Thomas Baur of Germany to Help Guide Florida’s Global Dressage Festival
11 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Thomas Baur of Germany to Help Guide Florida’s Global Dressage Festival
Thomas Baur of Germany, a world-renowned horse show organizer, has joined the Equestrian Sport Productions team to help guide the 2014 winter dressage events at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Florida.
Thomas brings experience and know-how from some of the world’s top dressage events to the Adequan Global Dressage Festivl of six CDIs–three CDI-W World Cup events, one CDI4*, a CDI5* and a CDIO Nations Cup as well as five national competitions from Jan. 9 through Mar. 30.
Prize money for the CDIs is more than $275,000 (€207,000).
“Thomas is one of the world’s top dressage organizers,” said ESP Chief Executive Officer Mark Bellissimo. “His affiliation with the Stuttgart German Masters as well as his membership on the FEI Dressage Committee should bring us a wealth of knowledge and experience as we try to increase both the international exposure and participation at the AGDF. He will work closely with AGDF Horse Show Manager Lloyd Landkamer to upgrade the AGDF dressage experience.”
Dressage is held at The Stadium, part of the Palm Beach center that simultaneously hosts the Winter Equestrian Festival of 12 weeks of jumper and hunter competitions, making it the largest and longest running horse show in the world.
The Stadum complex includes a state of the art dressage facility built at a cost of more than $8 million (€6 million) and a grass jumper derby field.
“I am very pleased to join the ESP team for the 2014 Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington,” Thomas said. “Our common goal is the development of this dressage facility to a world-class product that not only attracts the top dressage riders from North America, but also brings the best dressage riders from around the world to Florida during the winter months. We will present the highest level of dressage in Wellington at a top venue.”
ESP President Michael Stone said, “We believe Thomas and Lloyd will raise the bar for the production of dressage in North America and we can together provide an unparalleled experience in 2014 at the AGDF. Our event should also position top riders well for the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy.”
As a member of the FEI Dressage Committee, Baur is especially interested in the CDIO3* event, which hosts the only non-championship dressage Nations Cup in the Western Hemisphere.
“Especially close to my heart is February’s CDIO3 *, where the final format of the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto will be tested for the first time,” he said.
In addition to Stuttgart, Thomas, 43, is involved the Internationales Maimarkt-Turnier in Mannheim, Germany; Vienna Masters and Pappas Amadeus Horse Indoors in Austria. He is also a member of the board of the International Equestrian Organiser´s Alliance.
Last year’s Wellington Nations Cup was the first-ever to have teams comprised of both Grand Prix and Prix St. Georges horses and offered riders a chance to experience the evolving Pan Am Games format.
The AGDF Florida winter dressage schedule:
Jan. 9-12 – CDI-W – GDF
Jan. 16-19 – National Show, including CDI1* – GDF
Jan. 22-26 – CDI-W – GDF
Jan. 30-Feb. 2 – National Show – GDF
Feb. 6-9 – CDI4* – GDF
Feb. 13-16 – National Show – GDF
Feb. 19-24 – CDIO 3* – GDF
Mar. 6-9 – National Show – GDF
Mar. 13-16 – CDI-W – GDF
Mar. 20-23 – National Show – GDF
Mar. 27-30 – CDI5* – GDF
The schedule is coordinated to leave the week of Feb. 27-Mar. 2 open for the Palm Beach Dressage Derby in neighboring Loxahatchee.
