Dressage-News

SAUGERTIES, New York, Sept. 22-O Canada! was the theme song of the New England Dressage Association Fall Festival CDI in which America’s northern neighbor captured eight of the 12 Junior, Young Rider, small tour and big tour competitions. Denmark took the World Cup Freestyle while a United States Young Rider was victorious in two of her events and an American won the Intermediate Freestyle.

Ashley Holzer, the four-time Olympian for Canada, and Jewel’s Adelante that she is riding for the summer while the owner had a baby, won the Grand Prix Special Sunday as she did the Grand Prix two days earlier.

Ashley, based in New York, and the 13-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding posted 71.563 per cent while London Olympic team mate David Marcus and Chrevi’s Capital were second on 71.083 per cent with Australia’s Kelly Layne and Von Primaire third on 68.792 per cent.

The CDI was only a tiny part of the four-day Fall Festival of both breed and performance divisions that had hundreds of entries at the sprawling HITS on the Hudson grounds less than four hours from Canada’s border.

In the CDI classes, Canadians accounted for more than half the total number of CDI entries–24 out of a total of 45 with 11 from the United States and the rest representing Argentina, Australia, Denmark, Ecuador, Israel, Korea and Venezuela.

The theme was set the first day when Canadians won three of the four classes–Junior Rider team competition by Emily Ferguson and Hidalgo, Prix St. Georges by Brittany Fraser and All In and the Grand Prix by Ashley Holzer and Jewel’s Adelante. Emma Lengle of Guilford, Connecticut and Arami took the Young Rider team test for the sole U.S. victory.

On Saturday, Denmark’s Lars Petersen on Mariett captured the headline event, the World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle, while Canadians Emily Ferguson and Hidalgo won the Junior individual, Ally Dunlop and Danero were first in Young Rider individual and Brittany Fraser and All In took the Intermediate I.

Emily Ferguson and Hidalgo completed the sweep of the Junior division by winning the Freestyle for Canada on Sunday while Ashley Holzer and Jewel’s Adelante captured the Grand Prix Special. The USA’s Emma Lengle and Arami were victorious n the Young Rider Freestyle and Kimberly Herslow of Stockton, New Jersey and Rosmarin finished atop the Intermediate Freestyle.

Canadian participation in CDIs the length of the U.S. East Coast from New York to Florida has been high for several years, marked especially in recent years by a decline in CDIs in Canada to three CDI3* events this year from three World Cup events, one CDI3* and one CDI2* in 2009. A CDI-W World Cup has not been staged in Canada since 2011, although Canadians Jacqueline Brooks and Jaimey Irwin were the two North American League riders in the Final in Sweden this year.

Sunday results: