(FEI) – Yves Rossier, Vice Chair of the FEI Veterinary Committee, delivered a presentation on equine injury surveillance at the annual International Olympic Sports Federations’ Medical Commission Chairpersons conference held at the IOC Headquarters in Lausanne (SUI) yesterday.

The Canadian, who was head of the Olympic Veterinary Clinic in Greenwich Park at the London 2012 Olympic Games, took a year’s sabbatical leave from his work as Professor of Equine Sports Medicine at the University of Montreal to complete a study on Injury Surveillance in FEI Horses.

The FEI-funded study on equine injuries also involved analysis of the approaches taken by other sports regulators, including the IOC, International Federations and horseracing authorities. One of the key objectives of the study was to review injury surveillance programmes (human and equine) in order to fine-tune the existing FEI protocol and introduce an improved model for FEI events.

The FEI has been collecting basic injury data from its events for some time, and is currently developing a comprehensive database specifically for equine athletes. The main purpose of the database, once sufficient statistics have been collected, will be to help in the prevention of injuries. Similar databases are used in other global sports.

“The conference was a wonderful opportunity to hear what the other International Sports Federations are doing about injury surveillance, and to present the FEI’s approach so that we could all learn from each other,” Professor Rossier said. “This is part of making sports as safe as possible and maintaining our absolute commitment to the welfare of our athletes.”

IOC President Jacques Rogge also addressed the conference, stressing the importance of the role played by International Federation Medical Commissions and their contribution to safety in sport.

More than 30 International Federations were represented at the meeting, which was opened by IOC Medical Commission Chairman, Professor Arne Ljungqvist. Dr Patrick Schamasch, who is retiring from his post as IOC Medical Director, took the opportunity to introduce his successor, Richard Budgett (GBR).

Peter Whitehead, Acting Chair of the FEI Medical Committee and Chief Medical Officer for the Olympic equestrian events at Greenwich Park, also addressed the conference yesterday, and spoke afterwards about the value of such gatherings. “This is the only meeting where sports medical commissions get together to compare their concerns and learn from each other. It’s a very valuable meeting,” he said.

The IOC is currently working on producing standardised injury surveillance for use by the different sports bodies. The FEI Medical Committee has been involved in discussions on this issue with the IOC over the past year.

(FEI) – The Greek hosts of the Balkan Dressage Championships welcomed five visiting nations to Athens, but kept hold of all of the gold medals on offer, as well as claiming all three individual medals in both the junior and senior championships.

Staged at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre, site of the equestrian events at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, the Balkan Dressage Championships ran alongside last month’s Balkan Jumping Championships, in which Greek riders also dominated.

While the Dressage Championships attracted a smaller field than the Jumping Championships, there were still 42 riders and horses from six nations to battle it out for the honours, so competition was hot.

Awarded top marks by four out of the five judges, Kyveli Tzortzaki led the home side to gold in the children’s team championship with the impressive six-year-old Hannoverian mare Highnessy Newland. This new partnership, which has only been together since the summer, then went on to take individual honours as well, with all five judges this time putting them in first. Next in line was team mate Vassiliki Voltairou with Chiron, who held on for silver by a slim margin from Lina Uzunhasan and Sjonie, members of the Turkish silver medal squad in the team championship.

While Turkey managed to gain a foothold on the podium in both of the children’s classes, it was a Greek whitewash in the junior and senior individual sections, with a trio of Greek amazons occupying all three steps in both divisions.

Elektra Stavrojianni and the Hannoverian mare Wendy claimed junior gold with a score of 70.950 percent, just holding off the challenge from Amaryllis Goulandris and Red Diamond. This year’s Greek champion, Fotini Georgitsou, took bronze with Kolliante after just missing out on 70 percent.

“My performance was not good on the first day, but I rode better on the next two days and I won,” Elektra Stavroyianni said after receiving her gold medal. “This is my first big success and first title since I started riding. The truth is I didn’t expect to win. My mare, Wendy, was fantastic, despite her 18 years!”

Another new partnership shone in the senior individual, when Kelly Sklavounos and the 13-year-old gelding Quanderas made their debut appearance in Greece a winning one to capture gold with a score of 72.050 percent. Once again it was an all Greek line-up for the medals, with Alexandra Alexopoulou claiming silver on her last ride on Marco Polo, who was retired after the championships, while Katerina Los, winner of the national senior title for 2012, took the bronze with Largos 22.

“This year’s Balkan Championships were the best I have ever experienced,” Kelly Sklavounos said after her win. “The competition was great in all categories and the atmosphere was amazing! As an athlete I would like to express my gratitude to all the volunteers and the Hellenic Equestrian Federation for organising such a great event! Most importantly I would like to thank my amazing horse, Quanderas, and my trainers Heike Hamel from the Hof Kasselmann Team and Eleni Myrat. Without them, none of this would have been possible.”

As there were not enough teams in the junior and senior divisions, these two classes were cancelled.

Greek chef d’equipe Emmanouella Moussama, was understandably thrilled with the way her riders had performed. “Hellas team is very happy with these many successes. Our riders have worked really hard during the summer and the results have more than justified their labours. As the team leader, I am very satisfied with the high performances and percentages and of course with the excellent organisation and the incredible support of the volunteers.”

The Greek chef d’equipe also thanked everyone who had officiated at the Championships, including the foreign judges – five-star judge Wojtek Markowski (POL), and four-star judges Nataliya Petukhova (BLR), Orsolya Hillier (HUN), Ilja Vietor (SVK) and Freddy Leyman (BEL) – the President of the Appeal Committee, three-star judge Fouad Hamoud (ALG), and the Technical Delegate, Mariette Withages (BEL).

The organisation of the Championships came in for plenty of compliments, including from the TD, Mariette Withages, who said at the medal ceremony: “I want to congratulate the organising committee. Despite the difficult economic conditions, it was one of the best championships I’ve attended.”

Results:
FEI Children Team Championship: GOLD – Greece (Highnessy Newland/Kyveli Tzortzaki, 71.034; Chiron/Vassiliki Voltairou, 68.586; Golden Eagle/Melina Zografou-Alexiou, 66.207; Helios d’un Soir/Lyda-Evdokia Anesti, 60,207), 205.827; SILVER – Turkey (Sjonie/Lina Uzunhasan, 68.276; Uvz/Pia-Alara Di Marci, 62.862; Asklepios/Defne Morova, 61.276; Phantastique/ Selen Akalin, 56.138), 192.414; BRONZE – Serbia (Quinta/Bojana Stojanov, 63.172; Arianna/Sara Poparic, 55.000; Szeplak Donci/Anja Markovic, 52.586), 170.758.

FEI Children Individual Championship Final: GOLD – Highnessy Newland/Kyveli Tzortzaki, GRE, 71.964; SILVER – Chiron/Vassiliki Voltairou, GRE, 68.250; BRONZE – Sjonie/Lina Uzunhasan, TUR, 67.893.

FEI Junior Individual Championship Final (Freestyle): GOLD – Wendy/ Elektra Stavrojianni (GRE), 70,950; SILVER – Red Diamond/Amaryllis-Aikaterini Goulandri (GRE), 70.175; BRONZE – Koliante/Fotini-Nepheli Georgitsou (GRE), 69.800.

FEI Senior Individual Championship Final (Freestyle): GOLD – Quanderas/Angela (Kelly) Sklavounos (GRE), 72.050; SILVER – Marco Polo/Alexandra Alexopoulou (GRE), 71.575; BRONZE – Largos 22/Katerina Los (GRE), 67.900.

Photo Courtesy of FEI – Greek gold-medal winning children’s team

(USEF) – Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has extended the bid process for the 2013 USEF Dressage Festival of Champions and is now accepting bids from East and West Coast venues. Competition in 2013 will again be held in six divisions; Grand Prix, Intermediaire I, Young Adult “Brentina” Cup, Young Rider, Junior and Pony Rider.

To request a bid packet please contact Jenny Van Wieren-Page at (859) 225-6949, or via email at jvanwieren@usef.org. Bids will be due in the office by the close of business Friday, November 2, 2012.

Lexington, KY (October 18, 2012) – The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) is pleased to announce that Michael Poulin an …

(Equestrian Australia) – Lyndal Oatley’s outing at the weekend’s Kaposvar CDI-W is one for the record books after the German based rider recorded a series of personal best scores to claim victory in both the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle.

Combining with her Olympic mount, the recently gelded 11 yo Sandro Boy, the pair scored a very smart 72.277% in Saturday’s Grand Prix and a 76.525% in Sunday’s GP Freestyle.

A new Freestyle routine to music from the Moulin Rouge movie is proving to be very successful for the combination and their result from the weekend will help their chances in making the World Cup Dressage Final which will be held in Goteburg (SWE) in April next year.

“I never thought I would hear the Australian national anthem and my name in the same phrase,” the German based rider told Dressage-news.com following her victory.

“I was totally overwhelmed and cried waterworks,” she added.

In other news, Oatley reported on her Facebook page that she has retired the 15-year-old Potifar after a diagnosis of cushings. Potifar was her partner at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.

Photo Courtesy of Equestrian Australia by Ken Braddick

(FEI) – Test events in four FEI disciplines will take place in 2013 and a further two in 2014 in preparation for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy.

The test events will run according to the following schedule:

Endurance –16 August at Sartilly
Eventing –16-18 August at Haras du Pin and Caen
Driving –22-25 August in Caen
Reining –20 October in Caen (Parc des expositions)

The test events in Jumping and Dressage will be held in June 2014.

“The Organising Committee and the FEI are working in close cooperation to stage the best possible test events and to deliver Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 of the highest quality,” FEI Secretary General Ingmar De Vos commented.

“Test events in six FEI disciplines will be organised and even though no specific test events will be held in Vaulting and Para Equestrian, all technical aspects will be examined to ensure the competitions in all the disciplines meet the same level of excellence.”

The Games’ Organising Committee has now confirmed that the Dressage and Cross Country phases of Eventing will take place at Haras du Pin and the final Jumping phase will be held at the main stadium – Stade Ornano – in Caen.

“Haras du Pin is renowned for the quality of its infrastructure and the FEI is very pleased that a plan that meets all our requirements regarding the best possible conditions to ensure horse welfare has been agreed to,” Ingmar De Vos added.

Looking ahead to the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2018, Rabat (MAR) has withdrawn from the bidding process.

“The sad passing of HRH Princess Lalla Amina has meant that the Moroccans have lost the driving force behind their bid to stage the FEI World Equestrian Games in 2018,” said Ingmar De Vos. “We have two strong bids from Canada and Austria for 2018, and we are hopeful that the Moroccans can regroup and put in a bid for 2022.”

Bromont (CAN) and Vienna (AUT) are still in the running to host the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in 2018. The host city will be selected by the FEI Bureau in the spring of 2013.

(FEI by Louise Parkes) – Double-Dutch champions Adelinde Cornelissen and her great gelding Parzival will head up a star-studded field for the opening leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2012/2013 series at Odense, Denmark next weekend.

The collection of early points on the road to the series Final that will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden next April, is always desirable. And while defending champion Cornelissen needs only to show that both she and her bright-chestnut horse are in competitive form, the partnership that claimed individual silver at this summer’s London Olympic Games will surely be the ones to beat. They will face strong opposition, however, from some of the other big names of this sport which continues its development, and dramatic growth in popularity, with every passing year.

Helen Langehanenberg (GER) was runner-up at the 2011/2012 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, last April. And Ground Jury President, Ghislain Fouarge, said that day that it was a very close call between the German rider who stood second and the winner, Cornelissen, whose degree of difficulty in the programme of movements selected for her Freestyle test gave her the advantage. Langehanenberg is also scheduled to line out at this weekend’s season-opener to the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage series in which riders compete in a preliminary Grand Prix to decide the order of go for the following day’s Freestyle which stands alone in deciding the end result.

The Freestyle Queen
For many years the queen of Freestyle was The Netherlands’ Anky van Grunsven who, with nine wins in the FEI World Cup™ Dressage series over a 13-year period that began in 2008, holds an extraordinary and unchallenged record. The last of those victories was celebrated on home soil at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2008 with Salinero who went on to take Olympic gold later that summer. This summer, Salinero and Van Grunsven competed together for the very last time before the stallion was retired at the end of the London Olympic Games in Greenwich Park. And it was an emotional experience for the 42-year-old rider who, in yet another of her many record-breaking career moments, had collected her ninth Olympic medal two days earlier when part of the bronze-medal-winning Dutch team.

The Dutch remain a powerful force, the most recent of Cornelissen’s victories bringing their tally to 12 FEI World Cup™ Dressage titles since the first, achieved by Anne-Grethe Jensen and Marzog, at the inaugural final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch back in 1986. And many of the new wave of German riders have adapted with surprising ease to the latest demands of the judging experts who are still looking for power and expression in the horses, but equally balanced with lightness, freedom of movement and a softer carriage.

Sparkling Form
None have demonstrated these attributes better than the British, who have been in sparkling form since rising to new heights at the FEI European Dressage Championships in Rotterdam (NED) last year. Their star performers didn’t take on Cornelissen at the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final last April, but with record-breaking achievements of their own they arrived in London for the Olympic Games full of hope and determination, and they swept almost all before them.

When the 2012/2012 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage series arrives in the British capital city in December for the fifth of the eight qualifying rounds in the Western European League season, there will be explosive excitement if new Olympic individual champion, Charlotte Dujardin, and her gold-medal-winning British team-mates Carl Hester and Laura Bechtolsheimer are in action. At 26 years of age, Dujardin demonstrates the key elements of softness and forward riding the judges are looking for, raising the bar for everyone else. She took over the No. 1 spot in the World Rankings last month from Cornelissen, who currently lies second ahead of Langehanenberg in third.

New Western European season
Before all that however the new Western European season will follow the opener at Odense with legs at Lyon in France, Stuttgart in Germany and Stockholm in Sweden. After the Olympia Christmas show in London there will be just three further chances to make the cut to the final – in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Neumunster in Germany and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.

Also vying for a place in Gothenburg next spring are competitors from the Central European, North American and Asian/Pacific Leagues. Such is the spread of this sport, and the expertise of those competing in it, that riders from as far afield as Australia have travelled their horses right across the globe to take their place amongst the stars.

Danish Olympians Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Anna Kasprzaks will be amongst those flying the host-nation flag next weekend, while last year’s Odense winners, Hans-Peter Minderhoud and Tango, will make a welcome return along with Dutch counterparts Edward Gal and Blue Hors Romanov.

It will be something of an Olympic reunion for many of the riders, including Swedish team members Tinne Vilhelmson, Minna Telde and Rose Mathisen.

Get ready for an exciting start to another super-charged Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage season…

Facts and Figures:
This is the 28th season of the FEI World Cup™ Dressage series, and the third season of sponsorship by New York fashion designer Reem Acra.

Ms Acra recently confirmed the extension of her sponsorship for another three-year period, bringing it up to 2016.

Reem Acra first put her name to the series at the start of the 2010/2011 season.

The most prolific winners of the FEI World Cup™ Dressage title have been the Dutch, with 12 victories.

9 of those wins were recorded by Anky van Grunsven who, with her star rides Bonfire and Salinero, enjoyed a winning spree that extended over a 13-year period, beginning in 2008.

Defending champion is London 2012 individual Olympic silver medallist and World No. 2 Adelinde Cornelissen from The Netherlands who, riding Parzival, also claimed the honours at the end of the 2010/2011 series.
Riders from four different leagues – Western European, Central European, North American and Asian/Pacific – compete in the FEI World Cup™ Dressage qualifying legs.

The 2012/2013 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Western European League will visit eight venues – Odense (DEN), Lyon (FRA), Stuttgart (GER), Stockholm (SWE), London Olympia (GBR), Amsterdam (NED), Neumunster (GER) and ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NED) before the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final which will take place in Gothenburg, Sweden from 24-28 April 2013.

Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2012/2013 Press Kit
Download the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2012/2013 press kit here.

FEI TV & Odense
Watch the action live on FEI TV on Sunday 21 October at 14.15 CEST (12.15 GMT)
Follow the action from Odense at http://worldcup-odense.dk/DK.aspx
View the complete Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Calendar at http://www.fei.org/reem-acra/reem-acra-fei-world-cup-dressage

Photo Courtesy of FEI by Kit Houghton – Defending champions, Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival, will be striving for their third consecutive Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage title in the 2012/2013 series which begins at Odense, Denmark next weekend.