Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Nov. 1, 2015–Laura Graves on Verdades squeaked into the 2014 Festival of Champions almost unknown but emerged with star billing and go into this year’s United States championships presented by The Dutta Corp. ranked second in the nation, according to the final qualifying rankings.

Fifteen horses and riders that qualified in CDIs over 10 months ending Saturday will be invited to the Tim Dutta Grand Prix and Intermediare Championships to be held for the first time at the Global Dressage Festival grounds in Wellington Dec. 8-12. Pony through Under-25 Divisions were held in summer.

The Grand Prix Championships will also be a qualifying competition for riders seeking to go to Europe for yet-to-be named CDI observation events aimed at choosing the American team for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next summer. The European tour will be after the winter circuits in Florida and California.

While the competition is not a CDI, it will be run under international rules and will have a ground jury in line with international standards–Gary Rockwell and Linda Zang of the United States, Hans Christian Matthiesen of Denmark, Peter Holler of Germany and Christof Umbach of Luxembourg.

The championships are decided by results of all three levels–for Big Tour, Grand Prix, Special and Freestyle and for Small Tour Prix St. Georges, Intermediaire I and Freestyle.

Steffen Peters of San Diego, California heads the Grand Prix rankings on Legolas with Laura of Plymouth, Florida on Verdades second and Steffen on Rosamunde third. Allison Brock of Wellington on Rosevelt is ranked fourth.

Steffen plans to take both horses to the championships to seek a fifth straight Grand Prix championship and seventh crown in the past nine years, unprecedented in a quarter century of the event.

The U.S. championship rankings of the top four combinations match the order of standings of Americans in the world–Steffen on Legolas No. 9, Laura on Verdades No. 15, Steffen on Rosamunde No. 24 and Allison on Rosevelt No. 46.

Kathleen Raine of Murieta, California on Breanna is the fifth ranked American at No. 48 in the world but did not declare for the championships after success in Germany in late summer. Kathleen, who has competed the 15-year-old Hanoverian mare extensively in Europe in the past three years, told dressage-news.com she opted to spend more time there competing and training.

Sabine Schut-Kery of Thousand Oaks, California on Sanceo is atop the Intermediare rankings but she is moving the horse up to Grand Prix after the pair’s Pan American Games team gold medal so does not plan to make the trip to Florida.

Shelly Francis of Loxahatchee, Florida is ranked second on Rubinio. Shelly has two horses ranked in the Grand Prix, Doktor at No. 5 and Danilo eighth.

Charlotte Jorst of Reno, Nevada has Kastel’s Nintendo at No. 6 in the Grand Prix rankings and Kastel’s Adventure at No. 5 and Fraktura at No. 8 in the Intermediare.

Eliane Cordia-van Reesema of Rowayton, Connecticut also has horses ranked in both divisions—Jewel’s Amethyst at No. 12 in the Intermediare and Jewel’s Adelante 19th in the Grand Prix.

Kimberly Herslow of Stockton, California on Rosmarin who also won Pan Am gold as team mates with Sabine and Sanceo at Small Tour as well as Steffen and Legolas and Laura and Verdades did not declare for the championships as she, too, decided to move to Big Tour.

A national show of all levels, the Wellington Classic Holiday Challenge, will be staged in conjunction with the championships on the same weekend. The prize list will be posted on http://www.globaldressagefestival.com.

(The Festival of Champions are the national championships of the U.S.Equestrian Federation while the U.S. Dressage Finals being held in Kentucky this week are head-to-head national competitions of adut amateur and open divisions qualifying through regional groups organized by the U.S. Dressage Federation.)

The qualifying combinations on the Festival of Champions rankings are:.

Tim Dutta Grand Pix National Championship Rankings
1. Steffen Peters, San Diego, California – Legolas, 13, Westfalen gelding – 76.157% (average score)
2. Laura Graves, Plymouth, Florida – Verdades, 13, KWPN gelding – 75.510
3. Steffen Peters – Rosamunde, 8, Rhineland mare – 73.920
4. Allison Brock, Wellington, Florida – Rosevelt, 13, KWPN stalllion – 72.687
5. Shelly Francis, Loxahatchee, Florida – Doktor, 12. Oldenburg gelding – 70.958
6. Charlotte Jorst, Reno, Nevada – Kastel’s Nintendo, 12, KWPN stallion – 69.802
7. Catherine Haddad-Staller, Califon, New Jersey – Mane Stream Hotmail, 13, Oldenburg gelding – 69.282
8. Shelly Francis – Danilo, 11, Hanoverian gelding – 68.999
9. Arlene Page, Wellington – Woodstock, 12, KWPN gelding – 68.931
10. Arlene Page -Alina, 17, Danish Warmblood mare – 68.890
11. Katherine Bateson-Chandler, Wellington – Alcazar, 10, KWPN gelding – 68.821
12. Devon Kane, Wellington – Destiny, 12, Danish Warmblood gelding – 68.099
13. Beatrice Marienau, Oak Creek, Colorado – Stefano 8, 16, KWPN gelding – 67.974
14. Heather Oleson, Eagle, Idaho – Victor, 13, KWPN gelding – 67.767
15. Susan Dutta, Wellington – Currency DC, 15, Oldenburg gelding – 67.398
16. Kimberly McGrath, Redlands, California – Winslow, 12, KWPN gelding – 67.341
17. Alice Tarjan, Oldwick, New Jersey – Elfenfeuer, 8, Oldenburg mare- 67.123
18. Jan Ebeling, Moorpark, California – FRH Rassolini, 12, Hanoverian stallion – 66.987
19. Eliane Cordia-van Reesema, Rowayton, Connecticut – Jewel’s Adelante, 15, Swedish Warmblood gelding – 66.642
20. Tracy Lert, Scotts Valley, California – Udo, 14, KWPN gelding – 66.408
21. Sharon McCusker, Ashby, Massachusetts – Wrigley, 12, KWPN gelding – 66.326
22. Brian Hafner, Sonoma, California – Lombardo LHF, 16, Hanoverian gelding – 65.700
23. Elizabeth Ball, Encinitas, California – Liaison, 12, Westfalen mare – 65.617
24. Kathy Priest, Versailles, Kentucky – Wild Dancer, 12, KWPN mare – 65.545
25. Adrienne Pot, Barrington Hills, Illinois – Something Special C, 16, KWPN Gelding- 63.652

Tim Dutta Intermediare I National Championship Rankings
1. Sabine Schut-Kerry, Thousand Oaks, California – Sanceo, 9, Hanoverian gelding – 71.764%
2. Shelly Francis, Loxahatchee, Florida – Rubinio, 9, Westfalen gelding- 71.303
3. Elizabeth Ball, Encinitas, California – Avanti, 10, KWPN gelding – 70.886
4. Tina Konyot, Palm City, Florida – Wyoming, 14, Hanoverian gelding – 70.704
5. Charlotte Jorst, Reno, Nevada – Kastel’s Adventure, 10, KWPN gelding – 70.002
6. Lelie Webb, Bakersfield, California – Harmony’s Armani, 10, KWPN mare – 69.351
7. Christina Vinios, Wellington, Florida – Folkestone, 9, Oldenburg gelding – 69.177
8. Charlotte Jorst – Fraktura, 12, Hanoverian mare – 68.735
9. Katie Riley, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey – Toy Story, 9, KWPN gelding – 68.578
10. Dorothy Morkis, Dover, Massachusetts – Artiest, 10, KWPN gelding – 67.606
11. Susanne Hassler, Chesapeake City, Maryland – Harmony’s Boitano, 9, KWPN gelding – 67.461
12. Eliane Cordia-van Reesema, Rowayton, Connecticut – Jewel’s Amethyst, 10, KWPN gelding – 67.312
13. Heather Kennedy, Colorado – Babushka RTH, 8, KWPN mare – 66.711
14. Cesar Parra, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey -Blickpunkt 4, 10, Westfalen stallion – 66.575
15. Heather Michaels, Wellington – Abacus, 10, KWPN stallion – 65.890
16. Melissa Jackson, Parrish, Florida – Whirlpool, 12, Hanoverian gelding – 65.796
17. Missy Fladland, Griswold, Iowa – Royal Gem, 10, Oldenburg gelding – 64.288

This report was prepared by dressage-news.com and presented by Cunningham & Cunningham Livestock insurance.