(British Dressage) -The young Sports Pony Studbook Society (SPSS) passported and British-bred stallion WFS Top Red (Top Yellow x Pilgrims Red) proved that he was well named when he was declared 2012 Champion at the third annual Young Dressage Pony Championships on the 30th September.

Four year old Top Red (pictured) was bred by Yvonne Wood and Sarah Steggall, who now owns him with Elaine Coleridge Smith. Top Red carries successful performance lines on both side of his pedigree, his sire and damsire both being German “Bundeschampions” and his sire also competed as an international dressage pony. Top Red was backed and produced by Alice Perry of Windmill Farm; however, as Alice had a second four year old entered, her trainer, Linsay Coleridge Smith, competed Top Red on the day. Alice did present Top Red at the previous day’s SPSS stallion grading where he was also Champion. German grading judge, Hans-Heinrich Bruening, said he considered Top Red to be a “top pony stallion” and also a “prospective international dressage pony” and this proved prophetic when Top Red became the 2012 Young Dressage Pony Champion. Top Red not only gained the highest score recorded in the three years that this championship has been running but is also the first Champion to be British-bred. Showing how British Sports Pony breeding is improving, the next three ponies in the overall results were also British born and bred.

The Young Dressage Pony Reserve Champion was LE Chiffre (Caesar 171 x Donnerwetter), a five year old SPSS passported and graded stallion bred by Beverley Brown and owned and ridden by her daughter Samantha. LE Chiffre’s sire, the SPSS Elite graded Caesar 171, is a past Pony European Championships Dressage Team medallist and a popular sire. Indeed, four of the ponies entered for the dressage classes were by Caesar. 2012 has been a great year for LE Chiffre. In his first year of competing, he has won both Elementary and Medium classes and qualified for the British Dressage National Championships at Elementary Open level where, ridden by Becky Moody, he was the only entrant under 16hh and one of only two five year olds.

Third placed overall was another five year old pony, the British bred gelding Johnny Cash, ridden by Fern Roach and owned by Noah Springall. Johnny is a SHB(GB) registered pony by The Bay Briar (TB) out of Macy Gray (New Forest) and was bred by Mrs C Springall. In 2011, as a four year old, Johnny was Reserve Champion ridden by Phoebe Peters as Fern, who had been producing Johnny as an event pony, broke her collar bone two weeks before the show. That Phoebe and Johnny did so well when Phoebe had only ridden him a few times was testament to Fern’s work and it was great that Fern was fit and able to present him herself in 2012. A versatile all rounder, Johnny Cash also competed at the P(UK) Burghley Event Pony Championships with Fern in 2012 and with her older sister Poppy deputising in 2011. As Fern is too old for ponies at the end of the year, the ride on Johnny is being taken over by her younger sister, Jasmine, and they are entered in the SPSS Young Eventing & Jumping Pony Championships at the end of October.

Top Six Year Old Pony was the SPSS graded stallion, Rosewater I Claudius. “Claud” is owned by his breeders, Rosewater Stud’s mother & daughter team, Sarah Eberle and Lucy Northcott and was ridden by Samantha Brown. Samantha used compete Claud’s sire, the SPSS Elite graded dressage pony, Caesar 171 and is currently producing Claud for his owners. It is hoped that a suitable pony rider will be identified for him through the new mentoring programme, The Equine Sports Academy (T.E.S.A).

Special mention goes to the youngest rider at the competition, 11 year old Emma Bond. Emma was third in the 4 Year Old section riding her mother, Jane Bond’s, pure bred Morgan gelding, Monnington Fresco. Bred by Monnington Morgans, Fresco is by the multiple World Champion Morgan, HVK Bell Flaire out of Monnington Artiste (by Monnington Verdi). Emma has backed and brought on Fresco herself with the help of her trainer, the late Laura Fry. This competition was the first time that Emma had competed without Laura’s help and all agreed that she did very well in a class in which the majority were adult and professional riders.

The SPSS is very grateful for the support of British Dressage, which kindly donated vouchers to the highest scoring pony in each age group; Wish Bands who kindly donated a beaded browband to the Reserve Champion and discount vouchers to all competitors; the judges, Jennie Loriston-Clarke MBE and Rachel Hillier; and Bury Farm who hosted the event.

Full results from the event can be found on the SPSS website – www.sportpony.org.uk/dressage

Photo Courtesy of British Dressage by Hannah Owen

(Equine Canada) – Dressage Canada is pleased to announce that, at the request of the Dressage Canada Board, Sarah Bradley has been reappointed as the Chair of the Dressage Canada Board (DCB) by the Sport Council Working Group.

Bradley, of Roberts Creek, British Columbia, has been named as Chair until January 1, 2014. Bradley was first appointed Interim Chair in April 2012. Options for filling the Chair position for 2014 and beyond will be discussed at the Dressage Canada Board meeting in November. Decisions related to this will be announced after this meeting.

“I am thrilled to be able to continue working with the keen, dedicated group of current DCB members,” said Bradley. “I am honoured to be asked to continue as Chair, and look forward to the next 16 months.”

Bradley brings a wealth of experience to the position. In recent years, she has served as a Director on the Equine Canada Board, President of Horse Council BC, President of Horse Trials BC and Chair of Equine Canada Provinces Council. She is currently Chair of Equine Canada’s Bylaws and Governance Committee, which is undertaking a review of Equine Canada’s bylaws.

As of January 2013, Dressage Canada will enact its new governance system, a transition that began in early 2011, and will result in the Dressage Canada Board being wholly populated by the chairs of its various committees.

2013 Dressage Canada Board
Wendy Christoff – Chair, Coaching Committee
Joanna Crilly – Chair, Rules Committee
MH Lessard – Chair, Competitions Committee
Joan Macartney – Chair, Officials Committee
Nancy MacLachlan- Athlete Council Representative
Chris Von Martels – Athlete Council Representative
Kristy Nahirniak – Chair, Development Committee
Gina Smith – Chair, High Performance Committee
Henna Hussain – Chair, Youth High Performance Committee
Michael Horgan – Chair, Finance and Fundraising Committee

By Lynndee Kemmet – Borné Saddlery’s motto is “Feel the Fit” and “fit” is exactly what one gets with a Borné saddle. It’s a fit so perfect that I can say from experience that this is one saddle that offers stability with no movement front to back or side to side. And if it feels that good for the rider, imagine how it must feel for the horse. That perfect fit reflects the true craftsmanship of a Borné.

Each Borné saddle is handcrafted in Scotland by Andy Sankey, a Qualified Master Saddler trained through the Society of Master Saddlers in the UK. It’s a title that took him nearly 10 years to earn in a process that included spending three years working under another Master Saddler. Sankey seemed born to become a master saddler. His father was in the tannery business so Sankey grew up around leather and came to love the smell and feel of it.

“When I was in school I went to a career advisor. I knew I wanted to work with my hands and asked what’s the hardest to do? I was told a saddle maker and a watchmaker. The only place to really make money making watches was in Switzerland. I loved working with leather so I decided to become a saddle maker,” Sankey said.

Sankey is one of a dwindling number of true craftsmen saddle makers. Unlike many modern saddle manufacturers, he still works from a cobbler-type shop at home filled with leather, saddle trees and all the other material needed to build a saddle from the ground up, which he does. While many saddle makers have gone to using laser cutters and other modern technology, Sankey still uses cutting boards and hand tools. With the help of one young apprentice, he makes one saddle at a time from start to finish, which he says is the only way to insure quality control in every step. “If you do more than one at a time, you tend to make loads of mistakes. I’m passionate about my saddles and my work. I believe that if I have to cut corners to make money than I’d rather not do the job.”

There are multiple unique features to the Borné saddles produced by Sankey, all of which contribute to the beautiful fit of a Borné. One is that Borné saddles are built with a variety of trees. There are actually more than 300 tree styles but most saddle manufacturers use only two or three in their designs, said Karen Borné. “We have nearly a dozen different dressage trees for our saddles and that’s unheard of in the dressage world,” she said. “When you use only a few trees to produce your saddles then what you really are is a custom option saddle manufacturer, not a real custom saddle maker. Everything we do is custom. We don’t have a single saddle that is pre-made and that includes our semi-custom Journey line of saddles. We don’t have an inventory. Everything Andy does is from scratch. Nothing is outsourced.”

A second feature that makes a Borné saddle unique when it comes to fit is that Sankey designs saddles to fit horses based on movement. What matters, Sankey says, is not how the saddle fits when a horse is stationary but rather how it fits while the horse is in motion. When building a jumping saddle, Sankey looks at how a horse moves coming into the jump, going over the jump and landing after the jump, for example.

“For a dressage saddle, I’m interested in how the horse moves and the way the dressage rider wants the horse to go in and out of transitions. I admit this is a constant learning process for me and I spend time studying conformation and movement. I want a saddle that allows the horse to be free in his body as he comes in and out of the various movements. And also, in dressage, communication between horse and rider is so important. The saddle cannot interfere with that communication.”

Sankey says that “within a mile of my horse there must be about 300 horses” and he gets their riders to test out different styles of saddle trees. This helps him experiment with how different trees impacts different types of horses and their way of going. “I’m always looking for improvements that will help the horse move better because before you can fit a saddle on a horse, you have to pick the right tree. A tree, even though it flexes, is still the rigid part around which the rest of the saddle is built.”

Another unique feature of the Borné saddles designed by Sankey is that they are traditional wool flocked panels. In the effort to be different or “technologically advanced” many saddle manufacturers have gone to other materials such as latex foam. Sankey believes that traditional material of choice for craftsmen saddlers – wool – is still best. “Wool flocking will decompress to fit the contour of the horse’s back creating a much more correct and comfortable fit,” he said.
Karen Borné says that one of the biggest challenges in marketing saddles is educating riders in terms of what is best for their horses. Riders know what they like when they sit in a saddle, but ultimately, what is best is that the saddle fit the horse and rider together. As an example, riders often like saddles with a deep seat, which is relatively easy to get with a saddle designed for a horse with a more curved back.

“But if you buy a horse with a straight and, or, flat back you can’t have the deep seat without it rocking and making the horse’s back sore,” Sankey said. “One reason many horses don’t have good extended walks is because they don’t want to elevate their backs because the tree rails are not the correct shape. If you have the wrong tree for that horse and he comes up against an uncomfortable rail when he elevates his back, then he’ll shorten his back again and you won’t get the extension.”

Although the focus of a Borné saddle is correct fit for the horse, Karen Borné’s belief is that when the saddle is right for the horse, the rider will know it – in other words, they’ll “feel the fit.”

(FEI) – George Lane Fox (GBR), founder of the Bramham International Horse Trials, died peacefully at home on 9 October.

He was the ninth generation of his family to live at Bramham Park in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, where he started the Bramham International Horse Trials in 1973.

The Bramham International Horse Trials have kick-started the careers of many world-famous Eventers, and every year the CIC and CCI 3-star events attract a large number of home-grown and international athletes.

This year, the trials were the last chance for many athletes to qualify for the Olympics, and the competition was extended to an extra 100 entrants after rain led to the cancellation of two other important UK equestrian events. Athletes from 12 nations on four continents battled it out in the beautiful Bramham Park estate alongside William Fox-Pitt (GBR) who took both the CIC and CCI 3-star titles with Neuf Des Coeurs and Chilli Morning.

George Lane Fox’s eldest son, Nick said: “I will always remember Dad taking me, as a boy, to choose trees to turn into his cross-country fences and I’ll keep a picture in my mind of him sitting at the marquee door, greeting every guest, at the Bramham Cocktail Party. His tenacity in keeping the horse trials going for the first 10 years, when it cost him money, is an example to me and everybody else.”

To read the obituary to George Lane Fox on the Bramham International Horse Trials website, please click here.

The FEI expresses its sincere condolences to George Lane Fox’s family, to British Eventing, the British Equestrian Federation and the international equestrian community.

The funeral will be held in All Saints Church, Bramham at 11.30am on Wednesday 17th October.

Photo Courtesy of FEI

(USEF) – Lexington, KY – Anne Gribbons, the Technical Advisor to the U.S. Dressage Team since December 2009, has informed the USEF she does not wish to be considered for the position after her contract expires November 30, 2012.

“It has been a privilege and my pleasure to spend the past three years working with the greatest of our American dressage athletes,” stated Gribbons. “I wish them all the best of luck and much success in the future.”

Gribbons served as Technical Advisor to the U.S. Dressage Team at three international championships during her tenure with the USEF. At the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Gribbons guided the U.S. to a fourth place team finish and assisted Steffen Peters in winning two Individual Bronze medals with Four Winds Farm’s Ravel. At the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico the U.S. Dressage Team had a historic medal sweep of all three Individual medals in addition to winning Team Gold. In the summer of 2012, Gribbons led the U.S. to a sixth place finish at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

“Anne brought a clear vision to the position, especially regarding the need for developing programs and how they should fit together into a pipeline. Her impact will be felt for a long time to come as we continue to develop those programs,” said George Williams, Chairman of the High Performance Dressage Committee and President of the United States Dressage Federation. “The elite riders benefited from her unique perspective as a rider, trainer and international judge. Anne’s hard work, commitment and enthusiasm will be missed.”

A meeting of Eligible Athletes is being planned in the coming months to discuss the future of U.S. Dressage.

The U.S. Equestrian Team has announced that Jane Forbes Clark has resigned as president and CEO. Clark gave as her reason the fact that she has chosen to British Olympic show jumper Ben Maher to take over the ride on some of her horses. With Maher on top, there is the possibility that one of Clark’s horses might one day be representing Great Britain. Clark said she did not want any appearance of conflict of interest if one of her horses were to represent Britain while she is president of the U.S. Equestrian Team.

Clark has long been a huge financial contributor to USET and said she plans to continue supporting the organization. She also plans to continue supporting U.S. riders, as well as Maher. Dressage rider Katherine Bateson-Chandler is one of her sponsored riders.

Lexington, KY – Anne Gribbons, the Technical Advisor to the U.S. Dressage Team since December 2009, has informed the USEF she …