By British Dressage.

Deauville proved a happy hunting ground for British riders last weekend in France, none more so than Daniel Sherriff who claimed his hat-trick of French Freestyle wins with his own Bayford Hall Dallaglio. Plus, inform Zoe Sleigh added to her impressive 2013 prize haul with a win at Inter II.

Daniel was competing in the big tour classes alongside Kay Maxted who had a private invite to the show. In the prelimnary grand prix, Daniel finished eighth on a score of 66.66% with the Laurentianer-sired stallion with Kay in 24^th on her own Privaldi with 63.128%. The two then went their separate ways as Kay elected to do the Special, Daniel the Freestyle.

Kay and the Gribaldi gelding clearly enjoyed the challenge of the Special and bettered their GP score by nearly three percent to rise up the order to fourth overall on 65.938%.

Daniel is becoming something of a freestyle specialist and Saturday’s victory is the pairing’s fourth dancing win in a year, all with 70%+ scores, and his third on French soil, having won at Vierzon and Pompadour last year.   They posted 72.5% to take the €1000 prize. Second went to European Championship bound Roland Tong for Ireland and Pompidou on 72.175% with Dutch combination Jonna Schelstraete and Liebling II third with 70.2%.

In the small tour, it was Alex Hardwick who was best of the British contingent with mum Sally’s Calvin G, whom she partnered at last year’s Young Rider European Championships.  In the Prix St Georges, Zoe Sleigh was our top rider with Christine Sleigh’s Fantastic Light on 67.158% in seventh with Alex and the Contendro-sired gelding just 0.1% behind in eighth on 67.158%. Alex was 11^th with her second ride Donauwein while Lucy Fallen and Nurejev were 12^th on 66.079%. Up a level to the Inter I on Saturday and Alex really upped her game with Calvin G and rode a great round to score just shy of 70% which put them fourth. Lucy also bettered her performance with 69.184% to rise up the placings to fifth. Zoe ended 12^th with Fantastic Light on 67.605%. The trio really let fly in the freestyle and all scored 70%+. Alex and ‘Casper’ lead the way with 73.2% for a place on the podium in third. Lucy was one percent behind with 72.24% to finish fourth and Zoe fifth on 70.175%. A great showing by three riders, all aged under 25!

Zoe was also in action in the U25 CDI and although the classes were small with just four combinations, they were certainly competitive! In the Inter II, Zoe scored a win with Rhodez, owned by her mum Christine, with 67.216%. Dutch rider Romy Peijen was second with Rex on 66.324 with Bobby Hayler third with Paul Hayler’s Aldborough Rubinhall. In the U25 grand prix, it was all change in the placings with Kim Huizer (NED) going from last to first aboard Oxford with 66.909%. Romy was second with Zoe and the De Niro-sired Rhodez third on 64.955% but this was one of their first tests at this level. Bobby Hayler and the lovely grey Aldborough Rubinhall were fourth with 62.977%.

by: FEI

The definite entries for the Blue Hors FEI European Dressage Championships and the JYSK FEI European Para-Dressage Championships are now finalised, with 20 countries confirming their participation in both disciplines.

The ECCO FEI European Championships, which take place in Herning (DEN) from August 20 to 25, will be the first European Championships to host Para-Dressage alongside Dressage and Jumping.

The Dressage start list will have a total of 69 riders, with 15 National Federations entering full teams. The countries bidding for team medals are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Five nations will be represented by individuals: Armenia, Ireland, Poland, Russia and Ukraine.

Great Britain took its first team gold at the 2011 Championships in Rotterdam (NED), where home favourite Adelinde Cornelissen took the two individual titles when winning both the Grand Prix Special and Freestyle.

The start list for Para-Dressage has 62 riders from 20 countries. A total of 12 nations will field full teams: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Russia. The eight National Federations sending individuals are Belarus, Czech Republic, Israel, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden.

At the 2011 Championships in Moorsele (BEL), Great Britain won eight of the 11 gold medals on offer, including the team title, with only Pepo Puch (AUT), Hannelore Brenner (GER) and Stinna Kaastrup (DEN) preventing a British whitewash.

Lexington, KY (July 24, 2013) – The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) is pleased to announce that Region 6 Young Ri …

By; Equestrian Australia

WEG Organising Committee, Tuesday, 23 July 2013

On Friday 19 July 2013, the countdown for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy displayed the round number of D – 400 before the event starts. That equates to a little over 13 months. In the meantime though, it’s’s proving to be a busy summer for the event’s organising committee, commencing with the official opening of the cross country course at Le Pin National Stud last Friday. Topping the current jobs list is the first phase of putting tickets on sale, the recruiting of volunteers and the coordinating of accommodation on offer to future visitors. We see the proof in facts and figures.

85,000: the number of places already purchased since the ticket office opened on 6 June 2013! This figure groups together the 30,000 places bought up by the French Equestrian Federation and those reserved by the Official Ticketing Agencies, who market packs comprising transport and accommodation overseas. As such the Organising Committee’s target of some 120,000 places sold between now and the end of the year is perfectly realistic…

3,620: the number of volunteers registered by the Organising Committee by mid-July. Another contingent of 2,250 volunteers is currently being registered. In this way, the target of 5,000 volunteers being admitted for recruitment and training, from which some 3,000 will be declared operational from this ‘hotbed of experiences’, is well on the way to being achieved. The recruitment campaign only started on 10 April, but 400 applied on the first day alone. Volunteers not yet contacted for an  “Exchange Day” with the team from the Volunteer Programme, will receive written notification to attend between September and October. It is worth noting that a total of 5,000 volunteers will interviewed from the end of October through to December and candidates who live a long way from Normandy will be able to have an interview over the telephone.

80%: the percentage of national federations who have already booked their accommodation for the event. For the general public, there is a variety of accommodation on offer in Normandy: hotels, gîtes (self-catering cottages), B&Bs, camping and caravanning.

It comes as no surprise that the three Olympic disciplines, jumping, eventing and dressage, make up the top three Pass sales since the ticket office opened to the equestrian family on 6 June 2013. For the latter two events, additional passes have been created to satisfy the demand from members.

A “Road Tour” for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 has been winding its way across France and Europe since 25 June 2013. It offers entertainment, a presentation of the event and an ‘on-the-road’ ticket office for members.

To date Normans make up the bulk of the future volunteers. Logically, out of the 3,620 volunteers already registered,36% come from Lower Normandy and 5% from Upper Normandy. The regional breakdown shows pole position going to Calvados (58%), followed by Manche and Orne (19 and 10% respectively). Seine-Maritime is hot on their heels (9%) with Eure bringing up the rear (4%).

With over a year until the opening, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 is extending its grasp to a highly international audience. Indeed no fewer than 11% of the volunteers already registered live overseas, across 17countries, including Australia, the United States, the UK and Germany.

Source: KNHS

It was very hot during the Dutch national championships in Hoofddorp last weekend.  As the previous year Edward Gal and Glock’s Undercover were the dominating combination during these championships. Gal won his fifth national title, for Undercover it was the second one.

After three tests Gal and Undercover were 17% ahead of the silver medal winner, shooting star Daniëlle Heijkoop with Kingsley Siro. This relatively green combination is getting better and better every show and is selected by chef d’équipe Wim Ernes for the upcoming European championships. The bronze medal went to Patrick van der Meer and Uzzo.

Source: horsUs

The Belgian chef d’équipe Jeroen van Lent has announced his dressage team for the European championships in Herning (Denmark) next month. Yesterday the last selection has taken place at a national Grand Prix show in Zandhoven (Belgium). Claudia Fassaert and her Donnerfee won this show with over 70%.

Simon Missiaen, who is selected for the Europeans, couldn’t compete yesterday. He was involved in a serious car accident last Friday. A car crashed into his car and Missiaen has serious neck and back problems. On doctor’s advice he didn’t compete in Zandhoven.

The Belgian team:

Claudia Fassaert / Donnerfee
Jeroen Devroe / Apollo van ‘t Vijverhof
Simon Missiaen / Vradin
Philippe Jorissen / Le Beau

From: British Dressage

It was a successful trip to Germany for our two riders at Perl CDI4* with both riders securing top eight placings in the big tour classes. World Class Performance rider Michael Eilberg posted two 70%+ scores in the grand prix and special with Jon and Julie Deverill’s Half Moon Delphi to confirm they were a good choice for next month’s European Championships while Nikki Crisp and Pasoa were as consistent as ever with 67%+ scores in both tests.

In Friday’s grand prix to qualify for the special, there was tough competition from the home team with seasoned campaigner Isabell Werth earning a fabulous 76.277% with her nine year old mare Bella Rose while European reserve combination Nadine Capellmann and Girasol were second with 72.915%. This left Michael and ‘Maggie’ third with 71.745% but two judges did place him second. 69.064% gave Nikki sixth with ‘P’. This meant both riders qualified for the Special.

Another few days to settle into the venue gave the Dimaggio-sired Half Moon Delphi increased confidence and they picked up extra marks to score 73.854% which put them second behind Werth who again dominated with Bella Rose, a full four percent ahead of Michael – certainly a horse to watch closely for the future. Third went to Swiss rider Marcela Krinke-Susmelj riding Smeyers Molberg on 72.708%. Nikki, a member of the World Class Development squad, and Pasoa couldn’t build on their grand prix run and scored 67.875% for eighth.

In the small tour classes, Michael took his father’s Torino for some international ‘mileage’ and 68.079% gave them 14th place in the prix st georges. In Saturday’s Inter I freestyle, the combination really pulled out the stops and broke the 70% barrier with 70.35% to lie sixth.