Tag Archives: Show Jumping

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Dressage, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping, USEF

FEI World Cup Finals Set to Begin in The Netherlands

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Margie Engle topped the North American East Coast League standings. (Photo by Sportfot)

Lexington, KY – The U.S. contingent arrives in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands with expectations of strong performances at the 2012 FEI World Cup Finals. In total, 11 riders have travelled to Holland to compete in the most prestigious indoor competition of the year. The United States will be represented by two dressage riders in the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final, while nine jumpers will contest the Rolex/FEI World Cup Final. The Finals will run April 17-22 at the Indoor Brabant.

Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final

Both Jan Ebeling and Shawna Harding make a return trip the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final, after having impressed in 2011. For Ebeling (Moorpark, CA) this will be the third time he has competed Rafalca in the Finals, they also competed in 2009 and 2011. They head to ‘s-Hertogenbosch on the heels of second place finishes at the Mid-Winter Dressage Festival and in the $5,000 FEI Rancho Valencia Grand Prix Freestyle. After making their World Cup debut last year, Harding (Aiken, SC) and Come On III have improved throughout the 2011/2012 season and are poised for a strong result.

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*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.

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*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.”

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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.

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Championships, Competitions, Dressage, Endurance Riding, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, Show Jumping, USEF, Western/Reining

News from the 2012 Adequan FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships

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Winners from NAJYRC 2011 (Brant Gamma)

Lexington, KY – Less than four months before the Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 Championships, planning is already well underway. 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. This year the event will run July 17-22, 2012.

Schedule:

The Tentative Competition Schedule for competitors is available here: http://www.youngriders.org/Schedule.aspx, and as soon as the Draft Schedules get approved by the FEI they will be posted. We have made some changes this year to the schedule, as we are sharing the Kentucky Horse Park with Breyerfest, not with the Kentucky Summer Horse Show.

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Community/Charity, FEI, Show Jumping

In Memoriam: Camilla Enemark (DEN)

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Denmark’s Camilla Enemark competing on Regino at the FEI European Jumping Championships 2011 in Madrid, Spain. Image: Benedicte Krüger Nielsen.

Lausanne (SUI), 12 April 2012 – Camilla Enemark, the 31-year-old Danish Jumping rider, passed away on Tuesday (10 April) after losing her battle against an aggressive brain tumour first diagnosed in 2006.

Born on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1980, Camilla started riding competitively when she was 12 years old, going on to claim the Danish national championship in 1996.

Despite undergoing chemotherapy, she rode on the Danish team at last year’s FEI European Jumping Championships at Spain’s Club de Campo Villa de Madrid with Regino, and also competed in the FEI Nations Cup Top League 2011 series in Hickstead, Dublin and Rotterdam.

Camilla was married to jumping rider Peter Enemark, and together they ran the sales and training barn PC Horses in Næstved, just south of the Danish capital Copenhagen, training Jumping horses from novice level up to Grand Prix.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Contributors/Press, Revolution Sports, Show Jumping

Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani – The Rolex One to Watch for April 2012

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Al Thani riding Dukhan at the CSI2* Big Tour in Valkenswaard (NED) in August 2011. Photo: SPORTFOT/Rolex

11 April 2012 – The Rolex One to Watch for April 2012 is awarded to Sheikh Ali Bin Khalid Al Thani (QAT). Currently based in Qatar, Al Thani trains with Jan Tops during the summer months at the Dutchman’s stable – Stal Tops – in Valkenswaard (NED). The 29-year-old jumped from 348th to 197th during March – a move up the Rolex Rankings of 151 places.

Showcasing the recent rise in quality of The Gulf Cooperation Council region’s Jumping riders, Al Thani has produced numerous outstanding performances on all nine horses that he competes with. Al Thani has taken part in some of the world’s most prestigious Jumping competitions, including the FEI World Cup Jumping – Arab League, the Global Champions Tour, and the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 in Lexington, Kentucky (USA).

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*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, FEI, FEI, Show Jumping

Germany Poised to Set New Record at Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Den Bosch

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Christian Ahlmann will defend his title at the 2011/2012 Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Final. Photo: FEI/Karl-Heinz Frieler.

Lausanne (SUI), 11 April 2012 – In the long and distinguished history of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping series, no country has ever won the title on more than four consecutive occasions.  American riders dominated throughout the early years with seven victories over the first nine seasons, including four between 1980 and 1983, but as the 37 representatives from 19 nations gather at ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NED) next week for the 34th annual decider, it seems Germany is poised to break the mould.

Already with the greatest number of wins to their credit, a total of nine since Ludger Beerbaum’s success with the great mare Ratina Z in Gothenburg (SWE) back in 1993, German competitors have held a firm grip on the coveted crown in recent years. They have been denied only twice since Otto Becker (Dobel’s Cento) held the trophy aloft in Leipzig (GER) 10 years ago, and for the last four seasons they have been all but unstoppable.

Continue reading Germany Poised to Set New Record at Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Den Bosch →

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

Show Jumping Wraps Up Another Year at the Fork International Horse Trials

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Allison Springer and Arthur take home the Adequan USEA Gold Cup from the Fork H.T. Leslie Mintz/USEA Photo

There were no rails in hand heading into the show jumping phase at The Fork, but that didn’t matter to Phillip Dutton, Karen O’Connor, Michael Pollard, and Allison Springer as they all held onto their overnight leads in their respective divisions by jumping clear rounds over the Sally Ike designed show jump course.

In the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Advanced B Division, Allison Springer and Arthur, a 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Brandenburg’s Windstar x Kelly), led from wire-to-wire to finish on their dressage score of 22.7 in the extremely competitive class.  The pair had quite a few hard rubs in the show jumping arena, but luck was on their side and all of the poles remained resolutely in their cups.

“Three years ago I started working with Katie Prudent,” explained Allison. “And she is the one who has really changed that horse and me. I think he was just written off as a very un-careful horse and would never be careful, and I didn’t want to believe that because he is such a good talent. [Katie] was so helpful with him.”

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Community/Charity, Competitions, Events, Show Jumping, Sydney Masters-Durieux

Teen Champion Emanuel Andrade Dominated Competition at Winter Equestrian Festival

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Photo by Liliane Stransky

Wellington, Florida – April 9, 2012 – 15-year-old Emanuel Andrade of Venezuela, a junior ambassador for the Step by Step Foundation charity, dominated the competition at the 2012 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival held January 11 to April 1 in Wellington, FL.  While winning classes he also raised awareness for the children’s charity Step by Step Foundation during each class!

At the conclusion of the 12-week show jumping circuit, Andrade was presented as the Future Champions Leading Junior Jumper Rider, sponsored by Marley Goodman.  Over the course of the competition, the teen who also champions the charity Step by Step Foundation in competition, claimed six Championship and 12 Reserve Championship titles.  While 17 of those 18 titles were claimed in the Junior Jumper divisions, Andrade also earned the Six-Year-Old Young Jumper Horse Reserve Championship title during week 11 riding Black Pearl.

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