Tag Archives: FEI Awards

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

FEI’s HSBC Rising Star Award 2011 Winner to Compete at London 2012 Olympic Games

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From left to right: FEI 1st Vice-President John McEwen, Nina Lamsam Ligon, FEI 2nd Vice-President Pablo Mayorga. © FEI/Rosane Bakierman

Nina Lamsam Ligon, winner of the FEI’s HSBC Rising Star Award 2011, is to represent Thailand in Eventing at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Thailand is one of the 10 nations represented only by individuals in Eventing. Ligon will compete on Butts Leon, an experienced four-star Hanoverian produced by German rider Andreas Dibowski. Butts Leon and Dibowski were on the German gold-winning medal team at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Ligon, who is a dual national (THA/USA), has been in the UK since April of this year to prepare for the Games and give her four horses the chance to acclimatise. She was keen to broaden her three-star level experience in the host nation of the 2012 Olympic Games and the past few months have seen her compete at events at Houghton Hall, Bramham and Barbury Castle.

The FEI’s HSBC Rising Star Award rewards an equestrian athlete between the ages of 14 and 21 who demonstrates outstanding sporting talent and commitment.

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Awards, Community/Charity, FEI

American Actress Bo Derek Supports FEI Awards 2012

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28 June 2012 – American actress Bo Derek has lent her support to the FEI Awards 2012 by calling on the worldwide equestrian community to make nominations.

Derek, who shot to superstar status through her role in the 1979 romantic comedy film 10, is a devoted horse enthusiast. She underlined the importance she attaches to horses in the title of her 2002 autobiography Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I learned from Horses.

Derek owns Andalusian and Lusitano horses and is an ambassador for Equine Advocates, a non-profit horse protection organisation. She is a great fan of horse sport and cites USA Dressage rider Tina Konyot as one of her heroes.

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Awards, Community/Charity, FEI

FEI Awards 2012

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May 22, 2012 – The FEI Awards were launched in 2009 to put a spotlight on the men, women, young people and organizations that are making an outstanding contribution to the progress and excellence of equestrian sport – in or out of the arena. Make your nominations now and let us roll out the red carpet for the stars of today and tomorrow.

The five FEI Awards categories are:

BEST GROOM
-For that important person who works behind the scenes and ensures the horses he or she looks after are given the best possible care.

AGAINST ALL ODDS
-For a person who has pursued his or her equestrian ambitions, despite a physical handicap or extremely difficult personal circumstances.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Awards, Community/Charity, FEI

Legacy of FEI Development Award 2011 Winner Lives On

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Lausanne (SUI), 18 May 2012 – Soraya Ourrais, the Franco-Moroccan winner of the FEI Development Award 2011, has set the bar very high for this category of the FEI Awards, for which nominations opened last week.

The FEI Development Award rewards an individual, organisation or project that has in some way made equestrian sport accessible to a wider public.

“Development is often an adventure that takes place far from everyone and everything,” Ourrais said recently. “This award enabled me to make our project known on a bigger scale and take part in a superb gala evening where I was surrounded by equestrian professionals.”

Ourrais won the Development Award for her huge contribution to the revival of equestrian sport in Cambodia, where it had disappeared completely in the 1970s under the Khmer Rouge regime.

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Awards, Community/Charity, Events, FEI

Six Days Left to Nominate Equestrian Heroes for FEI Awards 2011

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Lausanne (SUI), 25 July 2011 – The equestrian community has only six more days to nominate its heroes for the five categories of the FEI Awards 2011.

Nominations for Best Athlete, HSBC Rising Star, Against All Odds, Development and Best Groom have so far arrived from France, Great Britain, Australia, The Netherlands, Canada, Africa, Italy, Mexico, Germany, the USA, South Africa, Cambodia, Norway, Malaysia, Thailand, Sweden, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Belgium and Ireland.

FEI Secretary General and CEO Ingmar De Vos said: “Anyone who loves horse sport is welcome to send nominations, but I very much hope that the 133 National Federations affiliated to the FEI will, over the next few days, seize this rare opportunity to shine a spotlight on their athletes and grooms, as well as on people and organisations that are working to take the pleasure of equestrianism to others.”

The winners of the FEI Awards will receive their awards in November at a gala evening at the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Nominations are open until 31 July at www.feiawards.org.

Media contact:
Olivia Robinson
Publications Manager
FEI Corporate Communications
Tel: +41 (0) 21 310 47 23
Email: olivia.robinson@fei.org

Awards, Events, FEI

HSBC Continues Its Support of FEI’s Rising Star Award

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Lausanne (SUI), 15 July 2011 – HSBC is for the third consecutive year supporting the Rising Star category of the awards scheme organised by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the governing body of equestrian sport.

The HSBC Rising Star category of the FEI Awards rewards an equestrian athlete aged between 14 and 21 who demonstrates outstanding sporting talent and commitment in any of the FEI-regulated disciplines (Jumping, Dressage and Para-Equestrian Dressage, Eventing, Driving and Para-Equestrian Driving, Endurance, Vaulting and Reining).

HSBC is a platinum partner of the FEI in the discipline of Eventing. It is title sponsor of the FEI Classics series, which unites the five elite-level competitions staged between April to October, and the FEI European Eventing Championships, which will this year take place in Luhmühlen (GER) from 25 to 28 August.

In addition, HSBC is committed to the development of sport through investment in youth and education in local communities around the world. It supports junior and young rider schemes in the hope that participants will go on to represent their countries at the highest level.

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Awards, Community/Charity, Competitions, Equine Assisted Therapy, FEI, Western/Reining

Actor and Horse-Lover William Shatner Endorses FEI’s Star Date in Rio

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Lausanne (SUI), 6 July 2011 – Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, author and horse-lover William Shatner is supporting the HSBC Rising Star category of the FEI Awards, the scheme organised annually by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the governing body of horse sport, to celebrate equestrian heroes.

Shatner’s role as Captain James T. Kirk in the science fiction TV series Star Trek, which was first broadcast in 1966, made him a cultural icon and earned him worldwide fame. His more recent role as Denny Crane in The Practice and Boston Legal earned him two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.

The actor breeds and shows American Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses and spearheads the Hollywood Charity Horse Show, which brings together world-class Reining horses and riders to raise money for a therapeutic riding organisation that works with severely disabled children.

Speaking of the HSBC Rising Star category of the FEI Awards, which is open to equestrian athletes aged 14 to 21 who demonstrate outstanding sporting talent and commitment, Shatner commented:

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Awards, Community/Charity, FEI

FEI Development Award Winner Values International Recognition

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Lausanne (SUI), 1 July 2011 – A month before nominations close for the FEI Awards 2011, Ros Spearing, founder and director of the London-based Ebony Horse Club, the winner in last year’s Development category, recalls her pleasure in receiving it.

Ros Spearing, founder and director of the Ebony Horse Club, a charity that has in 15 years enabled more than 300 children living in one of London’s most deprived boroughs to enjoy the benefits of riding and caring for horses, said: “Receiving international recognition from the FEI was a fantastic boost after years of hard work.”

When Spearing accepted the FEI’s Development Award on behalf of the Ebony Horse Club in November 2010, the charity was £79,000 away from its goal of raising £1.4 million to build a community equestrian centre in Brixton, south London.

The club achieved its objective several weeks after the FEI Awards ceremony. Building work on the equestrian centre is currently underway and the first riding lessons will take place in October of this year. More information is available at www.ebonyhorseclub.org.uk.

The FEI’s Development Award rewards a person or organisation dedicated to making equestrianism accessible to a wider public or developing the sport in some way. It is one of five FEI Awards that reward equestrian heroes from around the world.

This year’s winners will fly to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to attend the FEI Awards ceremony at a gala evening organised at the Copacabana Palace, the famous Art Deco hotel facing Copacabana Beach.

Nominations in the five awards categories (Development, Against all Odds, Reem Acra Best Athlete, HSBC Rising Star, Best Groom) should be made via the dedicated website www.feiawards.org.

Media contact:
Marianne Burkhardt
Publications Coordinator
FEI Corporate Communications
Marianne.Burkhardt@fei.org
Tel. +41 21 310  84 71
Mobile: +41 79 789 90 25

Awards, Community/Charity, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., FEI, Show Jumping

FEI Announces Judges of FEI Awards 2011

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Lausanne (SUI), 20 June 2011 – The Fédération Equestre International (FEI), the governing body of equestrian sport, is pleased to announce the FEI Awards 2011 judging panel, which will be presided by FEI President HRH Princess Haya for the third consecutive year.

Diane Fissore-Wathelet, President of the Monaco Equestrian Federation, Zoë Kayes, Secretary General of the Malawi Equestrian Federation, and Juan Andres Sauce, International Delegate of the Venezuelan Equestrian Federation, will have the tough task of deciding which nominees will be applauded for their contribution to the sport at the FEI Awards Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in November. HRH Princess Haya will attend the ceremony, which will take place at the Copacabana Palace, the famous Art Deco hotel that opened its doors in 1923 and has played host to celebrities ranging from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to Madonna, Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti and the Rolling Stones.

Diane Fissore-Wathelet is a qualified lawyer and has presided the Monaco Equestrian Federation since 1995. She has also been president of Jumping International de Monte-Carlo since its creation in 1995. In parallel to her activities within the Federation, Diane Fissore heads a communications, publishing and event management company. Despite her professional commitments, Fissore, who began riding when she was very young, continues to live her passion for horses. She is a Dressage rider and owns many horses.

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Awards, Community/Charity, FEI

Fashion Designer Reem Acra Encourages Equestrian Community to Celebrate Its Stars

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10 June 2011 – International fashion designer Reem Acra, sponsor of the prestigious FEI World Cup Dressage series, is supporting the Best Athlete category of the FEI Awards for the second consecutive year.

The Beirut-born designer, whose clientele includes celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Beyonce Knowles, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Eva Longoria, built her successful design business with the same drive and determination that takes equestrian athletes to the summit of the sport. Commenting on the FEI Awards, which were launched by the governing body of international horse sport in 2009 to reward talent in and out of the arena, Reem Acra said:

“I am delighted to support the Best Athlete Award again this year. I have seen equestrian sport at its best and I know from my experience in the fashion world how tough it is to succeed when there is so much talent to compete with. This FEI Award will go to an athlete who has combined focused ambition with fair play, to a horse whose outstanding character and performances have endeared it to the public or to a really remarkable human and equine partnership. I hope the entire equestrian community will seize this opportunity to nominate their heroes, as it is a way of thanking them for the pleasure their inspirational performances have given us.”

Last year’s Reem Acra Best Athlete Award went to a combination – the superstar Dutch duo Edward Gal and Totilas – for their memorable contribution to equestrian sport. Gal, whose partnership with the much-loved black stallion ended in style in 2010 with, notably, three gold medals at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, said that receiving the award had been “the icing on the cake”.

This year’s winners will receive their awards in November at a gala evening in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the FEI General Assembly is taking place.

Nominations for the five-category FEI Awards (Reem Acra Best Athlete, HSBC Rising Star, Against All Odds, Development and Best Groom) are open until 31 July at www.feiawards.org.

Media contact:
Marianne Burkhardt
Publications Coordinator
FEI Corporate Communications
Marianne.Burkhardt@fei.org
Tel. +41 21 310 84 71
Mobile: +41 79 789 90 25