Lexington, Kentucky – July 15, 2015 - The 2015 Adequan/FEI North American

Wentworth in Grade Ib; rider Kate Shoemaker (Glendale, Ariz.) and her own Pacifec M in Grade III; and Cambry Kaylor (Lehi, Utah) with her own Markgaards Donnewind in Grade Ib. This is the inaugural year for the Para-Dressage Championships scheduled July 14-19. The Team Test begins on July 16, at 1 PM, followed by the Individual Test on July 18, at 8 AM, and finally the Freestyle Test on July 19, at 8 AM. Two countries including the United States and Canada are participating in the unprecedented Championships with riders representing Grade Ia, Ib, II, III, and IV. The United States is led by Chef d’Equipe Kai Handt with coach Wes Dunham.

USPEA President Hope Hand commented, “We are so happy to have this opportunity to be included in this prestigious event and we are honored to be able to represent our country and to showcase our young riders in the sport of Para-Dressage.”

(Left to Right) U.S. Para-Dressage Young Rider Team including Chef d’ Equipe Kai Handt with horse Wentworth and rider Sydney Collier, Kate Shoemaker with her own Pacifec M, Cambry Kaylor with her own Margaards Donnewind, and coach Wes Dunham.  Photo courtesy of Tina Wentz

July 16, 2015 11:36

British Dressage

July 15, 2015

By Phelps Media Group, Inc./USEF

Lexington, Ky. - Tuesday evening’s Opening Ceremonies marked the exciting start of the 2015 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC). The Organizing Committee is pleased to announce that 222 entries are set to compete in the championships, which run July 14-19 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.

Tuesday’s dressage horse inspection (SusanJStickle.com)

Of the 76 riders set to compete in the USDF/Platinum Performance North American Junior and Young Rider Dressage Championship, 41 will vie for medals in Young Rider competition, with 35 lining up in the Junior championship. Teams will be competing from nine regions of the United States, from Mexico, and from the Canadian territories of Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, British Columbia/Quebec, and British Columbia/Alberta.

In the USHJA North American Junior and Young Rider Show Jumping Championship, 27 Young Riders and 46 Juniors compose the Individual competition. A Canadian team, two Mexican teams, and nine American teams will look to secure Team medals in Junior competition, with a Canadian team and eight American teams lining up in the Young Rider Championship.

Two Canadian and nine U.S. teams are set to go in the USEA North American Junior Eventing Championship. Four individual riders will stake their claim on Young Rider excellence in the CCIYR2*.

A field of 16 riders is set to race in the North American Young Rider Endurance Championship, with one Canadian and three U.S. teams composing team competition.

New to NAJYRC this year, the North American Young Rider Para-Dressage Championship has a U.S. and a Canadian team, with 6 individuals hoping to claim top honors.

Stay connected with all the action at the 2015 NAJYRC at usefconnect.com/najyrc.

To learn more about the Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North visit: www.youngriders.org/.

Tune in to the USEF Network starting at 7:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, July 18 to see the live stream of these rising stars in the sport.

July 14, 2015
Maurice D. Ewing

A Hunter on course at the Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show (Blowing Charity Horse Show Foundation)

Final preparations are underway for the arrival of 500 horses and 2,000 riders, trainers, owners and attendants at the 92nd Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show.  The action begins at 8AM on July 21 with the first of two shows held from July 21 to 26 and the second from July 29 to August 2.  Begun in 1923 along a dirt road on Green Hill in Blowing Rock, this iconic horse show has been held each summer since without missing a single year.  It has been located at the same historic L. M. Tate Show Grounds since 1925.

Escaping the blistering summer heat off the mountain, the Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show has become a prime summer destination for the finest competitive hunters and jumpers in the country.  This year horses and riders from 17 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming are entered for this year’s 92nd consecutive show.

Exhibitors will find new show barns which replace two aging buildings, and for spectators, along with the spirited competition, there will be over a dozen vendors offering a unique shopping opportunity for items from fine jewelry and original equine art to riding gear and tacos.

Also new this year, the show will feature an innovative class for young horses just beginning their competitive careers.  These beginning champions will compete in the Blowing Rock Future Hunter Stake for horses 7 years old and under that have never shown over fences higher than 3 feet six inches.  Riders will be chasing the winner’s share of $10,000 in prize money.  The Future Hunter Stake will run on Saturday afternoon August 1.  Spectators will want to stay for the big guys as seasoned hunter champions chase a coveted victory in the $15,000 Blowing Rock Hunter Derby.  The Derby follows the Future Hunter Stake on Saturday afternoon.   Thrilling Jumper classes are scheduled for both weekends so check the Time Schedule at:

Week One: http://blowingrockhorses.com/bre/files/2013/04/BRCHS-2015-Week-1-Schedule.pdf
Week Two:  http://blowingrockhorses.com/bre/files/2013/04/BRCHS-2015-Week-2-Schedule.pdf

A comprehensive Spectator Guide can be found at: http://blowingrockhorses.com/blowing-rock-charity-horse-show/spectator-guide/.
The shows are held at The Blowing Rock Equestrian Preserve in Broyhill Park on Laurel Lane.  Admission is only $10 a day with children under 12 free.  All gate proceeds go to Blowing Rock Rotary Club charitable projects and the Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show Foundation which contributes generously to many charitable organizations and is responsible for preserving the century-long tradition of horse sports in Blowing Rock.

July 13, 2015
Christy Egan

Albuquerque, N.M. - By the time summer makes its appearance across the upper Midwestern United States, the entire Arabian horse younger set is looking forward to the Youth National Championships. Held in Albuquerque, New Mexico for one final year before a 2016 move to Oklahoma City, this 23rd edition of the championship show will run from Saturday, July 18th through Saturday, July 25th at Expo, New Mexico.  Entries for the all-youth show in recent years have been running around 800 horses, though most of these noble purebred and Half-Arabian equines wear diverse gear in numerous divisions as mounts for two or more youngsters. Classes run from 8 am well into darkness daily.  Judges are divided into four three-judge panels, plus Dressage and Cutting. Fabulous rose blankets and large, silver trophies are given to the Champion and Reserve Champion riders and handlers. There are over 150 classes at the 2015 Arabian Youth National Show, including competition in English, Western, Working Western, Hunter, Show Hack, Side Saddle, Jumping, Trail, Harness and Halter. Among these varied divisions are 10 brand new classes in 2015 for English Trail, Sport Horse Show Hack, Sport Horse Under Saddle, and five new classes for Reining competition.

There is a Youth Convention and Judging School Seminar plus Q and A on the first weekend of the show. There are always many seminars and parties, planned and unplanned, dog races and a Regional Golf Cart parade. There are pink flamingoes that just suddenly appear all over tack rooms, and the hot New Mexico weather provides plenty of opportunity for outdoor fun, including ice cream socials and water fights … did we mention the water fights? Visitors and their families will enjoy some occasional time off from the show by soaking up Albuquerque’s Southwest ambiance and dining at local Mexican restaurants in Old Town. They’ll ride the Sandia Peak Tramway up the nearby mountains and see 400-year-old Santa Fe, a not-to-be-missed journey just an hour’s drive north.

The Arabian Youth National Championship is a very modern, computer age show, as befits the average age of those in attendance. You can follow it by watching the daily broadcast on your laptop, I-Pad or I-Phone onwww.ArabianHorseGlobal.com. Simulcasts are planned with www.usefnetwork.com during the magical final Friday and Saturday evening sessions, July 24th and 25th. If you are in Albuquerque, visit the AHA #Blueroom across from the AHYA booth in Commercial Exhibits.  Or elsewhere around the world, follow the action on Instagram @arabianhorseyouth, Twitter @AHYneigh or Facebook #ahaYNL15 too.

Lausanne (SUI), 14 July 2015

Photo Caption: On the podium after today’s individual Dressage final at the Pan-American Games 2015 in Toronto, Canada: (L to R) Laura Graves (USA) silver, Steffen Peters (USA) gold, and Chris von Martels (CAN) bronze. (FEI/StockImageServices.com)

DOUBLE-GOLD AND INDIVIDUAL SILVER FOR USA IN PAN-AMERICAN GAMES DRESSAGE

by Louise Parkes

America’s Steffen Peters and Laura Graves today added individual gold and silver to the team title secured on Sunday at the Pan-American Games 2015 in Toronto, Canada where the host nation’s Chris von Martels scooped individual bronze this afternoon.

The result is a sensational fifth consecutive Pan-American team victory for the Americans, bringing their tally to eight team and nine individual Dressage titles in the 64-year history of the event, and earning a team berth at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

And it was a back-to-back double of individual gold for Peters who, although he didn’t surpass the Pan-American Games record score of 80.132 which he set at Guadalajara in Mexico four years ago with Weltino’s Magic, came close when posting 80.075 for today’s individual win with Legolas.

Team competition

The Americans took the lead from the outset of the team competition and held on for gold, but the host Canadians chased them all the way to the line to claim silver, while Brazil just pipped Mexico for the bronze. Results were combined from two days of mixed Small and Big Tour competition that began with Prix St George and Grand Prix last Saturday (11 July), and only teams with Grand Prix combinations were eligible for the single Olympic berth on offer so only USA, Canada, Mexico and Brazil were in that race.

US stalwart, Steffen Peters, posted the biggest Grand Prix score of the day with Legolas at 77.240, and when added to Laura Graves’ 75.080 with Verdades, and Kimberly Herslow’s 75.184 in the Prix St George the first-day US tally was 230.504. Three scores from each team were taken into account, so Sabine Schut-Kery and Sanceo’s 71.790 in the the Prix St George was the team discard.

However the Canadians were hot on their heels when Brittany Fraser and All In scored 76.105 and Chris Von Martels and Zilverstar posted 75.026. Of the Canadian Big Tour pairs it was Belinda Trussell and Anton who scored highest with 74.949, Megan Lane and Caravella awarded 72.400 for the discard. And going into Sunday’s decider Canada trailed the USA by just 4.433 points while the three-member Mexican side of Jesus Palacios (Wizard Banamex), Jose Padilla (Donnersberg) and Bernadette Pujals (Heslegaards Rolex) lay only 0.203 points ahead of Brazil’s Joao Paulo Dos Santos (Veleiro do Top), Sarah Waddell (Donelly 3), Joao Victor Marcari Oliva (Xama dos Pinhais) and Leandro Aparecido da Silva (D Caprio).

Plenty of pressure

There was plenty of pressure as the action got underway on Sunday in the Intermediare 1 and FEI Grand Prix Special, but the Americans stood firm, bolstered by personal-best scores from both Graves in the Special and Herslow in the Intermediare 1, and backed up by Peters‘ 72.667 while Schut-Kery posted 73.533. Their final tally of 460.506 moved them just over 5.5 points ahead of the Canadians to secure the gold at the end of the day, while the Brazilians leap-frogged the Mexicans for the bronze.

US Chef d’Equipe, Robert Dover, said his team’s great result “showed that our Small Tour horses are beautifully trained and our Big Tour combinations showed why they are ranked seventh and eighth in the world right now. What could be better for a Chef d’Equipe than to bring a a team and have them earn personal bests at a very important moment. Having earned qualification for the Olympic Games, it allows us to now focus and put our energy into preparing for Rio (2016 Olympic Games).”

Graves, whose meteoric rise to prominence only began in the lead-up to last summer’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy where she sensationally finished tenth individually with Verdades, was delighted with her personal-best 77.177 in the Grand Prix Special. “He was amazing out there, really on again today!” she said of her horse. “He loves Toronto!” Graves and Verdades and Peters and Legolas were key players in the US team that lined up fourth in Normandy behind the three European powerhouses of Germany, Great Britain and The Netherlands who earned the three Olympic berths on offer there.

Paid tribute

Steffen Peters paid tribute to the silver medallists. “The Canadians did a wonderful job. They rode extremely well and gave us quite the run – it wasn’t easy!” he said.

Canada’s Belinda Trussell, an Olympian and three-time competitor at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ who was lining out in her first Pan American Games said, after scoring 76.578 in the Grand Prix Special, “I think, for Canada, that this Games has pushed us to a new level. To be coming away (from the team event) with nothing below 70 per cent, and highlights of 76 per cent, has never been done. It’s really exciting for Canada. We are so pumped as a nation, and pumped to go forward to the next Games. We are international contenders – there is huge excitement!” she added.

Individual medals

And the excitement continued today when a total of 21 horse-and-rider combinations lined out to contest the individual medals. Of these, 17 performed Intermediare 1, while the final four Big Tour partnerships performed the Freestyle.

With just six left to go, von Martels and Zilverstar rocketed to the top of the leaderboard with a percentage score of 79.500 for his Intermediare test. Judge at M, Great Britain’s Stephen Clarke, awarded 81.500 and at judge at H, America’s Lilo Fore, awarded 80.750, and all five Ground Jury members put the Canadian temporarily into first place.

The 32-year-old rider from Ontario held on to the advantage until overtaken by Peters and Legolas who posted the first, and only, over-80 per cent score when third-last into the arena. Fore, Clarke and Ground Jury President Elizabeth McMullan chose this pair for the no. 1 spot this time around, setting the new target at 80.075. And when, last to go, 27-year-old Graves and Verdades collected 79.825 they scooped silver and pinned von Martels and Zilverstar back to bronze. It was an extremely close-fought affair, with only 0.575 separating the three medal-winners.

After Sunday’s Grand Prix Special, Peters admitted to having some issues in the execution of his test, but today he put all that behind him and came out once again with all guns blazing. “I’m still on cloud nine!” he said, shortly after the prizegiving.

A good job

“On Sunday Legolas did a good job but I didn’t do my best riding job, so I wanted to prove today that Legolas deserves to be one of top horses in the world. I gave it every bit of my strength and he produced a wonderful clean test. And on top of that he allowed me to be within a tenth of a second to the music so we had high artistic scores” he explained.

“This season we have had a few ups and downs, so to finish so strong in the last test of the season – I can hardly describe how I feel right now!” he added. Asked about team-mate Laura Graves’ close silver-medal finish, Peters continued, “I knew before the competition today that it would be awfully close. I saw her doing a beautiful clean test, so the tension to last second today was quite something. I have to admit I got very emotional when Legolas was called out the winner!”

And the 50-year-old rider was quick to refer back to his US team-mates and the success they have achieved over the last few days. “Let’s not forget that every single rider, including the fourth horse contributed to the team gold medal. There was a combination of drop scores, so everyone did their job, and it is a fantastic group of people – all good-hearted athletes. It’s quite something to win with wonderful friends you almost have to call family!” he said.

Result:
Teams:  GOLD - USA 460.506: Sanceo (Sabine Schut-Kery) 71.790;73.553, Rosmarin (Kimberly Herslow) 75.184/77.158, Verdades (Laura Graves) 76.580/78.677, Legolas 92 (Steffen Peters) 71.790/72.667; SILVER - Canada 454.938: Zilverstar (Chris von Martels) 75.026/76.210, Brittany Fraser (All In) 76.105/76.079, Caravella (Megan Lane) 72.400/72.892, Belinda Trussell (Anton) 74.940/76.578; BRONZE - Brazil 414.895: Di Caprio (Leandro da Silva) 69.474/69.026, Sarah Waddell) 65.632/67.184, Xama dos Pinhais (Joao Victor Marcari Oliva) 69.184/69.211, Veleiro do Top (Joao Paolo dos Sanctos) 67.842/70.158.

Individual: GOLD – Legolas 92 (Steffen Peters) USA 80.075; SILVER – Verdades (Laura Graves) USA 79.825; BRONZE – Zilverstar (Chris von Martels) CAN 79.500.

Facts and Figures:

Victory in the team competition has secured a qualifying spot for the USA at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

This was another record-breaking performance from the Americans who already held the record for four consecutive team victories, and have now increased that to five.

16 nations were represented in Dressage at the 17th Pan-American Games while 10 countries fielded teams.

The Ground Jury consisted of: Hans Matthiesen DEN, Stephen Clarke GBR, Maribel Alonso MEX, Elizabeth McMullan CAN (President) and Lilo Fore USA.

A total of 21 horse-and-rider combinations competed for the individual medals.

The list of teams so far qualified in Dressage for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games now includes, Brazil (automatic qualification), Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands (placings at Alltech FEI World Equestiran Games™ 2014 in Normandy), Australia (best ranked team from Olympic Group F or G at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy), and USA (single qualifier from Pan-American Games 2015 in Toronto, Canada).

Countries can also qualify “composite” teams. For full details of Olympic DRESSAGE qualification opportunities, and list of teams, check out this link

The next major Olympic qualification opportunity is at the forthcoming FEI European Championships in Aachen, Germany, 11-23 August 2015, where 3 further places are on offer.

History: Argentina staged the very first Pan American Games from 25 February to 9 March 1951 in its capital, Buenos Aires. A total of 22 countries took part, with four – Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico – competing in the three equestrian events. Just three riders from Argentina and Chile lined out in the Dressage discipline, with Chile taking team gold as well as individual gold and bronze. Individual champion was Jose Larrain with Rappel. At this 17th Pan American Games 64 years later, Argentina finished fifth, behind Mexico, in the Dressage team event on a score of 201.016.

Find out more about the Pan-American Games 2015 here and check out the program of events here. Results are available here.

This year, the “Silver Camera” for the best equestrian sport photo will be awarded jointly by the Sparkasse Aachen, the Rheinischer Sparkassen- & Giroverband and the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein e.V.  (ALRV) during the FEI European Championships Aachen 2015.

The jury, comprising of Michael Strauch (photographer), Ludo Philippaerts (Belgian show-jumper and Springreiter and many-time Olympic Games participant), Andreas Müller (Managing Director, Zeitungsverlag Aachen), Erich Timmermanns (Advertising & PR Director, Sparkasse Aachen) and Frank Kemperman (Chairman of the ALRV), were faced with the difficult task of selecting the nominees from among 114 entries by photographers from all over the world.

“It was an incredibly difficult decision. The quality of the submitted entries is exceptionally high,” commented Frank Kemperman. The following were nominated for the “Silver Camera” (in alphabetical order): Christophe Bricot (France), Leanjo de Koster (the Netherlands) and Peter Nixon (Great Britain). The winner will be announced in the Main Stadium on Saturday evening, August 22^nd, after the Sparkasse-Youngsters-Cup (approx. 8 p.m.). The winner will receive EUR 2,500 in prize-money, EUR 1,000 will be awarded for second place and EUR 500 for third place.

www.aachen2015.de