Wellington, FL – March 9, 2011 – Tonight marks the sixth week for the exciting Dressage under the Stars, held at the world famous Players Club in Wellington, Florida. Festivities begin tonight 7:00pm, with delicious drinks and fine dining available both patio-side, upstairs on the porch and as always inside the Players Club. The beautiful event will continue for two more weeks and is held each Wednesday at the luxurious venue. This week’s performances will feature top international judge Anne Gribbons and choreographer Ruth Hogan-Poulsen.
Last week’s Dressage under the Stars was great event featuring three Eventing riders performing musical freestyles. Eventing riders do not usually perform freestyles, but their incredible efforts did not disappoint. Last week’s Dressage under the Stars, sponsored by PRO aligned with the Derby Cross event held Saturday night, March 5, during Nations Cup week. Riders from last week included Marsha Kulak, Sara Kozumplik and Ronald Zabala-Goetschel. Olympian Karen O’Connor served as one of the judges for the evening, alongside Mason Phelps, Jr.
“Tonight was a great event for our event riders,” noted O’Connor. “The evening was very interesting, exciting and enthusiastic. They do a wonderful job presenting different disciplines to the public and the music is just so much fun.”
Tonight, Anne Gribbons, US team Dressage Team’s Chef d’Equipe and “O” judge will serve as one of the evening’s judges. Gribbons is a native of Sweden who has been active in the dressage community in the United States since 1972. She has trained and shown over a dozen of her horses to the grand prix level, nine of which were United States Equestrian Team long listed. A number of her students have competed at the FEI levels, and several have schooled and shown their own horse to the grand prix with her help. In 2001, her student of six years, Lesley Eden, was the Individual Gold Medalist at the North American Young Riders Championships.
Gribbons was a member of the USET PSG-Intermediaries squad at the North American Championships in 1985 and the World Championships in 1986. She finished seventh in the 1994 World Championship Trials on Leonardo II, who was also invited to the US World Cup League Finals the same year. In 1995, she was a member of the Pan American Silver Medal Team on Metallic, whom she schooled to the grand prix level. Metallic, ridden by Robert Dover, was on the Atlanta Olympic Bronze Medal Team and was the 1996 USDF Grand Prix horse of the year.
In 2006 Mrs. Gribbons was named the “Horseman of the Year” by the Chronicle of the Horse and was nominated by the FEI Dressage Committee for a promotion to an “Olympic” judge. Gribbons is both a licensed USEF Senior judge and an FEI Judge. She has officiated at numerous CDIs, Olympic and Pan American trials in the United States, as well as at prestigious events in Europe such as the Stuttgart CHIO, CDI at s’Hertogenbosch Dressage, world cup Finals in Dusseldorf in 2004, and in Las Vegas in 2007. She is also licensed by USEF as a Sport Horse Breeding Judge.
Another judge for the evening will be Ruth Hogan-Poulsen. After college, pursued a professional career as a rider and instructor in the dressage discipline. Hogan-Poulsen has managed Robert Dover’s barn, groomed at the top level and ridden there too, earning her first major FEI success earned with Elizabeth Ritz’s Aristocrat in 1998. A win in Devon ‘s Intermediaire I Freestyle capped a successful season, which earned Ruth a place on the USET Developing Rider List. During this period, Ruth developed her own horse, a Danish warmblood gelding named Mastermind, through the grand prix level.
Today, Hogan-Poulsen continues to ride and train, and also runs Freestyles from A to C, where she designs musical freestyles for horse and riders. She handles both choreography and musical elements for both amateur and professional riders alike.
Each Wednesday during the winter equestrian season in Palm Beach, the elegance of dressage is showcased under the magic of starlight at the beautiful Players Club in Wellington, FL. In only its third season, DRESSAGE UNDER THE STARS has become one of the winter equestrian calendar’s most anticipated events. Horse and rider combinations perform weekly for cash prizes and the opportunity to return to the eighth week’s Championship round where the winner takes away a grand prize consisting of lavish gifts and a very large check. This event consistently attracts the BEST international caliber riders in South Florida.
For more information visit www.facebook.com/dressageunderthestars or call the Players Club to reserve seats at 561.795.0080.
Media Contact: Mason Phelps
Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
phone 561.753.3389 fax 561.753.3386
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