GEORGETOWN, KY – MARCH 30, 2012 – Sterling Graburn and his equine partner Ulano gave another exceptional performance at the Live Oak International Combined Driving Event held in Ocala, FL March 22-25.
In the highly contested FEI Single Horse competition Team Sterling battled hard to finish 1st in dressage with a score of 44.54 and 2nd overall with a score of 124.61, ceding top honors by a mere 1/10 of a point.
Ulano, the 11-year-old Dutch Harness horse owned by Larry Denny, dazzled in the dressage portion of the CDE while he continued to show improvement in the marathon, noted Graburn. “It was a very challenging marathon course with many technical hazards,” he said. “But we are still fine tuning our marathon and expect to see even better results next time.”
The high score put Team Sterling one step closer to earning a spot on the U.S driving team that will compete at the 2012 World Championships in Lezirias, Portugal come September.
The Live Oak event was the third United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Selection Trial held so far this year. These trials will determine the final World Championship team members.
Graburn and Ulano will next compete in the final U.S.-based trial, The Southern Pines CDE (also National Singles Champs), held in April.
Graburn, who is also the head trainer at the Gayla Driving Center in Georgetown, KY, is the only Kentucky athlete in the running for a position on the U.S. championship team, but sponsorships and additional funding are still needed to put this talented pair on the road to Portugal.
For more information about sponsorships or to make a donation, contact Team Sterling’s Kathy Gilbertson-Smock at kathy@teamsterlingdriving.com, or visit the website at www.teamsterlingdriving.com.
Non-tax deductible donations may be made to:
Team Sterling
P.O. Box 11635
Lexington, KY 40576
Tax-deductible donations may be made to:
The American Horse Trials Foundation, Inc.
221 Grove Cove Road
Centreville, MD 21617
Tele: (443) 262-9555
Media inquiries: contact Cynthia Grisolia (347) 423-7322 or cagrisolia@yahoo.com.