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

David Marcus Leads Canadians in Sweep of Intermediaire 1 at WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO-3*

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David Marcus and Chrevi's Capital

Wellington, FL – April 14, 2012 – David Marcus and Chrevi’s Capital led the Canadians in a sweep of the top three places in the FEI Intermediaire 1 at the WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO-3*, presented by Stillpoint Farm, at the Global Dressage Festival (GDF) Stadium show grounds on Saturday afternoon.

Marcus’ score of 69.211% was followed closely by that of fellow Canadians Chris Von Martels aboard Udon P with a 67.974% and Diane Creech on Hallmark with a score of 66.132%.

“My horse was more confident and relaxed today,” said Marcus.  “The test rode better; I was very happy with him.  Yesterday was not his best day, I think it was because of Friday the 13, so for him to come back and be so great today really pleased me.”

Continue reading David Marcus Leads Canadians in Sweep of Intermediaire 1 at WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO-3* →

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Dressage, Events, FEI, USEF

US Teams Win and Take Third at FEI Dressage Nations Cup in Florida

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Christopher Hickey and Witness Hilltop earned the top score at the Intermediaire I Freestyle (Susan J. Stickle)

Wellington, FL – Two U.S. Dressage teams competed in the Intermediaire I Freestyle Saturday night at the WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO 3* presented by Stillpoint Farm. Both went home with medals.

Helped by three of the night’s top seven scores, the first U.S. team beat out their American counterpart, a team from Europe, and two teams from Latin America to capture the FEI Nations Cup crown. The team was led by Christopher Hickey riding Hilltop Farm’s Witness Hilltop. The pair kept their momentum from Friday’s Prix St. Georges and scored a competition high 71.425%. Caroline Roffman and Pie scored 70.050%, Shelley Francis and Patricia Stemple’s Doktor 68.650%, Devon Kane and Diamante Farm’s Destiny 67.525% and together they edged out a victory on Saturday night. With a final score of 210.125 (the lowest score from teams of four riders was dropped) the first US team beat out the European team by less than one whole point.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Driving, Events, USEF

Graburn Extends Lead in the USEF National Single Horse Championship at the Southern Pines CDE

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Sterling Graburn and Ulano (Picsofyou.com)

Raeford, NC – Competitors in the USEF National Single Horse Championship set scorching paces through Richard Nicholl’s eight obstacle marathon course. Leading times through each obstacle dipped lower and lower as the afternoon went on. Sterling Graburn, Friday’s dressage leader, posted the quickest marathon score of the division, lengthening his overall lead, and he heads into Sunday’s cone phase on a score of 116.33.

Graburn (Georgetown, KY) won today’s marathon and retained the National Championship lead, which is running in conjunction with the Southern Pines CDE, on the strength of quick smooth driving. Piloting his own Ulano, Graburn posted the leading times in hazards two and six.

The KWPN gelding was formerly a member of a Four-in-Hand team but is taking to the Singles division quite well. Graburn was pleased with his horse and their performance today barring a mishap in the final obstacle.

Continue reading Graburn Extends Lead in the USEF National Single Horse Championship at the Southern Pines CDE →

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Dressage, Events

Caroline Roffman and Pie Are Superb at WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO-3*

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Caroline Roffman and Pie. Photo: www.susanjstickle.com

Wellington, FL – April 13, 2012 – Caroline Roffman proved to all that Friday the 13th was not an unlucky day, as she rode Pie to victory in the FEI Prix St. Georges at the $35,000 WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO-3*, presented by Stillpoint Farm, on Friday.  Thirty horse and rider combinations from thirteen nations on eight teams were on hand to vie for the top award in the GDF’s large Stadium.  At the completion of the class, Roffman and Pie were the clear winners with a score of 70.500%, the only pair to break into the seventies.

Roffman, 23, who rides and trains out of Lion Share in Wellington, FL, rose up through the ranks of the Dressage Young Riders program and has become a top contender in the FEI small tour at the GDF this season.  Her scores with Pie, (Hanoverian by Worldly, out of WorldLady) have been in the upper 60s for the last two CDIs, and she was very excited to receive a score of 70%.

Continue reading Caroline Roffman and Pie Are Superb at WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO-3* →

*Featured/Spotlights, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, Show Jumping, USEF

Equestrian Stars Head to New York City for USOC “Invasion” of Times Square

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Buck Davidson and My Boy Bobby will both be in New York on April 18th (Mike McNally)

Lexington, KY – Three Olympic hopefuls and a former USEF National CCI4* champion horse will be part of a United States Olympic Committee’s invasion of Times Square in New York on April 18th. April 18th marks the 100-day countdown to the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games and the USEF will field three humans and one horse as part of a 75 athlete celebration.

2011 Pan American Games medalists Heather Blitz (Team Gold and Individual Silver in dressage) and Buck Davidson (Team Gold and Individual Bronze in Eventing) along with 17-year-old phenom Reed Kessler, who won last month’s USEF Selection Trials for the U.S. Show Jumping Team, will represent their sport, and their disciplines, all day on April 18th.

Davidson will also bring Carl and Cassandra Segal’s My Boy Bobby, the 2009 Rolex/USEF National CCI4* Champion to the event, a hugely successful horse – My Boy Bobby will represent the other half of the equestrian sport.

Continue reading Equestrian Stars Head to New York City for USOC “Invasion” of Times Square →

Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Driving, Events, USEF

Graburn Storms to the Front of the USEF National Single Horse Championships at the Southern Pines CDE

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Raeford, NC – Thirteen of the best U.S. drivers in the Single Horse division went to task Friday afternoon on the Twin Gates Farm Derby Field at the Carolina Horse Park. The USEF National Single Horse Championship got underway with the dressage phase under sunny skies. At the end of the first day Sterling Graburn holds a six point lead in the division.

Graburn (Georgetown, KY) drove a flashy and accurate test to score a 37.97. Graburn’s KWPN gelding, Ulano, impressed the Ground Jury with his presence and stunning gaits. Their attractive and powerful test was only marred by a few bobbles.

“I have a really, really good horse. He was very good today and really steady. We had a little impulsion problem at Live Oak but his impulsion was good today.” Said Graburn: “He is a good mover and was rewarded for that. It [the test] was steady and even without too many technical errors.”

Continue reading Graburn Storms to the Front of the USEF National Single Horse Championships at the Southern Pines CDE →

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Kentucky Horse Shows, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Long Listed Show Jumping Riders Prepare for Kentucky Spring Horse Shows Observation Events

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2012 Olympic Trials for Show Jumping Winner Reed Kessler has had great success with Mika at the Kentucky Horse Shows for many years. Photo By: Rebecca Walton/PMG

Lexington, KY – April 13, 2012 – The Kentucky Spring Horse Shows are just around the corner and some of the nation’s top riders are gearing up for the two-week event. The first week of competition, the Kentucky Spring Horse Show CSI3*, May 9-13, 2012, has been designated by the USEF as a 2012 US Show Jumping Team Observation Event. Long Listed riders such as Reed Kessler, Margie Engle, Beezie Madden, Mario Deslauriers, and Christine McCrea will all be at the event to showcase their talent to the Selection Committee.

The jumper highlights in the Rolex Stadium during the first week will include the $35,000 Welcome Cup on May 9th. This will be followed on Friday, May 11th by the $50,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic and on Sunday, May 13th by the $75,000 Commonwealth Grand Prix. These two major competitions are Observation Events for the US Show Jumping Team.

Seventeen-year-old Reed Kessler was the winner of the 2012 USEF Selection Trials for the US Show Jumping Team, and has been competing at the Kentucky Horse Shows for many years. “I am really excited,” she expressed. “I think it’s a terrific venue. It’s a perfect test and a great observation site to prepare for London because it’s another big, impressive ring, so that’s why we decided to show there.”

Continue reading Long Listed Show Jumping Riders Prepare for Kentucky Spring Horse Shows Observation Events →

Community/Charity, Eventing/H.T., FEI

In Memoriam: Amy Tryon (USA)

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Amy Tryon, seen here with Coal Creek on the Rolex Kentucky Cross Country course in 2010, passed away on 12 April. (Photo: Mike McNally/USEF)

Lausanne (SUI), 13 April 2012 – Amy Tryon, team bronze medallist for the USA at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, passed away yesterday (12 April).

Born in Redmond, Washington State on 24 February 1970, Amy and her older sister got their first pony when Amy was just one. She started competing at the age of five and rode at her first event when she was just eight.

She found her top horse, the former racehorse Poggio II, in a classified advertisement in the Seattle Times newspaper. Together Amy and Poggio represented the USA at two Olympic Games, Athens 2004 and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong, and two FEI World Equestrian Games, winning team gold in Jerez de la Frontera (ESP) in 2002 and individual bronze in Aachen (GER) in 2006.

Continue reading In Memoriam: Amy Tryon (USA) →

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Dressage, Events

All Horses Pass Inspection for $35,000 WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO3*

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Nations Cup Competitors and Chefs d'Equipe at the Global Dressage Festival

Wellington, FL – April 12, 2012 – All the horses passed the veterinary inspection for the $35,000 WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO3*, presented by Stillpoint Farm, on Thursday afternoon.  Team spirit overflowed as the dressage riders representing eight teams from thirteen nations presented their horses for the prestigious competition that takes place April 13-14 at the Stadium show grounds of the Global Dressage Festival (GDF).

The Veterinary Commission, which consisted of three international veterinarians, inspected the horses in the stable and in the “trot-up” to ensure the welfare and health of all the horses competing in the CDIO.  Dr. Shana Chase of the Veterinary Commission said, “The Horse inspection went quite well, as planned.”

The WEF Wellington Nations Cup is the first non-championship CDIO Nations Cup in the Western Hemisphere.  All of the CDIO competitors will participate in the FEI Prix St. Georges on Friday morning at 9:00 AM in GDF International Arena.  The top five placed teams will move forward to the FEI Intermediaire Freestyle in two sessions on Saturday.  The first session takes place in the afternoon, at 4:00 PM.  The second session, which includes the GDF Parade of Champions for National High Score Circuit Winners, will be in the evening at 7:00 PM. The remaining riders will compete in the FEI Intermediaire I on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM.

Continue reading All Horses Pass Inspection for $35,000 WEF Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO3* →

Community/Charity, Show Jumping, USEF

US Show Jumping Chef d’Equipe to Undergo Treatment for Cancer

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Lexington, KY – U.S. Show Jumping Chef d’Equipe George Morris will be undergoing treatment for prostate cancer this spring.

Morris will remain in his position of Chef d’Equipe and will stay closely involved with the program, the selection process and the riders even though he will be unable to travel to the Observation Events.

Morris has asked Robert Ridland (who was recently named the Morris’ successor beginning in 2013: http://www.usefnetwork.com/news/8096/2012/2/21/robert_ridland_approved_for_us_sh.aspx) to attend the Observation Events and monitor the technical aspects of those competitions and report to Morris.

Continue reading US Show Jumping Chef d’Equipe to Undergo Treatment for Cancer →

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