USA’s Catherine Haddad-Staller & Arlene “Tuny” Page to Head to Europe
11 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on USA’s Catherine Haddad-Staller & Arlene “Tuny” Page to Head to Europe
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Catherine Haddad-Staller and her Mane Stream Hotmail and Arlene “Tuny” Page and her Alina head to Europe next week for some top competitions to prepare for the United States’ World Equestrian Games selection trials in mid-June.
Catherine of Califon, New Jersey is also listed as a reserve behind fellow Americans Tina Konyot and Calecto V and Cesar Parra and Van the Man for the World Cup Final in Lyon, France next week and will be available to compete if invited.
Catherine and Tuny, based in Wellington, Florida each received $20,000 in funding from the U.S. Equestrian Federation to help offset expenses for the tour.
Both riders plan to compete at the Horses and Dreams CDI4* summer circuit opening event in Hagen, Germany April 23-27.
Catherine and her 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding have the Glock Horse Performance CDI3*/4* at Treffen, Austria May 15-18 and Pferde International CDI5* in Munich, Germany May 29-June 1 on the calendar.
Tuny, who plans to take her developing Grand Prix mount, Woodstock, her small tour horse, Castillia, as well as Alina, said she is likely to go to Kappeln, Belgium for the CDI3* May 22-25 before returning in time for the selection trials at Gladstone, New Jersey June 12-15.
The top eight combinations from the selection trials will be sent to Europe for shows before the final squad of four horses and riders is chosen for the WEG in Normandy, France the last week of August.
Hotmail is in his second year at Grand Prix–the first year was truncated by health issues suffered by Catherine–and showed dramatic improvement during Florida’s Global Dressage Festival with scores above 71 per cent cent for the Grand Prix and 74 per cent in the Freestyle in CDIs.
Catherine, who celebrated her 50th birthday Mar. 26, spent 20 years training and competing in Germany before marrying and returning home at the end of 2012. She was reserve for U.S. teams with different horses for both the 2006 and 2010 World Games.
Tuny, who competed at the 2006 World Cup Final in Amsterdam, will be based at Jürgen Koschel’s Hof Beckerode next to the Hagen show grounds with Alina, her seasoned 16-year-old Danish Warmblood mare; Woodstock, an 11-year-old KWPN gelding, and Castillia, an eight-year-old Oldenburg mare.
She has competed Alina at Grand Prix for four years with several competitions in Europe last summer, including on the American silver medal team at the Nations Cup in Hickstead, England. She has not shown the horse since then.
Tuny competed Woodstock in a handful of U.S. national Grand Prix since acquiring the horse just over a year ago with scores as high as the mid-70 per cent. Woodstock was competed at small tour by France’s Vincent Guilloteau before Tuny bought the horse.
Castillia was shown by Tuny at four national Prix St. Georges during this winter’s Global circuit.
