Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, Driving, Vaulting and Reining. The discipline which attracted the highest interest is Eventing, for which no less than five applications have been received.
The bidding process for the 2015 FEI European Championships for Seniors was launched in March 2011 and will run until April 2012. The process consists of two phases. During Phase I, the Applicant Phase which ended on 31 July 2011, applicants were required to indicate which one or more of the European Championships they would be interested in staging and provide information relating to their ability to meet minimum Championship requirements.
Phase II, the Candidate Phase, will begin on 1 September 2011. During the Candidate Phase, candidates will be required to provide greater detail on all aspects of the event. The Championships in the Olympic disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing will be allocated by the FEI Bureau in April 2012. The successful candidates for the Championships in the non-Olympic disciplines will be announced a year later in April 2013.
Enquiries relating to the bid process should be directed to FEI Legal Counsel Francisco P. Lima (francisco.lima@fei.org).
WESTPORT, CT – August 2, 2011 – The results of Round 3 of America’s Favorite Equestrian are in. Four equestrians in each of the eight disciplines that participated in the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games have moved onto Round 4.
Who’s In the Lead? Dressage: Debbie McDonald followed by Steffen Peters, Guenter Seidel and Courtney King-Dye. Driving: Chester Weber followed by Tucker Johnson, Rochelle Temple and Suzy Stafford. Endurance: Becky Hart followed by Dave Rabe, Julie Suhr and Bill Wilson. Eventing: Tiana Coudray followed by Boyd Martin, Kimberly Severson and Phillip Dutton. Jumping: Anne Kursinski followed by Beezie Madden, Margie Engle and McLain Ward. Para-Dressage: Jennifer Baker followed by Mary Jordan, Jonathan Wentz and Robin Brueckmann. Reining: Andrea Fappani followed by Tom McCutcheon, Shawn Flarida and Tim McQuay. Vaulting: Megan Benjamin followed by Katherine Wick, Devon Maitozo and Ali Divita.
Keep Voting! One more equestrian with the lowest number of votes in each discipline will drop off the list at the end of Round 4 on September 30, 2011. Don’t let it be your favorite! All it takes is a $5 gift to The EQUUS Foundation to keep your favorite in the running for America’s Favorite Equestrian.
For a $5 contribution, you can select your favorite equestrian (listed by discipline) and follow the instructions provided to use mobile texting to vote. After texting your vote, you must reply YES to confirm your vote and $5 donation.
Team show jumping medals ceremony. Photo: Sportfot.
Lexington, KY – After a week of intense heat and one suspenseful afternoon of strong thunderstorms, the 2011 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North wrapped up today under sunny skies at the Kentucky Horse Park. The competition in all five disciplines – dressage, endurance, eventing, reining, and show jumping – was intense, and the approximately 250 riders from six countries showed that they had come to win.
Endurance The first competition to wrap up this year was the inaugural North American Young Rider Endurance Championship. Friday’s 75-mile ride featured both CEI2* and CEI4* divisions. The United States brought home four Gold medals, three Silvers, and two Bronze medals in the endurance competition.
In the CEI4* divisions, Team USA took home the Gold after accruing a collective ride time of 25 hours, 25 minutes, and 31 seconds.
Individually in the CEI4*, Kelsey Russell and My Wild Irish Gold (USA) took home the Gold, Lindsay Bean and Tektonic (USA) the Silver, and Kyle Gibbon and Missu Koran (USA) the Bronze.
Also in the CEI4* division, Tektonic received the Best Conditioned Horse Award.
In the CEI2* class, the Team Gold medal was awarded to Team USA Northeast A, whose collective ride time totaled 25 hours, 40 minutes, and 57 seconds.
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WESTPORT, CT – October 21, 2011 – Who Will Be Inducted into the America’s Favorite Equestrian Hall of Fame? Voting ends on October 31, 2011. America’s Favorite Equestrians will be selected based on the athletes with the highest number of votes recorded in each of the eight disciplines.
