Dressage-News

LOXAHATCHEE, Florida, Feb. 1–Caroline Roffman has taken over the ride on Beemer, the 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding that Lars Petersen has competed for the past two years in the U.S. and Europe with mixed results.

Caroline, 22, of Wellington, Florida, whose father’s Global Dressage Sales LLC bought the horse two years ago as a sales prospect, told dressage-news.com Beemer is still for sale but she is aiming for the Brentina Cup that was created for riders aged 20 to 28 years as a bridge between Young Riders and the senior ranks.

Caroline, named the FEI’s “Rising Star” for 2010, has been working for several years with Lars, an Olympian for Denmark who is based in South Florida.

In the first competition for Caroline and Beemer at last week’s inaugural International Horse Sport Palm Beach national show–organized by a group that includes Lars–the pair rode the FEI Young Rider Grand Prix test for a score of 73.023 per cent before a single judge.

“With Lars’ busy schedule between training many top riders and developing the new show he felt it could be fun for me to get more show ring experience,” Caroline told dressage-news.com.

“Beemer is a sale horse but I will continue to promote him in the Young Rider Grand Prix until he is sold or Lars’ hectic schedule quiets down.”

She competed at the show at Equestrian Estates in Loxahatchee after riding Beemer only four times and only her sixth ever Grand Prix ride.

“He is a wonderfully talented, fun and forgiving horse and I am so lucky to have the privilege of riding him,” she said.

After a successful Young Rider career, Caroline is devoting herself fulltime to riding and training and has a strong lineup of horses, in addition to Beemer. She is aiming for the Under-25 competition at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany, and for the Festival of Champions at Gladstone, New Jersey, which will also serve as the selection trials for the Pan American Games which is at small tour and scheduled for Guadalajara, Mexico in October.