(Jennifer Wood Media) – As the Florida Dressage Classic CDI-W presented by US P.R.E Association at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) begins this week, entries are up in both National and International competition. Due to the large number expected in the $20,000 FEI Grand Prix Freestyle, competition will begin at 7 p.m., with opening ceremonies at 6:45 p.m. As a special bonus for spectators on Friday night, special prizes will be handed out, so don’t miss all of the exciting competition!

There are 24 entries in the $6,000 FEI Grand Prix on Thursday with some of the biggest names in dressage going for the win. David Marcus of Canada will attempt to defend last week’s victory, this time with Don Kontes, and top Swedish rider Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven will bring out Divertimento and Don Auriello, who is number seven on the FEI World Individual Dressage Ranking. Other top combinations expected are Mikala Munter Gundersen and My Lady, Olympian Tina Konyot and Calecto V, and Catherine Haddad-Staller and Hotmail 2.

“With such a strong lineup this week, it is exciting to see more and more people coming to AGDF. They are getting to experience an amazing facility in addition to having greater competition opportunities,” expressed Michael Stone, President of Equestrian Sport Productions.

On Wednesday, February 13, at 6:30pm, the PRE-Show Party will take place at the Global Pavilion. The special event will welcome Spanish dressage riders Juan Manuel Munoz and Daniel Martin Dockx. The PRE-Show Party is an annual Paella dinner and Spanish festival hosted by the United States PRE Association. All participants and exhibitors of the Florida Dressage Classic CDI-W are invited, and in keeping with prior years, the dinner and festival are free of charge.

Competition begins on Thursday, February 14, and concludes on Sunday, February 17. Highlights of the FEI Large Tour, sponsored by AGDF First Founding Sponsor the US P.R.E. Assocation, include the FEI Grand Prix, the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle, and FEI Grand Prix Special. Founding Sponsor Havensafe Farm is sponsoring the FEI Small Tour consisting of the FEI Prix St. Georges, FEI Intermediaire, and FEI Intermediaire Freestyle.

For full results and more information on the AGDF, please visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.

(Global Dressage Festival) – Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) is pleased to announce details of the Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO3* presented by Stillpoint Farm to be held at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival on April 11-14, 2013. The Nations Cup will test a new format for the Pan American Games, which are scheduled for Toronto in 2015. Along with welcoming teams that can compete in the Pan American Games, the Nations Cup competition is open to teams from all nations, including Europe and Australia. While initially it was proposed that team nationalities would be restricted, the competition is now open to teams of riders from any country, as it was in the 2012 event.

“The FEI initially proposed a more restrictive team structure, but when working with all the stakeholders, we reviewed and agreed that last year’s team formation was best for the sport and event. We are delighted at the cooperation between the FEI, the USEF, and ESP that has led to this landmark event that we are certain will be a success,” said Michael Stone, ESP President.

The FEI, USEF, and ESP have worked together for more than a year to develop the new format to help raise Pan Am Games dressage competition to Grand Prix level from small tour.

Stone continued, “We are doing our utmost to contribute to the development of dressage throughout the Americas and help countries prepare for the Pan American Games. To that end, we will make the Nations Cup a highlight of the 2013 Adequan Global Dressage Festival and plan to host it in future years.”

The first Wellington Dressage Nations Cup, the only non-championship Nations Cup ever held in the Western Hemisphere, was held at PBIEC in April 2012, with teams made up of riders from throughout the Americas, Europe and Australia.

Under this year’s format, teams can be developed with any combination of horses performing at Prix St. Georges or Grand Prix for the first time in the history of Nations Cups. Teams will consist of either three or four horse and rider combinations. The competition can accept a maximum of 10 teams of four riders each. Riders must receive their National Federation’s permission to compete first and then form teams.

Teams can be made up of riders and horses solely from a single nation or composed of riders from more than one country, with priority given to Central and South America.

Thomas Baur of the FEI Dressage Committee explained, “We want this event to be as open as possible, and on the other hand supporting the nations from the Americas, mainly Central and South America, as much as we can, (for them) to take part in the test event and share this experience for further development.”

The FEI will award a Baccarat crystal horse head to the top team from Central and South America. In addition to the FEI America’s Award, an International Cup will also be presented as well as $35,000 in prize money. Title sponsor of the AGDF, Adequan, will present one of their special Adequan Tack Lockers to the high-scoring rider from Saturday night’s class.

The Pan American Games are held once every four years and are the second largest multi-sport event in the world–only the Olympics are larger. The Pan Ams are a qualifying event for the Olympics and are held a year ahead of the global Olympic Games.

For more information, prize list, or entries for the Wellington Dressage Nations Cup CDIO 3* presented by Stillpoint Farm or the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, please visit www.globaldressagefestival.com or call 561-793-5867.

(Global Dressage Festival) – The 2013 Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) continued this week with the Dressage National 2 Show on February 5-6, 2013. Dressage riders competed for top scores and more experience in front of judge Beverly Rogers. The AGDF continues next week with the Florida Dressage Classic, CDI-W, presented by US P.R.E. Association on February 14-17, 2013. The AGDF will host another three national shows as well as a CDI 3*, CDI 5*, and CDIO 3*, concluding on April 14.

Taking the win in Tuesday’s FEI Grand Prix – Open class was Tuny Page on Woodstock, her 10-year-old KWPN gelding by Havel x Contango. They scored a 70.213% for the win over Michael Barisone and HF Victor, who received a 66.277%. Third place went to Ryan Garza and Oleander, who scored 63.191%.

Woodstock, a ten-year-old KWPN gelding by Havel x Contango, is a new horse for Page since mid-December. He showed in a couple of national grand prix classes in France and is now having success under his new rider.

“He has three beautiful gaits,” Page described. “He has a temperament that is so brave and willing and content to work, and he is a highly collectable horse for grand prix. He is just absolutely beautiful.”

“He came from an amateur who loved him,” Page continued. “He had not had a lot of professional training, but what he had was good, and the intention around the horse was excellent. He has learned that life is good!”

Page’s goal for this week was just to take Woodstock out and see how he was at a show, in the warm up area and actually competing, relative to how he has schooled at home. She wanted to have a point of reference to develop his competition schedule for the year.

“I needed to see how he changed,” she noted. “Did he stay the same? Did he back off? I was delighted to discover that he is ostensibly the same in the warm-up and the arena. He was particularly brave in the arena. My goal was not to go for every point. I just wanted to ride a nice, accurate test and I was delighted that just riding quietly movement to movement, his marks were good enough for over 70%. That speaks for the basic quality of the horse for sure.”

Page also had a great week with several horses and riders from her Stillpoint Farm competing. Kevin Kohmann and Zephyr, owned by Suzanne Dansby, won both FEI Prix St. Georges – Open classes and Greta Fresian was second in both classes on Page’s horse, Ice Cap. Nicolas Fyffe and Tolstoy won both Intermediaire-1 classes.

A new face to the show ring in the USEF Second Level Test 2 – Open was Ripline, a five-year-old Danish Warmblood stallion by Blue Hors Hotline, ridden by Heather Blitz and owned by Oak Hill Ranch. They had the show’s high score on Tuesday of 76.711%. Second place went to Christopher Schruefer and Federer, who scored 70.658%.

The high score on Wednesday’s competition was 73.600%, which went to Gabriel Meyer and Drum Major in the USEF Training Level 3 – Open.

The next competition at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival is the Florida Dressage Classic, CDI-W, presented by US P.R.E. Association on February 14-17, 2013, where the PBIEC will welcome dressage riders from around the world.

A fun event for everyone that week is the PRE-Show Party at the Global Pavilion on Wednesday, February 13, at 6:30 pm. They will welcome Spanish dressage riders Juan Manuel Munoz and Daniel Martin Dockx. The PRE-Show Party is an annual Paella dinner and Spanish festival hosted by the United States PRE Association. All participants and exhibitors of the Florida Dressage Classic CDI-W are invited, and in keeping with prior years, the dinner and festival are free of charge.

For full results and more information on the AGDF, please visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.

Photo Courtesy of Global Dressage Fetival by Sue Stickle – Tuny Page and Woodstock

(USEF) – The Search Committee formed by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) to assist in hiring the next Technical Advisor/Chef d’Equipe for the U.S. Dressage Team has approved the job description for the position.

The Search Committee is composed of:

Eric Straus, Chairman
Janet Foy
Catherine Haddad-Staller
Susan Dutta
Anne Kursinski
David O’Connor

The job description can be found at http://www.usef.org/documents/highPerformance/dressage/2013DRTA_ChefJobDescription.pdf

Individuals interested in being the Technical Advisor/Chef d’Equipe for the U.S. Dressage Team must submit applications no later than March 15, 2013.

The application can be found at http://www.usef.org/documents/highPerformance/dressage/ApplicationDressageTA_Chef.pdf

More information regarding the Search Committee can be found at http://www.usefnetwork.com/news/9526/2013/2/1/usef_names_search_committee_to_find.aspx

For more information regarding the process of hiring the next Technical Advisor/Chef d’Equipe for the U.S. Dressage Team contact Jenny Van Wieren-Page at (859) 225-6949 or by email JVanWieren@usef.org

The 11th Annual 2013 Weekend Educational Program will be held this weekend, February 9-10, in Woodbury, Conn. at Nonnewaug High School, 5 Minortown Road.

There will be lectures on subjects of interest to everyone involved in horses including vet care, stable management, and riding theory, among others. There will be peer roundtable discussions for parents, professionals, and youth heading toward the North American Junior/Young Rider Dressage and Eventing Championships. There will be a meeting for the Region 8 and Area 1 potential Dressage and Eventing team members to discuss planning, fundraising, coaching, and transportation to NAJYRC.
Once again Susan Sieber will oversee educational and fun activities for the youngest children with the assistance of Little Britches Instructors. There will be an extra fee to participate in this Mini-WEP.

On Sunday a separate forum for dressage judges will be held. The forum will be open only to USEF judges, USDF L graduates and L candidates, and will include a discussion of the new Rider Tests. For further information on the Judges’ Session, please contact Margaret Freeman at margfree@aol.com or 828-859-6723.

Here is A Partial List of Topics Offered at this Year’s WEP:

Improve your Teaching – Special all-day session for instructors of all disciplines – Saturday
USDF Region 8 Judges’ Forum – Special half-day session for dressage judges – Sunday
Special Eventing Track – Sunday
Eventing 101 – Rachel Green-Lowell
The Use of Gymnastics – Rachel Green-Lowell
Handling the Young Horse – Michael Bragdell, Hilltop Farm
Training Horses for the Movies – Rex Peterson
Drawing Horses – Jennifer Ganser
Writing your Favorite Horse Story – Ann Jamieson
The Ins and Outs of Better Horse Photography – Donna Cloutier
Basic Lunging Techniques – Lendon Gray
Riding in Dressage Equitation Classes – Lendon Gray
Demonstration of Massage and Stretching – Key Burns
Equine Massage Therapy for the Performance Horse – Bonnie Stetson
The New USEF Rider Tests – Ann Guptil
The View from C – Amy Von Scholtz
Considerations when you Breed your Mare – Liz Austin
Becoming a High-Performance Dressage Competitor – Liz Austin
How to Make the Training Scale Work for You – Annie Morris
Conditioning for the Rider – Robin Levine
Vaulting, Barrel Work – Kristen Soto
Find the Centaur in Centered Riding – Jamison Wallace
Saddle and Bridle Fitting – Kate Wilson
Bits and Bitting – Sherri Lancto
Disaster Preparation for Horse Owners – Ray Connors
Estate Planning for Pets/Horses – Rosanna Rogers
Be Smart when Buying a Horse – Beth Clarke
What every Parent Should Know about Insurance and Riding – Beth Clarke
Running a Smart Equine Business – Beth Clarke – Sunday
The Skeleton of the Horse – Liz Webb
The Effects of Conformation on Performance and Soundness – Steve Kraus
Equine Parasite Management – Dr. Katherine Petersson
Colic and Parasites – Dr. Matt Elliot, Mid-Hudson Veterinary Practice
Feeding the Dressage Horse – Tiffany Wyman
Feeding the Senior Horse – Tiffany Wyman
Pasture Management for Horse Owners – Liz Webb
First Aid and Vital Signs – Liz Webb
Supporting the Youth Rider at any Level of Riding – Vicki O’Neill
Introduction to the Intercollegiate Dressage Association – Suzanne Mente
If I am not Supposed to Ride off my Hands, why are my Rein Aids so Important? – Vicki O’Neill
How to Become a Super Learner – Beth Baumert
How to be a Better Student and get More from Your Lessons – Alice Peterson
Study Strategies to Retain Knowledge for Written Tests – Joy Black
Study Sessions for Riders preparing for the Youth Dressage Festival, July 12-14, 2013: Purchase your books and prepare for your written test in study sessions geared for each age group.
Other distinguished speakers include Margaret Freeman, Maureen Pach and Carole Baker, who will each cover a variety of valuable topics.

For more information visit Dressage4Kids – www.dressage4kids.com.

Lexington, KY- The Search Committee formed by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) to assist in hiring the next Tech …