Lexington, KY – The USEF Equestrian Media Guide for the 2012 Olympic Games in now available online at the USEF Network “Live from London” page. The guide includes rider bios along with pictures and video. It also includes biographies of the Chef d’Equipe and Team Leader of the U.S. Olympic Dressage, Eventing, and Jumping teams.
Chantilly, France – July 25, 2012 – Laura Kraut and Cedric continue to jump their way to the top of the European standings. The competition was fierce at the international horse show Jumping Chantilly France 2012 this past weekend. From July 19-22 the sport’s most renowned riders picked up the reins to compete for the top prizes. Kraut guided Cedric to several top rankings, as well as the prestigious Leading Lady Rider award.
Friday afternoon was filled with anticipation as the first day of the Jumping Chantilly 2012 got underway. The Prix France Galop saw the highest level of competition as riders prepared for the upcoming days of competition. In the 32nd slot, Kraut entered the ring with a solid plan and determination aboard Cherry Knoll Farm’s Cedric. Out of a field of 43 entrants, the talented team successfully navigated the course without fault; however, their more conservative approach earned them the ninth position in a time of 75.26 seconds.
East Aurora, NY – July 25, 2012 – It was an exciting week of competition for junior rider Charlotte Jacobs during the 2012 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC). Jacobs and her talented mount Kachina captured the Individual Junior Show Jumping Bronze Medal, as well as the Junior Team Gold Medal alongside the riders from Zone Two.
During the championship event’s five rounds of competition, Jacobs and Kachina added just four faults to their score. After an unlucky rail in the speed round during the first day, they consistently laid down clear efforts.
On the second day, riders participated in the Team Competition, where Jacobs represented Zone Two with Lillie Keenan, Kira Kerkorian, and Katherine Strauss. Jacobs and Kachina took the lead-off position, and their clean efforts in both rounds helped boost the team’s confidence. The riders captured the Gold Medal and led the lap of honor at the end of the evening.
Lausanne (SUI), 23 July 2012 – With the opening of the Olympic Games in London just around the corner, some of the next generation of potential Olympians were displaying their talent at the FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships 2012 at The Horse Park in Kentucky (USA) over the last week. Open to riders between 14 and 21 years, the busy annual event embraces the three Olympic disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing along with the FEI World Equestrian Games™ disciplines of Reining and Endurance. Competitors from the USA, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Islands lined are permitted to ride in these Championships.
Dressage
Brandi Roenick helped Region 5 to Young Rider team victory before going on to take both the Individual and Freestyle titles with Weltino’s Magic. This was the fourth team gold for the 17 year old rider who won the National Young Rider Dressage Championship in Gladstone, New Jersey, with her mare Pretty Lady five weeks ago. Weltino’s Magic claimed team and individual gold for Roenick’s trainer, Steffen Peters, at the 2011 Pan American Games, and the 10 year old gelding produced the leading score of the Young Riders team event when putting 70.500 on the board, while Roenick’s team-mates Victoria Fernalld (Amazing) earned 61.921, Devon Wycoff (Power Play) achieved a mark of 67.763 and Madeleine Birch (Uoeri) scored 67.842.
Lexington, KY – July 23, 2012 – Eighteen-year-old Abigail McArdle of Barrington, IL, proved to be unstoppable during the 2012 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC). With her talented mount Cosma 20, the pair laid down five clear rounds in three days to capture the Individual Junior Show Jumping Gold Medal at the prestigious event. This exciting victory came just one week after finishing the Spruce Meadows Tournament with six wins to their name, showing a bright future for this duo.
“It was really great to fulfill this accomplishment; it’s such an honor and I’m beyond happy,” expressed McArdle. “I had a lot of pressure going in, everyone expected me to do well. I really had to keep a cool head and do what needed to be done.”
McArdle and Cosma 20 started off the competition with a winning round in the first speed phase, topping the second place finisher by almost five seconds with the rails intact. As they moved on to the Team Competition, McArdle and Cosma 20 helped Zone 5 win the Silver Medal with two more clear rounds. The real pressure came the next morning, where two more rounds stood between them and the Individual Gold Medal.
Lausanne (SUI), 23 July 2012 – Germany took Dressage Team and Freestyle gold, the British once again dominated in Jumping and the Irish recorded their first-ever team success while also claiming two of the three individual medals in Eventing at the FEI European Pony Championship 2012 in Fontainebleau, France. Sanne Vos claimed the Individual Dressage title for The Netherlands, but was pipped by Germany’s Semmeike Rothenberger in the closely fought Freestyle by the smallest of margins.
The standard of competition in all disciplines continues to astound, and the battles for the ultimate prizes were intense. As the weekend drew to a sunny conclusion, Championship Director, Andre Bonneau announced that more than 7,000 spectators turned up to watch Eventing cross-country while 5,000 attended the final Eventing jumping phase. “It is a tribute to the participants,” he said.
Individual Reining Champion Golds Go to Reed Kyle and Haley Franc
Lexington, KY – The show jumpers and reiners finished today by naming two new individual gold medalists each at the 2012 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC), which conclude tomorrow at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Kilian McGrath and Abigail McArdle took gold in the Young Rider and Junior Show Jumping divisions respectively. The Show Jumping was sponsored by the United States Hunter Jumper Association. In the SmartPak Reining Individual Championship, Reed Kyle was gold in the Young Riders, while the Junior gold medal went to Haley Franc.
Five disciplines (a total of 9 championships for juniors and young riders) took part in the only FEI Championship to be held annually in North America. The NAJYRC is the premier equestrian competition in North America for junior and young riders, ages 14-21.
Zone 2 Wins Show Jumping Gold in Junior and Young Riders
Lexington, KY – It was a full day of equestrian sport at the 2012 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC), and four podium presentations crowned this year’s medalists for the Dressage individuals and Show Jumping teams. The dressage competition is sponsored by Platinum Performance and the United States Dressage Federation, while the show jumping is sponsored by the United States Hunter Jumper Association.
The NAJYRC runs through Sunday, July 22, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Five disciplines (a total of 9 championships for juniors and young riders) will take part in the only FEI Championship to be held annually in North America. The NAJYRC is the premier equestrian competition in North America for junior and young riders, ages 14-21.
Hickstead (GBR), 20 July 2012 – The Irish produced the shock of the season when beating crack sides from Germany and France to win the seventh leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2012 series at Hickstead (GBR) this afternoon.
Trailing at the bottom of the league table after an inconsistent run that included a miserable last-place finish in Falsterbo, Sweden just seven days ago, Robert Splaine’s side appeared to have it all to do in this penultimate round of the eight-leg tournament. But they came out with all guns blazing to finish with just four faults for a definitive victory over the French who completed with eight, while Germany slotted into third with 12. The host nation lined up fourth when collecting a total of 20 faults, and Sweden and Belgium shared fifth with 24 apiece. A first-round total of 20 put paid to Dutch chances and they concluded the day with 28 faults on the board for second-last spot ahead of the Swiss, whose 40-fault result left them last by a long margin.
As always, the Hickstead fences took their toll, but faults were spread all around the track set by Great Britain’s Bob Ellis – the man who will build the courses for the forthcoming London Olympic Games at Greenwich Park.
Lausanne (SUI), 20 July 2012 – Since equestrian sport was first officially embraced by the Olympic movement a century ago, Jumping has always been the largest and most popular discipline, and the historical records tell of wonderful horse-and-rider partnerships whose names will never be forgotten. Golden heroes like Germany’s Hans Günter Winkler, Italy’s Raimondo d’Inzeo and Graziano Mancinelli, Pierre Jonqueres d’Oriola from France and America’s Bill Steinkraus are the stuff of legend, their names forever forged into the annals of their sport.
At the Beijing 2008 Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong four years ago, the Canadians broke new ground as Eric Lamaze and the late, great stallion Hickstead helped earn the first-ever individual title for their country. It was an epic battle in which Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson had to settle for silver with Ninja, while America’s Beezie Madden and Authentic took the bronze. All three of these riders will be in action once again at London 2012 where the Americans will be vying for a hat-trick of team titles. If they succeed, they will join Germany as the only other nation to clinch gold at three successive Olympic Games.