Laura Sexton and Zoom Awarded Amateur-Owner Hunter Grand Championship at Alltech NHS

Laura Sexton and Zoom awarded Amateur-Owner Hunter Grand Championship at the Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition. Photo By: Kendall Bierer/PMG

[Lexington, KY] – November 4, 2011 – The Amateur-Owner Hunters took center stage today in the Alltech Arena during the Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition. Laura Sexton and her talented mount Zoom captured the Amateur-Owner 18-35 Hunters Championship with three blue ribbons over the last two days. The duo was also awarded the Grand Champion Amateur Owner Hunter title for their excellent efforts in the ring.

The Amateur-Owner 3’3″ Hunters were the first to compete today, and during the final stake class Debbie Perkins of New Canaan, CT, showed Whispering to a score 83 to win the blue ribbon. Their win today and third place finish in yesterday’s over fences class garnered them the division’s reserve championship prize. Tracy Scheriff-Muser of Wellington, FL, and Macallan were the day’s big winners, taking home the Amateur-Owner 3’3″ Hunter Championship. They placed first in yesterday’s over fences class and also earned two second place ribbons and third place ribbons.

“Macallan is the sweetest horse I’ve ever had, which is really funny because he’s a stallion,” commented Scheriff-Muser after her win. “He’s just been such a pleasure to own and ride. Sometimes he’s too lazy, but I’ll take that over crazy. He’s so slow and comfortable; I get excited every time I get to show him because he’s so fun.”

Continue reading Laura Sexton and Zoom Awarded Amateur-Owner Hunter Grand Championship at Alltech NHS

Kent Farrington & Up Chiqui Dominate $60k Spy Coast Farm Open Jumper Speed Stake at Alltech NHS

Kent Farrington and Up Chiqui dominated the $60,000 Spy Coast Farm Open Jumper Speed Stake. Photo By: Shawn McMillen

Lexington, KY – November 4, 2011 – The jumper action continued this evening at the Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition, and speed was the name of the game as riders competed in the $60,000 Spy Coast Farm Open Jumper Speed Stake. The speedy veteran pair of Kent Farrington and Up Chiqui dominated the class with blazing time, beating second place finishers Nicholas Dello Joio and Notre Star De La Nutria by almost four seconds. Great Britain’s Scott Brash and Bon Ami rounded out the top three with a quick and clear effort.

Richard Jeffery designed a technical course for tonight’s event, which featured an option fence, multiple rollbacks, a vertical-vertical double combination, and an oxer-vertical double combination. “I thought it was a very fast track, meaning that all of us were going to be taking basically the same lines,” eventual winner Kent Farrington remarked. “It came down to the faster mover, turning even shorter on the rollbacks, because there weren’t too many places to play to your horse’s strength.”

Although he was fifth in the order, Farrington of Chicago, IL, and Up Chiqui, owned by Boone, Dobbs and Farrington, entered the ring ready to win during tonight’s speed competition. The duo has always been known for their quick rounds, and tonight they lived up to the hype. They raced around the technical course with ease, never touching a rail. The pair broke the beam at an incredible 57.35 seconds, setting a pace that would not be caught and eventually leading the victory gallop.

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2012 George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session Presented by USHJA and Adequan: Promoting the Importance of Excellent Horsemastership

2011 George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session. Photo: USEF Archives

Lexington, KY – Mark your calendars and plan to attend the 2012 George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session presented by the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) and Adequan. The sixth annual George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session will be held on January 3-7, 2012, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL.

The following 12 riders will be invited to participate:

  • The North American Young Riders Individual Champion from the 2011 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North
  • The North American Junior Rider Individual Champion from the 2011 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North
  • The 2011 Randolph College/USEF National Jr. Jumper Individual Champion
  • The champion and reserve champion of the 2011 Platinum Performance/USEF Talent Search Finals-East
  • The champion and reserve champion of the 2011 Platinum Performance/USEF Talent Search Finals-West
  • Two riders from the USHJA Emerging Athlete Program
  • Three Wild Card riders chosen by George Morris.

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Watch the Quick Look YouTube – Southern Eighths/Nikon Three-Day Video

In 2010 the first Southern Eighths/Nikon Three-Day Event took place to raving reviews.  Now relive all the action in this second “quick look” video produced by nFocus Pictures and visible on Southern Eighths’ YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/So8ths.

To view this video just click on this link: http://tinyurl.com/2010-So8ths-Nikon.  It will take less than three minutes for you to watch a quick sampling of all the fun which took place at this inaugural event from the clinics to the competition day and all the fun in between.  This video just might inspire you to join in on the fun when the next recognized USEA Long Format event takes place May 3-6, 2012.

If you have time to spare, view the longer 10 minute video also available on the So8ths YouTube channel.

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Equestrian Sport Productions to Host Dressage at Holiday and Horses Competition

Wellington, FL – November 4, 2011 – Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) is pleased to announce the addition of dressage to this year’s Fall Circuit at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC). Dressage at Holiday and Horses will be held November 18-20, 2011, at the main show grounds of the PBIEC.

Dressage at Holiday and Horses will be a USEF/USDF Level Two competition. The show will be a Great American Insurance Group/USDF Regional Qualifier and will host classes for the USDF/Dover Adult Amateur Medal Program.

Judges will include William Solynjes ‘S’ and Marlene Schneider ‘S’ with Technical Delegate Linda Lester ‘r’.

“Entries are now open and we look forward to welcoming our dressage friends back to the PBIEC,” said ESP President Michael Stone.

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Land Rover Competition and Training Grants Send Pan American Games Athletes to Galway Downs CCI

Lexington, KY – Two members of the Gold-medal winning 2011 Pan American Games Eventing Team, Buck Davidson and Michael Pollard, and the alternate, Kristin Schmolze, were awarded Land Rover Competition and Training Grants to travel to Temecula, CA and compete at the Galway Downs CCI, November 4-6.

Davidson and Pollard were each awarded $8,000 grant to contest the CCI3*, while Schmolze was awarded a $6,000 grant to compete in the CCI2*.

Because of logistical and timing conflicts due to being part of the Pan American Games squad, Davidson, Pollard were unable to compete at Fair Hill International CCI3* in early October – the only CCI3* on the East Coast.  The Pan Am horses flew to Guadalajara on the cross country day of Fair Hill.  The athletes couldn’t be in two places at once. Schmolze was part of the Pan American equation with Ballylaffin Bracken until the horses departed – she is also riding her CCI3* horse at Galway.

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Ten Medals for Equestrian Team USA at the 2011 Pan American Games

The U.S. Sweep in Dressage (Photo: Rick Mitchell)

It was an epic adventure in Mexico for the United States Equestrian Federation’s Dressage, Eventing and Jumping Teams. They won a record 10 medals across the three disciplines and cemented a solid foundation for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Bookended by double Gold medalists Steffen Peters, who rode the Hlavacek’s Weltino’s Magic to record scores in the dressage ring at the Guadalajara Country Club, and Christine McCrea, who jumped five immaculate rounds on Windsor Show Stables’ Romantovich Take One at the same venue 10 days later, the U.S. won at every turn.

The dressage team of Peters, Heather Blitz, Marissa Festerling and Cesar Parra got the winning going – they cruised to Team Gold over Canada and Colombia – and then reinforced it with a sweep of the individual medals for Peters, Blitz and Festerling. The standard was extraordinary and with each test, a new challenge was handed over. Personal bests were the order of the day for the freestyles, Blitz and her Paragon made Olympic veteran Peters work for every point, after they wowed the crowd at their first Team Championship. Festerling commandeered a terrific Bronze medal effort out of a very energetic Big Tyme and also stood on the podium for the second time at her first championship.

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Combined Driver Chester Weber Joins European Website Panel

Chester Weber and his team competing at the CAI Riesenbeck. (Photo courtesy of My Elisabeth Weber)

Ocala, FL (November 4, 2011) – The European equestrian website HorsUs has asked combined driver Chester Weber to join their panel of famous equestrians. Weber will take part in the website’s “Ask It” panel where he will answer questions sent it by fans of the website www.HorsUs.eu. As the eight-time USEF National Four-In-Hand Combined Driving Champion, Weber has a vast amount of experience he will be able to share on the website.

“I am looking forward to seeing the questions that I have to answer,” Weber said. “I know that each member of the panel answers five questions sent in by visitors to the website and I think this is a great way for riders and drivers to get help with specific challenges they may be facing with their own horses.” Australian Combined Driver Boyd Exell, a contemporary of Weber’s, is also part of the “Ask It” panel.

Weber, a highly competitive driver who is known for setting goals and accomplishing them, said he likes the idea of equine enthusiasts getting the chance to get assistance from professionals. “Thanks to websites like HorsUs, the public has access to the best competitors without the need for them to travel to clinics,” Weber said, adding that he enjoys sharing his experience and expertise with others. “I love the sport of combined driving and anytime I can help someone with a question, I am happy to do so. Our sport will only grow through education and I want to be part of that process.”

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International Dressage Trainer Sabine Rijssenbeek

Sabine Rijssenbeek coach of Para-Equestrian Eleanor Brimmer at the 2011 USEF Para-Equestrian National Championships in Saugerties, NY. Photo © 2011 Lindsay Y McCall

Tucson, AZ – November 3, 2011 – Warm winters, kind equestrians and the west coast competitions and clinics are what first attracted trainer Sabine Rijssenbeek to Tucson, Arizona.  In 2006 Sabine landed in Phoenix, Arizona to give a clinic at a Dutch breeding facility.  Her impressive background as a rider, manager, and trainer in Holland attracted many competitive equestrians to her clinic. Three months later Sabine was asked back for her second clinic where she met a rider looking for a horse from The Netherlands. It would not be long before Sabine landed in the United States with a horse in hand from the Netherlands and a suitcase to stay for three months in Tucson, Arizona. Sabine became popular for her training skills not only in Arizona but all over the United States including California, Texas, and Minnesota.  Since graduating with a Master’s degree from Deurne University in the Netherlands in 1975, Sabine has worked hard managing and training over 400 horses in Great Britain, Holland, and the United States. Her unique skills in both dressage and show jumping have created exciting professional paths for her including teaching a Para-Equestrian Dressage competitor in FEI events.

“What started as three weeks to help train this horse I brought to Arizona from The Netherlands, turned into a three month stay.  I loved Arizona, I was captivated by the equestrians, and I could not resist the horses; Of course I wanted to stay,” noted Sabine.

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Scott Stewart and Dedication Win Grand Champion Hunter Title at Alltech National Horse Show

Scott Stewart and Dedication won the Grand Champion Hunter Title at the Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition. Photo By: Kendall Bierer/PMG

[Lexington, KY] – November 3, 2011 – Today marked the second day of competition at the Alltech National Horse, 128th Edition, and it was the professional hunter divisions that took center stage this afternoon as they completed their under saddle and stake classes. Scott Stewart earned the highest honor of the day with his First Year Green Working Hunter mount, Dedication, owned by Fashion Farm of New York, NY. After scoring three blue ribbons, the duo took home the division’s tricolor and was eventually honored with the Grand Champion Hunter Award.

The First Year Green Working Hunters were the first to complete their stake class today and wrapped up their second day of competition. Stewart and Dedication showed brilliantly over Richard Jeffery’s courses to earn three first place ribbons and a second place ribbon, which included a win in the stake class with a score of 88. They picked up the championship award, while Tammy Provost and Libretto, owned by Alliy Moyer of Carmel, IN, earned the reserve championship honors. With their impressive effort in all four classes, Stewart and Dedication returned to the ring at the end of the day to receive the prestigious Grand Champion Hunter title.

Continue reading Scott Stewart and Dedication Win Grand Champion Hunter Title at Alltech National Horse Show

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