Tag Archives: Show Jumping

USEF Names Show Jumping Team for 2011 Pan American Games

Gladstone, NJ – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has recommended the following athlete/horse combinations to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to represent the United States on the U.S. Show Jumping Team at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The USOC will make the following entry of athlete/horse combinations today (they are named in ranked order):

Beezie Madden (Cazenovia, NY) will ride Coral Reef Ranch’s Coral Reef Via Volo

McLain Ward (Brewster, NY) will ride Grant Road Partners LLC’s Antares F

Christine McCrea (East Windsor, CT) will ride Candy Tribble and Windsor Show Stables’ Romantovich Take One

Laura Kraut (Wellington, FL) will ride Happy Hill Farm’s Cedric

Lauren Hough (Wellington, FL) will be the travelling reserve with Laura and Meredith Mateo’s Quick Study

The following four athlete/horse combinations have been named as ranked substitutes and will be submitted as part of the Nominated Entry:

Margie Engle (Wellington, FL) with Garber, Griese, Hidden Creek Farm and Gladewinds Farm’s Indigo

Kent Farrington (Chicago, IL) with RCG Farm’s Uceko

Mario Deslauriers (New York, NY) with Jane F. Clark’s Urico

Kirsten Coe (Johnston, SC) with Ilan Ferder’s Tristan

Kate Levy (Wellington, FL) with Kate Levy LLC’s Vent du Nord

The 2011 Pan American Games will run October 14-30, 2011 in Guadalajara; more information about the Games is available here: http://www.guadalajara2011.org.mx/ENG/01_inicio/.

Follow the USEF Riders on the USEF Network: http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2011PanAmGames/.

FEI European Jumping Championships 2011 Preview

MADRID PROMISES A FEAST OF FINE SPORT by Louise Parkes

Lausanne (SUI), 8 September 2011 – The FEI European Jumping Championships celebrates its 31st anniversary as the action begins at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in Spain next Tuesday.  At the inaugural Championship in Rotterdam (NED) back in 1957, where there were only individual medals on offer, just eight riders competed, and it was no surprise when Germany’s Hans Gunther Winkler took the title.

Fast-forward 54 years, and the 2011 fixture has attracted 85 riders from 22 countries, while 17 nations will fight it out for the team medals which were first introduced at Munich (GER) in 1975.  The team title on that occasion went to the host nation, which also claimed individual gold (Alwin Schockemohle), silver (Hartwig Steenken) and bronze (Sonke Sonksen).  The German record in these Championships is extraordinary – 45 medals in total including 14 individual and 6 sets of team gold.  Their nearest challengers in terms of supremacy are the British, but with a relatively modest 28 medals, including six individual and four team gold, they are a long way adrift of their German counterparts.

PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT
Staged every two years, in the middle of the Olympic cycle, the FEI European Jumping Championships are particularly significant in the season preceding the Olympic Games.  With London 2012 growing ever-closer, there is great pressure on the non-qualified nations to take this final opportunity to earn one of the three remaining places.

Continue reading FEI European Jumping Championships 2011 Preview

Swiss Win FEI Promotional League Series by Convincing Margin

Steve Guerdat was one of the riders who helped secure Switzerland's return to the top-level FEI Nations Cup 2012 through victory in the 2011 FEI Promotional League series this season. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.

Lausanne (SUI), 8 September 2011 – As predicted, Switzerland has qualified for the 2012 FEI Nations Cup series having secured the 2011 FEI European Promotional League title by a convincing margin.  Finishing the season with 60.5 points, the Swiss completed with an advantage of 6.5 points over the runners-up from Sweden, while Italy placed third ahead of Spain.

The Swiss and Swedes were the main protagonists in the closing stages of the battle for the single qualifying spot available to the Promotional League Champions, each looking strong when making guest appearances in the top-level FEI Nations Cup 2011 series on their home turf this summer.  At St Gallen in June, the Swiss finished equal-second alongside the first-division British, while at Falsterbo in July the Swedes divided runner-up spot with the defending series champions from France.

In the end, it was their success in the final leg of the Challengers Series that clinched it for the Swiss as they collected the maximum 16 points available at Bratislava in Slovakia which boosted their position as the best six scores from their outings in both the Promotional and Challengers Leagues were calculated.

STRONG SWISS FOURSOME
It was the strong Swiss foursome of Martin Fuchs (Principal), Janika Sprunger (Uptown Bo), Steve Guerdat (Nino des Buissonnets) and Hensueli Sprunger (Kepi de Valse) that lined out at the Slovakian fixture, but they only pipped the runners-up from The Ukraine by a single fault, while Austria slotted into third.  A total of 16 faults in the first round put paid to Swedish chances here, as only the best eight nations returned in round two.  At the previous leg of the Challengers League in Sopot, Poland the situation had been reversed when the Swiss failed to make the cut while the Swedes picked up points for third place.

Continue reading Swiss Win FEI Promotional League Series by Convincing Margin

FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2011 – Zagreb (CRO)

BIG HAUL OF GOLD FOR THE GREEKS IN ZAGREB by Louise Parkes

Croatia's Kristina Grilec, Mirna Bacic and Janka Krasovec - gold, silver and bronze medallists in the Amazons (Ladies) Individual Championship at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2011. Photo: FEI/ BalkanJChPress.

Lausanne (SUI), 6 September 2011 – Greek riders were in flying form at the FEI Balkan Jumping Championships 2011 staged in Zagreb, Croatia last weekend where they claimed eight of the 10 titles on offer.  Gold in the Ladies Individual and Team events were the only medals to escape their grasp as they ran riot through the remainder of the show programme, producing convincing wins at all levels.

Staged at the Karoca Horse Club in the Croatian capital city, the event attracted competitors from six nations – Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece.  President of the Ground Jury was Russia’s Vladimir Platov and the remainder of the Ground Jury panel were Mrs Mimi Kyrkinis from Greece, Turkey’s Mrs Gulfer Taneri, Bulgaria’s Mr Yuri Valev and Mrs Jasminka Pirs Petrakovic from Croatia.

SENIORS
In the Senior Team Championships, the Greeks clinched gold with a total of 22 faults which give them a significant 14-fault advantage over the silver medallists from Slovenia.  The Croatians took bronze, but with 55 faults on the board were a long way further adrift and 10 points clear of the Bulgarians who just missed out on the medals here.

Course designer, Olaf Petersen Jr., set a 1.30m track for the opening competition in which Alexandros Fourlis and his 12 year old bay mare GZS Cappucino Z, by Calvaro Z, raced home quickest in a time of 61.39 seconds.  From a start-list of 22 runners, it was Croatia’s Denis Gugic (Davita) and Filip Rozmaric (Cezar BB) who slotted into the next two places while Hanna Roberson-Mytilinaiou (Natacha Delaunay) from Greece was close behind in fourth spot.

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William Fox-Pitt Wins Record Sixth Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials

American Boyd Martin Defies the Odds with Neville Bardos

Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos. Photos: www. stockimageservices. com

Lexington, KY – There are incredible stories and then there is the story of the 2011 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. Not only did William Fox-Pitt ride Parklane Hawk to a record sixth win of his career, but a little American horse named Neville Bardos defied every possible odd to finish seventh in the world’s toughest four-star.

Fox-Pitt and the New Zealand Thoroughbred added one time fault in the show jumping to his dressage score in an otherwise flawless effort over the four days of competition. His dressage score of 39.7 was good enough for second place after the first phase but when overnight leader Simone Dietermann fell off Free Easy NRW on the cross country, Fox-Pitt inherited a lead he then defended with style.

But the story of the competition continued to be a scrappy little failed racehorse from Australia. Neville Bardos fulfilled Boyd Martin’s dream of competing at Burghley and with his tenacity and bravery put a nightmare of a summer behind his family. A barn fire ripped through Martin’s barn in May, and Neville Bardos was trapped in the fire the longest of those horses that survived. They lost six horses in the blaze and Neville Bardos was pulled out of the flames by Martin and Phillip Dutton. He then recovered miraculously after inhaling a massive amounts smoke and burning his throat and lungs.

This nightmare was followed closely by the loss of both Martin’s father in a biking accident in Australia and then his wife Silva’s father to illness in the following weeks – Martin hit rock bottom.

Continue reading William Fox-Pitt Wins Record Sixth Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials

Twenty-two Nations to Battle It Out at FEI European Jumping Championships in Madrid

A total of 86 riders from 22 nations have been declared for the FEI European Jumping Championships 2011. The event, which serves as a team qualifier for the 2012 Olympic Games for nations from Olympic Groups A (North Western Europe) and B (South Western Europe) will take place in Madrid (ESP) from 13 to 18 September.

Seventeen nations – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, host nation Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and Ukraine – have entered teams. The Czech Republic, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Russia, and Slovakia will be represented by individual riders.

Venue for this year’s FEI European Jumping Championships is the stunning Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, one of Spain’s oldest and most prestigious country clubs formed in 1929. A brand new all-weather sand footing has been installed especially for the Championships.

Watch FEI TV’s preview at this link.

The full list of the FEI European Jumping Championships definite entries (published today) are available here.

Media contact:

Grania Willis
Director Media Relations
grania.willis@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 42

Malina Gueorguiev
Manager Media Relations
malina.gueorguiev@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 33

Eric Martin Makes It a Double for Manitoba

Eric Martin over the third fence with Kumano. Photos - Cansport

Calgary, Alberta – Eric Martin of Oakbank, MB, scored victory in the $50,000 CSI2* Friends of Rocky Mountain Show Jumping Grand Prix held Saturday, August 27, at Anderson Ranch in Calgary, AB.

Manitoba athletes won both of the major competitions held at the Rocky Mountain Classic II show jumping tournament. Hayley Alfonso of St. Andrews, MB, posted the only clear round to win the $31,000 CSI2* Eunice Krausert Memorial Grand Prix held August 24 before Martin claimed his victory to make it two for two for Manitoba.

“We like Alberta money,” joked Martin, who pocketed $15,000 for his win.

Course designer Werner Deeg of Germany set a track that produced 11 clear rounds from a starting field of 24. The crowd was treated to an exciting jump-off that saw five horse-rider combinations leave all the jumps in place in an effort to win. In the end, it was Martin with the seven-year-old stallion Kumano who succeeded in doing it in the fastest time, 45.43 seconds.

“I just tried to be as smooth as I could,” explained Martin. “I have a good turn of foot; he’s fast through the turns.”

Martin makes the 16-hour journey to Calgary twice a year to compete at the Rocky Mountain Show Jumping tournaments. Having competed at the May events, he was back for the Rocky Mountain Classic series in August.

Continue reading Eric Martin Makes It a Double for Manitoba

Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo Win the Longines International Grand Prix of Rotterdam

Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo. Photo: Beatrice Scudo

Rotterdam, The Netherlands – Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo triumphed after a 10-rider jump off to win the Longines International Grand Prix of Rotterdam – the last day of the 2011 FEI Nations Cup Series.

In front of a sold-out arena, Madden edged out the Dutch rider Jeroen Dubbeldam, who ended up in second place on Bmc Van Grunsven Simon in a jump-off time of 39.11. Madden came in 0.8 seconds faster in a time of 38.31 seconds. German rider Carsten-Otton Nagel came in third on Corradina in a time of 40.33 seconds. Four riders jumped clear in the jump off.

“It was fantastic,” Madden said of her win on her 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare.

“The show grounds improved significantly and did great despite all the rain that has fallen today and over the past days,” she added. “Our horses became lighter, faster and more careful.”

Madden also won the overall Longines award for the leading rider – building on the strong form she has kept up throughout the summer, collecting top placings in both North America and Europe.

Sunday’s grand prix hosted 47 entries, with Madden returning after the U.S. Team’s disappointing Nations Cup performance on Friday to take the CSIO5* Grand Prix win.

Continue reading Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo Win the Longines International Grand Prix of Rotterdam

Germany Wins Final Round and FEI Nations Cup 2011 Series

The German team celebrate their double victory in Rotterdam (NED) tonight where they won the last leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2011 along with the series title - L to R - Carsten-Otto Nagel, Ludger Beerbaum, Otto Becker (Chef d'Equipe), Marco Kutscher and Thomas Voss. Photo: FEI/CHIO Rotterdam Press.

Rotterdam (NED), 26 August 2011 – Germany did the double when winning both the last leg of the series, and the overall FEI Nations Cup 2011 title, at the thrilling finale in Rotterdam, The Netherlands this evening. Birthday boy, Ludger Beerbaum, was the hero of the day, but it was a desperate fight to the very end, with a strong challenge from the impressive British that was only settled by a third-round jump-off against the clock.

The Dutch hosts, who headed the leaderboard throughout the closing stages of the eight-leg tournament, had seemed likely to clinch the honours in front of their home crowd following a great run of form.  But yesterday German Chef d’Equipe, Otto Becker, warned that his side would pounce if the opportunity arose, and today, when it did, they seized it and held on tight.

It was a sad day for the USA however.  Despite their best efforts they could only manage sixth place, one spot behind the Belgians who were also lying in the relegation danger-zone.  And although Belgium collected 17 faults in a high-scoring competition, the 18 collected by the Americans was simply too much, and they now join the long-resigned Danish side in the Promotional League for 2012.

LYING LAST
The Danes were already lying last at the end of the first round with 21 faults on the board.  But the big surprise was the 16 faults collected by the Dutch who were positioned seventh of the eight competing nations at the halfway stage.  Irish chances were hampered by the elimination of Alexander Butler when his grey, Will Wimble, slammed on the brakes at the 4-metre-wide open water at fence eight and they were carrying 14 faults, while the Belgians appeared to be seriously compromised when racking up 12-first round faults – 2010 world champion Philippe Le Jeune (Vigo d’Arsouilles), 2006 world champion Jos Lansink (Cavalor Valentina Van’T Heike) and Gregory Wathalet (Copin van de Broy) each coming home with single errors while young Nicola Philippaerts (Carlo VHPZ) had the discount score of nine.

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Ready for Rotterdam: U.S. Jumpers Face Big Task in FEI Nations Cup

Lexington, KY – The U.S. Jumping riders have a big task before them in tomorrow’s FEI Nations Cup at CSIO5* Rotterdam. They take to the final leg of the 2011 FEI Nations Cup Series in the Netherlands and jump to maintain their position in the Series for 2012.

Currently ranked seventh out of the eight teams in the Series, the U.S. needs to finish at least three places ahead of Belgium tomorrow in the Nations Cup to earn a spot to return in 2012. Belgium is currently two points ahead of the United States. The two lowest-placed teams will be relegated after Rotterdam, and Denmark is already out of consideration.

The four riders set to represent the U.S. are up for the challenge for Chef d’Equipe George Morris:

Lauren Hough and Quick Study just won the Longines Grand Prix at CSIO5* Dublin in an epic victory over a top-flight field. She will lead off the U.S. effort.

Christine McCrea and the ultra-consistent Romantovich Take One will follow Hough into the ring; they have been quietly racking up solid results all summer. They jumped two clear rounds in the Nations Cup at CSIO5* St. Gallen and went on to finish third in the Longines Grand Prix of Switzerland two days later.

Continue reading Ready for Rotterdam: U.S. Jumpers Face Big Task in FEI Nations Cup