Four USA Young Horses Qualify for World Championships
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June 26, 2014
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
A German transplant, a Colombian Olympian now an United States team gold medalist, an adult amateur rider and a Canadian have ridden two five-year-old horses and two aged six to qualify as American combinations for the World Young Horse Championships in Germany.
The horses and riders to qualify for the championships in Verden, Germany Aug. 6-10 are:
Five-year-olds:
–Petersborg’s Qasanova, a Danish Warmblood stallion (Quaterback x Calypso II) owned and ridden by Matthew Johnson, an amateur who lives in Wellington, Florida and achieved an average of 8.540. Matt is a successful real estate agent who has owned and competed a succession of quality horses over several years. He bought Qasanova last year and with coaching primarily from Robert Dover, the American dressage chef d’equipe, qualified at CDIs during last winter’s Global Dressage Festival in Florida.
–Sans Soucis K, an Oldenburg mare (Sir Donnerhall I x Florestan I) ridden by Phoenix, Arizona-based Canadian Ashleigh Luca-Tyson for owners Debra and Bob Pulver of River Oaks Farm in West Des Moines, Iowa to an average of 8.048. Ashleigh made it clear before the qualifying competitions that she and the owners did not plan to enter either the world or national championships this year but would aim for the six-year-old titles in 2015.
Six-year-olds
–Fashion Designer OLD, an Oldenburg gelding (Faustinus x De Niro) ridden by Nadine Buberl, a 31-year-old rider for Cesar Parra’s Piaffe Performance training center, who qualified with an average of 8.616 during the Florida winter circuit. The horse is owned by Cesar and Martin Sosnoff, and was ridden by Nadine, who came to America more than five years ago, to the U.S. five-year-old championship.
–Fiderhit OLD, also an Oldenburg mare (Fidertanz x Sandro Hit) competed by Cesar Parra of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey for owners Michael and Sarah Davis to a result of 8.544 in Florida. Cesar rode for his native Colombia in the Olympics and the World Equestrian Games as well as won medals at Pan American Games. After becoming an American citizen, he was a member of the gold medal team at the 2011 Pan Ams.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation that issues invitations for America on behalf of the championship organizers specifies that only the owners need to be American citizens while questions about citizenship of the riders is decided by the organizers.
All four combinations fulfilled the world championship requirements as detailed in the selection procedures posted on the USEF Internet site.
The USEF has not yet announced whether invitations have been issued to the four pairs and, if so, whether any have accepted.
The Verden official show schedule states that two horses from both the five and six-year-old divisions can be nominated by national federations for the championships.
