Steffen Peters, joyful winner of the WDM Palm Beach Exquis Grand Prix Freestyle. Photos: Sue Stickle and Marie Cobb for Phelps Media Group
Wellington, FL (January 31, 2012) – The 2012 World Dressage Masters Palm Beach presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach exceeded all expectations, from the first horse on center line in Friday’s Grand Prix to the victory lap following Saturday’s Exquis Grand Prix Freestyle. Top sport was represented by the world’s most exciting horse and rider combinations, some of them veterans, others rising stars. When the 2012 WDM Palm Beach Champion was named on Saturday evening, it was the experienced team of Steffen Peters and Akiko Yamazaki’s 14 year old Ravel of the US who succeeded in defending their title against 26 year old Charlotte Dujardin of Great Britain and the super-talented ten year old Valegro.
“I must say I have seen some wonderful sport tonight,” said WDM Managing Director John van de Laar following the Freestyle competition. “I would like to congratulate Steffen.” With the Olympics just six months away, van de Laar noted that the WDM Palm Beach gave a hint to the rivalries that can be expected in London. “I am very anxious to see what happens in London. To show a horse like Valegro here at the Masters in an Olympic year, I must say ‘two thumbs up’.”
Jane Forbes Clark to Receive Inaugural Luminary Award; Sarah B. Willeman Also to Be Honored
WELLINGTON, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2012) – The second-annual Sidelines Equestrian Tetrathlon Presented by MeadowView & The Riggio Family to benefit the Equestrian Aid Foundation will be Sunday, February 5, 2012, at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. The wild, wild west-themed evening will feature the best of Palm Beach’s restaurant fare and signature cocktails with guest chefs to tempt your palette; and silent auction items to entice your sense of adventure; with the headline of the night being world-class horsemen and women in the greatest discipline switch ever imagined.
R. Bruce Duchossois, renowned equestrian and member of the board of directors, oversee the festivities with event co-chair R. Scot Evans, the EAF’s president.
Defending Team FarmVet will take on sponsored teams MeadowView, Palm Beach Equine Clinic and newcomer Flintfields Horse Park. Success Equestrian has outfitted the dressage, show jumping and reining horses in the competition with new no-slip saddle pads.
Chef d'Equipe Missy Ransehousen, Dale Dedrick, MD, Rebecca Hart, Mary Jordan, Jonathan Wentz, and coach Kai Handt, USA Team that earned the needed first place over Canada in Wellington, Florida January 2012 (Lindsay McCall)
Lexington, KY – Coming off of a strong performance at the recent Wellington Classic Sunshine Challenge CPEDI3* Team Qualifier for the Paralympics in Wellington, FL USA’s Para-Dressage team has earned a spot at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. “It’s very exciting,” says Chef d’Equipe Missy Ransehousen “I was very pleased with not only the team but with the individuals. They are a good group of people, working hard, and going forward with a good plan in mind.”
Team USA bounced back from a 2nd place finish at the Gold Coast Opener CPEDI3* and earned an important victory over Canada in the Wellington Classic Sunshine Challenge.
Though they are excited to be London bound the USA Para-Equestrians won’t be taking time off before the games begin. There are two more CPEDI3* events on the schedule, one in Katy, Texas and one San Diego, California, and the Paralympic selection trials in June.
Team USA earned their qualification by virtue of a Second place finish on the FEI Para-Equestrian team rankings list.
The Live Oak International Driving Event will celebrate its 20th year in 2012. Over this 20 year period it has been the industry standard for Combined Driving Competition welcoming leading drivers, trainers, coaches and owners from Europe and North America and drawing thousands of people to the area as we again serve the dual purposes of giving the public a chance to enjoy world class combined driving competition while also supporting many non-profit and charity goals. The 2012 Event will host the USEF National Championships for Four In Hand Horses.
The multigenerational love for equestrian sports shared by the Weber family will take another logical step in 2012, with the addition of a Jumping Speed Class following Dressage on Friday and a Jumping Grand Prix following the Marathon on Saturday. We look forward to providing our spectators with some of the best Jumping competition with some of the best Driving competition at the same venue on the same afternoons. A world class Driving event and a world class Jumping competition will be together at a world class farm.
Year Two: The NARG Top 25 Shows in North America Are Revealed
Wellington, FL – February 1, 2012 – Following the overwhelmingly positive response to our 2010 Top 25 report, NARG’s host of volunteers once again invested hundreds of hours to numerically evaluate 50 of the top horse shows in North America. The 2011 results are an interesting mix of events – including a couple of Canadian champions, a promising new beginning for The National Horse Show, several new discoveries and two most improved shows.
Canada claimed the top two spots this year. The highest marks once again go to Spruce Meadows, a venue that continues to exemplify our aspirations for great sport in North America. The number two title this year goes to a Canadian discovery, Thunderbird Show Park. Both venues are tremendous places to compete and show jumpers should seriously consider adding these solid examples of top tournaments to their summer schedule.
Lausanne (SUI), 1 February 2011 – Para-Dressage riders from 23 nations have qualified to take part in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The qualification process, which began in October 2010, finished yesterday, 31 January 2012.
As the top three ranked teams at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010, Great Britain, Germany and Denmark will each be represented by a team of four plus one individual rider. Canada, the top ranked nation on the Para-Equestrian Team ranking list for countries not otherwise qualified, will also receive five qualification slots.
Eleven nations, which qualified through the Para-Equestrian Team ranking list and regional distribution of teams, will be entering teams of four riders. The 11 nations are USA, Netherlands, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Belgium, South Africa, Mexico, Singapore, Australia and France.
Heather Blitz, Betsy Juliano, Anne Gribbons, James Kofford on Pharaoh and Steffen Peters (USEF Archive)
Lexington, KY – Continuing with preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games, the United States Equestrian Team Foundation (USET) and United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) kicked off 2012 with two training sessions for Dressage Olympic hopefuls. Betsy Juliano graciously opened the doors of her Havensafe Farm South to riders in Wellington, FL, January 6-8. The following weekend, Steffen Peters hosted a session for West coast riders at his Arroyo Del Mar farm in San Diego, CA. Also taking place in California, the first USEF Developing Dressage Clinic of 2012 was held at Epona Farms, owned by Michael and Linda Fowler in Thousand Oaks, CA.
The USET/USEF pre-Olympic Games clinics, made possible by a gift from Betsy Juliano to the USET Foundation, featured instruction from USEF Technical Advisor and Coach Anne Gribbons and Olympian Steffen Peters. At the Florida clinic were seven horses (six riders) including 2011 Pan American Games Team Gold and Individual Silver medalists Heather Blitz and Paragon. Over three days the combinations worked with Peters and Gribbons individually, rode the Olympic Grand Prix Special and reviewed video of the tests with Gribbons.
West Palm Beach, FL – The 2012 World Dressage Masters Palm Beach CDI4* presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach ended as it began with American dressage superstar Steffen Peters and Ravel storming to their second consecutive sweep of the event. Their dramatic freestyle was very difficult and they were rewarded by the judges with a score of 83.70% and recognized with a standing ovation from the crowd. It was a narrow victory, Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin gave Peters and Ravel a lot to handle but they held on by 5/100ths of a point.
“What an amazing ride,” said Peters. “Thanks again to my buddy Ravel.”
Sweden’s Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven was third on a score of 78.250% with Favourit.
Peters (San Diego, CA) and Ravel’s incredibly difficult transitions, including from canter pirouette to piaffe to walk, were seamless. Ravel’s half-pass has amazing reach at both the trot and the canter and the one- time changes on the centerline were effortless. The all-around brilliance gave this pair the edge – making them back-to-back World Dressage Masters Palm Beach Champions.
McLain Ward and Louise Serio at the 2011 Fete Cheval. Photo courtesy of Phelps Media Group.
WESTPORT, CT – January 30, 2012 – With equestrians representing the dressage, eventing, hunter, jumper, and polo communities, the EQUUS Foundation’s signature event at the Winter Equestrian Festival, Fete Cheval, promises to be the most entertaining event for horse enthusiasts this season in Wellington, Florida.
The Fete Cheval presented by Spy Coast Farm will be held on Friday, March 9, 2012, and feature cocktails, an auction, dinner in the exclusive International Club with a ringside view of the evening’s entertainment in the International Arena.
“What makes the Fete Cheval so unique is that it is all about fun, and lets very serious riders demonstrate their natural competitive spirit in games that they all recall from their youth,” said Elizabeth Press, co-chairing the event with Hillary Dobbs and Patricia Keenan, ” – games like Musical Stalls, Sit a Buck, and others.”
Wellington, FL – January 29, 2012 – Over two weeks, Para-Equestrian Dressage riders competed in front of F.E.I. judges Katherine Lucheschi (ITA), Hanneke Gerritsen (NED), and Carlos Lopes (POR), and Marc Urban (BEL) at two CPEDI3* events . This was the first time that Noreen O’Sullivan and her staff graciously hosted two consecutive CPEDI3* competitions (Gold Coast Dressage Opener and Wellington Classic Sunshine Challenge) at the beautiful Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. For Para-Equestrian Dressage teams this was the last opportunity to raise the F.E.I. world rankings in hopes of being qualified for the 2012 London Paralympics. For individuals this was a chance to gain input from F.E.I. judges, increase World Para-Equestrian rankings for London, and earn a qualifying score for the 2012 Paralympic Selection Trials. As the evening came to a close on Sunday, 28 horse and rider combinations put forward their best competition freestyles. Participation was far reaching including riders from United States, Canada, Ireland, Bermuda, Mexico, Finland, and Japan.
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WELLINGTON, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2012) – The second-annual Sidelines Equestrian Tetrathlon Presented by MeadowView & The Riggio Family to benefit the Equestrian Aid Foundation will be Sunday, February 5, 2012, at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. The wild, wild west-themed evening will feature the best of Palm Beach’s restaurant fare and signature cocktails with guest chefs to tempt your palette; and silent auction items to entice your sense of adventure; with the headline of the night being world-class horsemen and women in the greatest discipline switch ever imagined.
The Live Oak International Driving Event will celebrate its 20th year in 2012. Over this 20 year period it has been the industry standard for Combined Driving Competition welcoming leading drivers, trainers, coaches and owners from Europe and North America and drawing thousands of people to the area as we again serve the dual purposes of giving the public a chance to enjoy world class combined driving competition while also supporting many non-profit and charity goals. The 2012 Event will host the USEF National Championships for Four In Hand Horses.
Wellington, FL – February 1, 2012 – Following the overwhelmingly positive response to our 2010 Top 25 report, NARG’s host of volunteers once again invested hundreds of hours to numerically evaluate 50 of the top horse shows in North America. The 2011 results are an interesting mix of events – including a couple of Canadian champions, a promising new beginning for The National Horse Show, several new discoveries and two most improved shows.
Lausanne (SUI), 1 February 2011 – Para-Dressage riders from 23 nations have qualified to take part in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The qualification process, which began in October 2010, finished yesterday, 31 January 2012.
