Matthew Johnson and Petersborg’s Qasanova (SusanJStickle.com provided by Matthew Johnson)

Lexington, Ky. – Verden, Germany is set to host the 2014 FEI World Breeding Championships for Dressage Young Horses this weekend, August 6-10. The United States will look for a strong finish in the five-year-old championship as Matthew Johnson and Petersborg’s Qasanova fly the U.S. flag.

Johnson (Lake Worth, Fla.) and his Dutch Warmblood stallion (Quaterback x Kajana I/Calypso II) qualified to compete in Verden by earning strong scores over the winter at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. The pair officially gets underway with competition on Thursday, as they look to qualify for the Final on Saturday.

The U.S. will also have representation in CDI3* Big Tour competition. Members of the Short List for the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games U.S. Dressage Team, Caroline Roffman (Wellington, Fla.) and her own Her Highness O, Adrienne Lyle (Ketchum, Idaho) and Peggy Thomas’ Wizard, and Steffen Peters (San Diego, Calif.) and Four Winds Farm’s Legolas 92 will be joined by Jennifer Hoffman (San Diego, Calif.) and her own XXXL Rubinio NRW, and Kathleen Raine (Murietta, Calif.) and Jennifer Mason, Kathleen Raine, and David Wightman’s Breanna.

Additionally, Verden is hosting a CDI1*, where finalists from recent FEI World Breeding Championships for Dressage Young Horses are invited back. Hoffman is set to ride Florentinus V (Florestan-Lady in Red by Londonderry), her Westphalian stallion who competed in the six-year-old championship in 2012, in this year’s competition.

To learn more about the 2014 FEI World Breeding Championships for Dressage Young Horses, visit: http://www.wbfsh.org/GB/WBYHC.aspx.

Follow the U.S. Dressage Team here.