Melanie Smith-Taylor makes a return to discuss developing horsemanship with Mindy Bower. Hanne Christensen from HRN affiliate World of Show Jumping reviews Aachen and Falsterbo. And we have another WOW moment; listen in.
Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will be represented by five show jumpers at the CSIO Rotterdam, which runs August 24-28, 2011 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Please click on any athlete or team name for more information about them.
The following horse/rider combinations have been named in ranked order to represent the U.S.
Beezie Madden and Coral Reef Via Volo (13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by Coral Reef Ranch)
Laura Kraut and Cedric (13-year-old Dutch-bred gelding owned by Happy Hill Farm)
Lauren Hough and Quick Study (12-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Laura and Meredith Mateo)
Christine McCrea and Romantovich Take One (11-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Windsor Show Stables)
Mario Deslauriers and Urico (10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Jane Clark)
France's double Olympic champion Pierre Jonqueres d'Oriola, who has died at the age of 91.
Lausanne (SUI), 20 July 2011 – France’s double Olympic champion Pierre Jonqueres d’Oriola passed away at his home in the Pyrenees on Tuesday 19 July. He was aged 91.
Born on 1 February 1920, d’Oriola won individual gold in the Jumping at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki riding Ali Baba. This was the second Olympic medal for the d’Oriola family in Helsinki. Only six days earlier his cousin Christian d’Oriola had won gold in the fencing.
Twelve years later in Tokyo, Pierre Jonqueres d’Oriola again took individual Jumping gold, this time on Lutteur B, and led the French to team silver. D’Oriola’s was the only gold for France in the Tokyo Olympics, earning him special congratulations from General de Gaulle and the rider received a hero’s welcome on his return to his homeland.
He won individual gold at the 1966 world championships in Buenos Aires (ARG) with a new horse Pomone B. D’Oriola rode in the change-horse final against three other legendary names in the sport – José de Borhoques (ESP), Raimondo d’Inzeo (ITA) and Nelson Pessoa (BRA) – to become the first French rider to claim the title. D’Oriola went on to take silver in the team event at the Mexico Olympics in 1968, his fifth and final appearance at the Olympic Games.
Hans-Dieter Dreher riding Magnus Romeo in the Rolex Grand Prix at the 2011 CHIO Aachen. Photo: Kit Houghton/Rolex
20 July 2011 – The Rolex One to Watch for June 2011 is German rider, Hans-Dieter Dreher. Based at the Grenzland Stud in Eimeldingen, Germany, the 39-year-old jumped from number 386 to 231 during June – a move up the Rolex Rankings of 155 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.
Hans-Dieter Dreher was born in Schopfheim in February 1972 and grew up on his parents’ riding yard in Adelhausen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. He started riding as a six-year-old and was trained by his father, Horst Dreher, who was himself a successful rider in the region at this time.
Hans-Dieter began show jumping at nine years old, and by the age of 13 had won his first title as junior champion of Baden-Wuerttemberg. After completing school, he finished his professional education as a rider and later worked at a stable in Alsace, France for three years. He currently rides and trains at the Grenzland Stud in Eimeldingen in the south of Germany, owned by Dr. Carmen Vogt-Brändlin.
KAZAKHSTAN’S SOLOVYOV TAKES INDIVIDUAL GOLD, RUSSIA SCOOPS TEAM TITLE by Louise Parkes
Peter Solovyov (Liebestraum Z) is awarded with his individual gold medal at the FEI Central Asian Open Jumping Championships 2011. Photo: FEI/Alexander Buikevich.
Lausanne (SUI), 18 JULY 2011 – Peter Solovyov took individual gold for the host nation at the recent FEI Central Asian Open Jumping Championship staged in Astana, Kazakhstan where Russia won the team title. This was the third major fixture to take place in Kazakhstan this year, following the Endurance and Dressage Championships which were held in May and June. It is a measure of the development of, and enthusiasm for, the equestrian disciplines in the region that the 2011 calendar has been such a busy one. And Solovyov’s victory is a major boost to the small National Federation which boasts a panel of just five riders in its senior Jumping squad this season.
Solovyov’s march to individual glory was a gradual one, with his opening effort with It’s Me du Mesnil leaving him 23rd in a field of 26 starters. It was Russia’s Karin Ruslan and Migdolas who came out on top here, ahead of Kazakhstan’s Talyat Islamov and Atom in second while another Russian, Sergey Shepelin, steered Amigo into third place.
Astana, which officially became the capital city of the newly-independent Kazakhstan in 1997, was only granted its name the following year. In Kazakh, the word Astana means “capital”, but it also has Persian origins referring to a “threshold”, and, located where it is, on the cross-roads between East and West, that threshold has been crossed by many of its neighbours this summer as they have pursued their equestrian hopes and dreams. Competitors from five nations – Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Urkraine – lined out in these championships.
Steffen Peters and Ravel Sunday at CHIO Aachen. Photo: Ken Braddick/ dressage-news.com.
Aachen, Germany – Team USA wrapped up the 2011 World Equestrian Festival CHIO in Aachen, Germany, with more strong performances, including a second-place finish for Steffen Peters and Ravel in the Grand Prix Freestyle CDIO and a win for show jumper McLain Ward on Rothchild.
Peters and Ravel, owned by Akiko Yamazki and Four Winds Farm, stepped up their game today and gave the best dressage horse in the world a run for his money in the Grand Prix Freestyle CDIO for the Deutsche Bank Prize.
The judges gave Ravel and Peters technical scores of 77.25, 77.00, 80.50, 80.50, and 76.75, along with artistic scores of 86.00, 83.00, 83.00, 89.00, and 87.00 for an overall 82.000% – just .825% off the winning score set by Matthias Rath of Germany and Totilas.
According to Dressage-news.com, Peters said, “It felt fantastic. I’m still searching for words to describe it. The icing on the cake was the reaction of the crowd. That was a huge honor. I finished fifth in the Grand Prix and the Special, so to come within fractions of Totilas and Parzival in the freestyle is amazing.”
Laura Kraut on Teirra during the Warsteiner jumping competition at 2011 CHIO Aachen. Photo by Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty Images.
Aachen, Germany – Another American victory came Saturday at the World Equestrian Festival CHIO in Aachen, Germany. Show jumper Laura Kraut rode Woodstock O, owned by Joan Kalman and The Freedom Group, to the win in the Sparkassen-Youngsters Cup. They were also awarded with the overall special prize for the best rider/horse of the three Youngsters Cup competitions.
Kraut and Woodstock O have consistently been in the ribbons this week in the Youngsters Cup, with clear rounds in the previous two speed classes. “I don’t think he rubbed a fence the whole time. I didn’t go fast the first two days, even though they were speed classes, because it doesn’t really matter. The goal is to qualify for the final and save yourself for the last class,” Kraut explained.
They did just that, as Woodstock O, an 8-year-old KWPN gelding, was clear through two rounds today and the fastest in the jump-off to take home the top prize over Philipp Weishaupt (GER) on Urmel 86 and Lars Nieberg (GER) with Coco Mademoiselle.
Kraut said, “We jumped the first round at 9:15 this morning and we didn’t have the jump-off until 2:15 in the afternoon. This morning he was actually quite fresh and strong. He was sort of a handful to ride around, but he jumped brilliantly. By the afternoon, he settled down and he was so good in the jump-off. It was his type of course with a lot of galloping. Even though he’s small, his stride is very big. He did everything he was supposed to do.”
Aachen, Germany – Team USA notched another win today at the World Equestrian Festival CHIO in Aachen, Germany. Chester Weber and his four-in-hand team won the second dressage test in driving.
Weber handled the reins of Jane Clark’s team – Para, Senate, Splash, and Uniek – in the dressage test, which was a rating competition for team classification. Weber competed as an individual for the United States, and he was given scores of 193, 203, 194, 196, and 193 from the judges. He and his team received a total score of 34.69 for victory and the Prize of Martello Immobilienmanagement GmbH & Co. KG.
“It was spectacular,” said Ed Young, U.S. Driving Chef d’Equipe. “He drove a wonderful test. It really was flawless, and it went beautifully.”
Weber will compete tomorrow in the obstacles phase.
Chef d'Equipe Rob Ehrens (front) celebrates The Netherlands' victory in the fifth leg of the FEI Nations Cup 2011 tonight with team members (L to R) Gerco Schroder, Jur Vrieling, Jeroen Dubbeldam and Eric van der Vleuten. Photo: FEI/Kit Houghton.
Aachen (GER), 14 July 2011 – The Dutch continued their triumphant rampage through the 2011 FEI Nations Cup series when recording their third victory of the season on the hallowed turf of Aachen, Germany tonight. In a cliff-hanger of a competition, filled with all sorts of drama, the result was not decided until the last man entered the arena.
As it came down to the closing stages, it seemed the host nation might follow the success they enjoyed in Sweden last Friday with another memorable night on their home ground. But two late fences down for anchorman Ludger Beerbaum and Gotha snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and Germany was obliged to share runner-up spot with the come-back kings from Ireland and the impressive new-look British side.
The last-to-go French looked like challenging the eventual winners in a two-way showdown, but a double-error from Michel Robert and Kellemoi de Pepita put paid to that. In cold, wet weather conditions, tonight’s contest was the toughest of tests, but an unforgettable evening of great sport.
The result has reinforced the Dutch hold at the top of the series leaderboard, but for Belgium, the USA and Denmark, things are now getting critical. With just three legs left to go, the Americans remain in second-last spot with only the struggling Danes behind them and the Belgians 2.5 points ahead. The Belgians failed to complete today as their recent run of form seriously unravelled. And the French are only a single point ahead of the Belgians going into the next leg at Hickstead in two weeks’ time. The battle at the bottom of the leaderboard is intensifying with every round.
A Captivating Look at the Olympic Equestrian Sport and the Unparalleled Bond between Horse and Rider
Boston, MA (July 12, 2011) – While crowds flock to show jumping events around the world, marveling at the magnificence of the champion horses that compete at the Grand Prix level, few are aware of the passionate and intense relationship between rider and horse required to make it to the jump-off. Acanthus Publishing announces the publication and release of Unbridled Passion – Show Jumping’s Greatest Horses and Riders (Acanthus Publishing 2011), an intimate and thrilling look inside the Olympic sport of show jumping and the superstar pairings that define excellence at the elite level.
With a foreword from Olympic team coach George Morris, each chapter of Unbridled Passion presents an up close and personal conversation between author, Jeff Papows, and one of the best contemporary riders in North America. Among the list of showcased riders and revered partners are McClain Ward and Sapphire, Ian Millar and Big Ben, Margie Engle and Perin, Beezie Madden and Authentic, and many more medal-winning teams.
Utilizing over 60 vibrant color photographs throughout the book, Papows captures the essence of the finest moments in the sport’s recent history. Working with noted equestrian photographers Gretchen Almy and Tony de Costa, Papows offers the reader both the smell of the barn and the spectacle of the ring. “There are many well-written how-to books in the sport,” Papows explains. “But I wanted to create a book that captured the beauty, the hard work, and the physicality of show jumping as well as the deep connection that is formed between rider and horse.” Papows has also featured several accomplished amateur riders who are just entering the international world of elite competition.
