Australia’s Christopher Burton Leads Field in Tight Cross Country Finale at HSBC FEI Classics in Pau

Christopher Burton on Holstein Park Leilani in the lead into Jumping at HSBC FEI Classics in Pau. Image: Kit Houghton/FEI

Lausanne (SUI),15 October 2011 – Christopher Burton (AUS) produced a great Cross Country performance on Holstein Park Leilani to keep his Dressage lead at Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), final leg of the HSBC FEI Classics 2011, but he has no margin for error in tomorrow’s Jumping phase as one fence covers the top eight riders and a nail-biting finale is guaranteed for tomorrow.

William Fox-Pitt (GBR) was masterful in steering all three of his horses around inside the optimum time to finish in the top 10, with the two nine-year-olds, Oslo and Lionheart, second and sixth, and Macchiato ninth.

Clayton Fredericks (AUS), the joint Dressage leader, accrued 1.2 time penalties on Bendigo, the horse competing in his first CCI4*, to drop to third. The Ground Jury took 0.8 penalties off his original score after he protested that a steward raking the ground had forced him to take avoiding action.

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1st Annual WHINNY Awards and 3rd Annual Conference a Huge Success!

The first annual WHINNY awards and the 3rd Annual Women in the Horse Industry Conference was a big success. The events were held October 6-8 in Nashville, Tennessee.

On Thursday night the red carpet was rolled out to identify and recognize people in the horse industry who are using their visibility to promote the welfare of the horse industry. Some of the WHINNY recipients who attended included Elizabeth Shatner (who not only received the award but picked up the one given to her husband Bill), country music superstar Lynn Anderson, Madeleine Pickens, Mike and Martha Borchetta, and Bonnie Garner. The event started off with live entertainment by some of country music’s most promising up and coming stars, including Keith Bryant, Dee Ann Dominy, Mark Wayne Glasmire, and Cassidy Lynn.

In addition to the live entertainment, there was both a silent and live auction benefiting several equine charities. Lynn Anderson served as the auctioneer and helped sell some wonderful items such as a signed guitar from the movie Country Strong by Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw and several paintings by Elizabeth Shatner. Some of the sponsors this year included Callaway Farms Manufacturing, National Equine Escrow, EasyMileLog, Equine Resources International, LLC, Tallgrass Animal Acupressure, and Energy Medicine, LLC.

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Reed Kessler Flies into First during $7,500 Randolph College/USEF Jr. Jumper Championship Welcome at Harrisburg

Reed Kessler and Ligist. Phelps Media Group.

Harrisburg, PA – Junior jumpers were in the zone Thursday at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, running October 13-22, 2011 in the state capital of Harrisburg. Reed Kessler of Armonk, NY, soared to victory in the first phase of the $7,500 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Junior Jumper Individual Championship, sponsored by Randolph College. With a smooth and controlled round, Kessler and her own horse, Ligist, beat out 32 other juniors for the blue ribbon. Second place went to Frances Land of Alpharetta, GA aboard her own Merlin, and cantering cleanly into third was Nora Laue of Wilmette, IL on Peninsula Kheelan, owned by Mary Ellen Laue.

Lacking a jump-off but not lacking in excitement, tonight’s class was judged under Table III, with faults being converted into seconds and then added to the competitor’s time. Tonight’s event was also distinguished by the fact that riders were competing individually while representing their USEF zones. Winner Kessler hails from Zone 2, which encompasses New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Frances Land, who earned tonight’s second place ribbon, comes from the southern states’ Zone 4, while Nora Laue will take her third place ribbon back to Zone 5 in the Midwest.

Continue reading Reed Kessler Flies into First during $7,500 Randolph College/USEF Jr. Jumper Championship Welcome at Harrisburg

Martin & Beebee Lead USEF National Eventing Championships as Dressage Concludes

Boyd Martin and Ying Yang Yo (Shannon Brinkman Photo)

Elkton, MD – Riders completing their dressage tests Friday at the 2011 Dankso Fair Hill International put in impressive efforts as scores dipped lower and lower into the 40s and spectators and riders alike were subject again to intermittent rain showers throughout the day. Heading the field in their respective CCI divisions and the USEF National Eventing Championships, which are held in conjunction with the Dankso Fair Hill International, are Boyd Martin and Susan Beebee.

Martin and Ying Yang Yo lead the CCI3*, while Beebee and Wolf head to the cross country out in front in the CCI2*.

Full scores are available here: http://www.evententries.com/livescoring/14839.html.

2011 USEF National CCI3* Eventing Championship

Martin (West Grove, PA) rode in a deluge of rain Friday afternoon but that did not stop him from piloting his own and Faye Woolf’s Ying Yang Yo to the top of the leaderboard. The ground jury of David Lee, Sue Baxter and Christian Landholt rewarded the 15-year-old Australian Thoroughbred gelding with a score of 40.4.

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2011 IALHA National Championship and Charity Horse Show Graciously Benefits United States Para-Equestrian Association

Eleanor Brimmer and Vadico Interagro at 2011 NEDA Fall Festival of Dressage CPEDI3*. Photo © Lindsay Yosay McCall

Fort Worth, TX – October 14, 2011 – In 2010 the Para-Equestrian discipline debuted at their first World Equestrian Games, the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The Games launched the Para-Equestrian sport and Para-Equestrians into household names.  The recognition let people know that Para-Dressage, like all equestrian disciplines, requires strength, drive, FEI level horses, and experienced athletes.  As like all equestrian sports it also requires strong support.  The 2011 International Andalusian Lusitano Horse Show Association (IALHA) decided their 2011 IALHA National Championship and Charity Horse Show would benefit the United States Para-Equestiran Association (USPEA).  This is the biggest show of the year for the IALHA which is held October 11-16, 2011 at the Will Rogers Equestrian Center in Ft. Worth Texas.  The IALHA and the United States Equestrian Federation present the National Championship.

“I brought the idea to our committee of having our last big show of the year benefit the USPEA and it was unanimous that it would happen,” smiled 2011 IALHA Show Chair Christina Cardenas.  Christina became captivated by the Para-Equestrians while in Lexington at the 2010 World Equestrian Games.  She noted, “When I saw these riders dancing with their horses and making it look so effortless I knew in that moment I wanted to have a fundraiser for the cause.” Over the course of this week, the IALHA horse show holds a silent auction and has a clothing drive to add to their fundraiser.  It will be support of the patrons, the sponsors, exhibitors, IALHA members, and spectators who will contribute to supporting the USPEA.  As part of the fundraiser the USPEA will receive 50% of all profits.

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Australians on Top after Dressage at Pau

Clayton Fredericks. Images: Kit Houghton/FEI

Lausanne (SUI),14 October 2011 – Australian riders head the leaderboard after Dressage at Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA), the final leg of the 2011 HSBC FEI Classics, which has attracted its most competitive field yet – 69 riders representing 17 nations.

Clayton Fredericks, currently ninth in the HSBC FEI Classics, and his compatriot Christopher Burton, who is making his first visit to this popular event at the foot of the Pyrenees, are in equal first place on 43.7 penalties apiece.

Fredericks, whose last CCI4* victory was at Rolex Kentucky in 2007, is riding the 11-year-old Bendigo lll, the winner of Saumur CCI3* this year but a debutant at this level. Burton rides the experienced Holstein Park Leilani, winner of Adelaide CCI4* in 2008.

“Bendigo felt really rideable today,” commented Fredericks, who will be able to get an early feel of tomorrow’s Cross Country on his first ride, the mare Laurent Dunges Rose, on which he is lying 27th on 54.0 penalties.

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Changes to the 2011 US Eventing Team for the 2011 Pan American Games

The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the United States Olympic Committee have made the following change to the entry for the U.S. Eventing Team for the 2011 Pan American Games.

Constance Holling’s Downtown Harrison has been withdrawn by his rider Jonathan Holling for veterinary reasons and replaced by Lynn Symansky and her own 8-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Donner.

The U.S. Eventing Team for the 2011 Pan American Games will now include the following five athlete/horse combinations:

Hannah Sue Burnett (The Plains, VA) and Jacqueline Mars’ Harbour Pilot
Harbour Pilot is an 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding
Buck Davidson (Ocala, FL) and Sharon Will’s Absolute Liberty
Absolute Liberty is an 8-year-old Thoroughbred x Oldenburg mare
Shannon Lilley (Gilroy, CA) and The Lilley Group’s Ballingowan Pizzaz
Ballingowan Pizzaz is a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding
Michael Pollard (Dalton, GA) and Nathalie Pollard’s Schoensgreen Hanni
Schoensgreen Hanni is an 8-year-old German Sport Horse mare
Lynn Symansky (Middleburg, VA) and her own Donner
Donner is an 8-year-old Thoroughbred gelding

Follow the U.S. Team at the Pan American Games (photos, blogs and wall-to-wall coverage): http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2011PanAmGames/.

And on Twitter: @USEquestrianHP.

For media requests or more information, please contact USEF Press Officer, Joanie Morris, at jmorris@usef.org.

The Rolex One to Watch – October 2011

Oleg Krasyuk riding Caligula at the CSI4* "Donbass Tour" in Donetsk (UKR).

The Rolex One to Watch for October 2011 is Ukrainian rider, Oleg Krasyuk. Based at Magna Racino near Vienna, Austria, the 34-year-old jumped from number 399 to 185 during September – a move up the Rolex Rankings of 214 places.

The Rolex One to Watch is an initiative which identifies the rider who has made the biggest jump within or into the Top 250 of the Rolex Rankings the previous month.

Born on 19 April 1977, and brought up in a small town near Dnepropetrovsk (USSR), Krasyuk’s first trainer was Alexandr Kuvichko, who has now sadly passed away. Krasyuk has also been trained by Viktor Poganovsky, one of the most decorated Soviet riders and a team Olympic champion at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.

After his gold medal at the Ukrainian Championships in 1997, and at the age of 20, Oleksandr Onischenko – a wealthy businessman and philanthropist – offered Krasyuk the opportunity to travel to Germany and train with three-time European champion Paul Schockemöhle – and Norbert Nuxoll – ex Show Jumper and colleague of Schockemöhle. Training with Schockemöhle and Nuxoll turned out to be a pivotal moment in Krasyuk’s career. Under their leadership, Krasyuk competed in Grands Prix, European and World Championships. To this day Krasyuk considers Nuxoll to be one of the most influential people in his life.

Continue reading The Rolex One to Watch – October 2011

Dutton & Leatherman Storm to Lead of USEF National Eventing Championships

Phillip Dutton and Ben (Shannon Brinkman Photo)

Elkton, MD – Competition officially got underway Thursday in the 2011 USEF National Eventing Championships, held in conjunction with the Dansko Fair Hill International, with the first day of dressage. Grey skies and intermittent rain did not dampen spirits as the first half of competitors in the CCI3* and CCI2* completed their tests. Phillip Dutton is the pacesetter at the halfway mark in the CCI3*, while Andrea Leatherman heads the CCI2* field. Dutton and Leatherman lead both their respective USEF National Championship and CCI divisions.

Full results for the CCI3* and CCI2* are available here: http://www.evententries.com/livescoring/14839.html.

The dressage phase for both divisions concludes Friday.

2011 USEF National CCI3* Eventing Championships

Dutton and Team Rebecca LLC’s Ben established a commanding lead in the CCI3* with a score of 47.2, putting them more than seven points in front of second-placed Erin Sylvester. The 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding has not been eventing long but is already making a mark on the sport.

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KWPN-NA Awards $9,000 to Young Riders in 2011

Catherine Chamberlain and her KWPN gelding Verdicci

2012 Applications and Details Online

Sutherlin, OR — The KWPN-NA awarded $9,000 to three young riders in 2011 through the Willy Arts Grant, sponsored by Little Creek Farm. Madeleine Birch, Salt Lake City, UT, Sadie Lahey, Eagle, ID, and Catherine Chamberlain from Chandler, AZ were each awarded $3,000 to help make their equestrian dreams a reality. The riders were able to use the funds to pay for lessons, clinics and competition expenses. All three riders parlayed their grants into successful show seasons, with each rider earning a gold medal at the 2011 North American Junior and Young Riders Championships (NAJYRC). The Willy Arts Grant is an annual scholarship award and is intended to aid in the development of KWPN-NA horse/rider combinations competing in young rider divisions.

Madeleine Birch, 20, is a full-time student at the University of Utah, majoring in Biology, with the goal of attending medical school in 2014. In the meantime, Birch rides her horse Uoeri, a 10-year-old KWPN gelding (Houston x Idorette by Kaiserstern) that was bred by H. H. Pieters. The duo made their Prix St. Georges debut this year at shows in Denver, CO and Nampa, ID and qualified for the NAJYRC, where they claimed a Team Gold Medal and finished 8th individually. “He’s pretty easy going, as long as you can make him think it’s his idea,” Birch said of Uoeri. “He’s easy to travel with and likes to show.” Birch’s aspirations include another trip to the NAJYRC in 2012 and then onto the Brentina Cup.

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