Recently reported by dressagedaily.com, Dressage Trainer/Rider A. Whit Watkins is on a mission.

Anna Whitfield Watkins “Whit” came to Florida on a mission; to ride and compete with the best, then head back to her training base Germany with Hubertus Schmidt and her two FEI mounts and do the same on foreign soil. So far so good as she focuses on the Grand Prix with her KWPN mount Oublette (by Amulet) where she is gained international experience and exposure finishing second in the Grand Prix Special at the IHS Palm Beach Dressage Derby to Swedish Dressage Champion Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven. Watkins continued to gain ground at the Wellington Classic Dressage II with a win in the Intermediaire 2 at 66.579, and a fourth place finish in only her second Grand Prix with a 65.532.

For the hardworking dedicated trainer from Ft. Davis, Texas, Watkins knows what it takes to achieve her dream: to represent her country by being the best that she can be. Guiding Watkins through her work in Florida, US Dressage Team veteran Shelley Francis is impressed. “Whit continues to make definite improvement in the energy and engagement of her horse. She is a serious and dedicated rider, and a delight to coach.”

As reported by dressagedaily.com, the World Dressage Masters Palm Beach was a resounding success with competitors and fans.

The 2011 World Dressage Masters Palm Beach presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach finished in spectacular style on the evening of Friday March 11th, as eight of the world’s top dressage pairs performed Grand Prix Freestyles for a sold out audience of 1200 at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. The performances got progressively more exciting as the evening progressed, with the final competitor, Olympic and World Equestrian Games medalist Steffen Peters of the United States, putting the crown on the evening with a dynamic and nearly flawless ride on Ravel that earned him 84.55%, the highest score ever awarded at the WDM Palm Beach. Tinne Vilhelmsson Silfven of Sweden rode Favourit to 77.975% and second place, while Peters’ team-mate from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Tina Konyot was third with 76.775% on Calecto V.

Peters’ victory was just one of several causes for celebration for the WDM Palm Beach’s sponsors, organizers and participants. The fact that the event took place at all in 2011 is a remarkable achievement in itself. Following the announcement from the hosts of the 2009 and 2010 WDM Palm Beach in late November that the event had been canceled, it appeared that the North American leg of the world’s richest dressage series, which is also North America’s only CDI5*, would disappear from American soil. But in January, Wellington Classic Dressage made a three year agreement to produce the WDM Palm Beach. When the Goodman family and International Polo Club Palm Beach stepped up to become presenting sponsors, the WDM Palm Beach’s future was secured. Financial support also came from Ravel’s owner, Akiko Yamazaki.

In little more than a month, International Polo Club, International Polo Club Catering and Wellington Classic Dressage spared nothing in their preparations. Paying attention to every detail, they created an event that served not only the dressage community, but also a wider public – giving North Americans a rare opportunity to witness top international dressage at close proximity. “I want to thank the organizers for setting up this competition in such a short time,” said WDM founder and CEO Anthony M. Kies on Friday evening. “To the Goodman family, we thank you very much. Without you and Akiko this was not possible. I think we had a fantastic show tonight.” The Grand Prix Freestyle, whose competitors received 60,000 of the 100,000 Euros in prize money awarded at the WDM Palm Beach, was the center piece of a Southern France-themed gala affair. Featuring a five course dinner and wine from many of France’s top wine regions – from Champagne to Bordeaux – International Polo Club Catering literally transformed the arena at the Jim Brandon Center to resemble an elegant evening in the French countryside.

WDM Rider Rankings Following WDM Palm Beach 2011 (top 10):

1. Anja Ploenzke (GER)
2. Michal Rapcewicz (POL)
3. Tinne Vilhelmsson Silfven (SWE)
4. Anne Van Olst (DEN)
5. Christa Laarakkers (NED)
6. Valentina Truppa (ITA)
7. Steffen Peters (USA)
8. Adelinde Cornelissen (NED)
9. Evi Strasser (CAN)
10. Anky Van Grunsven (NED)

Watch this excellent video of Dutch Dressage Star Adelinde Cornelissen Winning her 4th FEI Dressage World Cup qualifier in Goteborg Sweden.

As reported recently by horsesport.org, Adelinde Cornelissen once again dominated.

Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival recorded their fourth victory of the 2010/2011 Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage season at Gothenburg, Sweden tonight and jumped to the top of the Western European League leaderboard ahead of the final qualifier on their home turf at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands in three weeks’ time.

The 32 year old rider and her 14 year old horse produced a more harmonious test than ever before, and Cornelissen declared herself delighted with the result. Sweden’s Patrik Kittel finished a close second however with a personal-best result from his stallion Watermill Scandic HBC while Germany’s Isabell Werth and Warum Nicht FRH had to settle for third.

In a competition that was very much “a game of two halves”, many of the early riders produced low scores. Ground Jury President, The Netherlands’ Wim Ernes, said “tonight we saw some bad tests….but the top riders did a good job”. He added “we saw today in the first group, a lot of riders who did not have enough impulsion and so made a lot of mistakes”.

Dressage Tips: Buying and Selling Horses

Recently reported by dressagedaily.com, International Dressage Rider Carole Grant provided the ShoClothes talk with tips on buying and selling dressage horses.

International Dressage Rider, Trainer and Coach Carole Grant headlined the February 8, 2011 Sho Clothes Shop Talk. Her presentation about Buying & Selling Horses brought many useful tips to an eager crowd.

Among the many valuable nuggets of information, Carole emphasized:

• You can not ride the x-rays, but they are important for resale.
• The professional will stand behind you because they want your repeat business if that horse does not work out.
• Go into the stall and pick up the horse’s hooves. Doing this allows you to detect if he has the shivers (shakes). It also lets you know his character in the stall.
• Three strikes and the horse is out. If the horse has 2 strikes decide if you can live with those 2 strikes.
• Obtain the horse’s show results from the Federation National. Every countryhas one and you can confirm the horse’s age.
• Ride the horse 3 times before deciding on the purchase.
• At the vetting, a good vet will present any faults. Then, the vet, trainer and client can discuss these openly.

These are some great tips to get anyone considering the purchase or sale of a Dressage horse in the pointed in the right direction!

New Zealand Dressage Rider Jody Hartstone’s Black Stallion Whisper Put Down

New Zealand dressage star Jody Hartstone will contest next week’s Horse of the Year Show without her black stallion Whisper, put down yesterday after a recent injury and short illness.

“It was the least I could do for him – he was such a special horse,” said Raglan-based Hartstone.

“I have such a deep respect for him that I couldn’t bear to see him suffer in any way.”

Whisper burst onto the New Zealand scene one year ago, sweeping aside the opposition at the national championships and Horse of the Year Show, winning all the main classes.

Hartstone last year came close to qualifying the 15-year-old for the world equestrian games in Kentucky.

Together, Hartstone and Whisper won 11 of their 12 starts in New Zealand – placing second in the 12th one.

Hartstone will compete on her other stallion Donnerwind at the Horse of the Year Show which starts on Tuesday.

Source stuff.co.nz

Dressage Masters In Palm Beach Has Been Sold Out

Recently reported by dressagedaily.com, the World Dressage Masters Palm Beach has been Sold Out.

The World Dressage Masters Palm Beach CDI5 presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach got off to an auspicious start on Wednesday, March 9th as all 15 horses were presented to the FEI Ground Jury and passed the mandatory inspection. They will go on to compete in the Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle over the next two days. The highlight of the WDM Palm Beach is Friday evening’s Grand Prix Freestyle, which will be accompanied by a ringside gala dinner inspired by the food and wine of Southern France. Friday evening’s performance, which will accommodate 1200 spectators, is now sold out. Following the CDI3* Grand Prix of the Wellington Classic Dressage Challenge II, which is being held concurrently with the WDM Palm Beach, two combinations from that class have accepted invitations to compete in the WDM Palm Beach. Gary Vander Ploeg of Canada and Yvonne Losos de Muñiz of the Dominican Republic will join the 15 American, European and Canadian riders who were previously invited. Additionally, there has been one change to the original list of competitors: following the withdrawal of Canada’s Evi Strasser, another Canadian, Jacqueline Brooks, will take her place with Gran Gesto. Brooks has been a member of the Canadian Dressage Team at the Olympics and World Equestrian Games, and is a Pan American Games team silver medalist. A total of nine nations will be represented at the WDM Palm Beach presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach, including several of the world’s leading horse and rider combinations.

Prior to the start of competition on Thursday, riders had an opportunity to train and familiarize their horses with the competition arena. Danish Olympian Anne van Olst, whose horse Exquis Clearwater moved to the competition venue on the weekend, says she is impressed with the work the organizers have done to create a world class atmosphere. “So far everything looks great. They have created a beautiful ambience and the stables are very good. The people are incredibly friendly and have done their best to make us feel comfortable and welcome.”

Pierre St. Jacques is one of six Americans competing in the WDM Palm Beach, and he agrees with Van Olst’s first impression of the venue. “In the short amount of time they’ve had to put this together, they have done a fantastic job,” he says. “The atmosphere is as nice as any show in Europe. This is what we need more of in the US.”

In addition to a complete transformation of the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center to resemble the countryside of Provence, the footing for the competition arena and warm up areas has been enhanced with German Geo Textile footing, a state of the art fibre that is used at many world class venues. “The footing is great,” says WDM Palm Beach competitor Shannon Dueck.

The West Palm Beach event, the World Dressage Masters is unique in the United States, as the only five star FEI dressage competition on the North American continent. Worldwide the show is also the richest dressage series in history, with 400,000 Euros in prize money – 100,000 of which will be awarded at the World Dressage Masters in Palm Beach this year.

Since the tragic accident involving Dressage Star Courtney King-Dye, her fellow teammates such as Dressage Olympian Debbie McDonald and others have taken to wearing helmets during Dressage practice and competition.

Recently reported by hdressagedaily.com, Dressage rider Debbie McDonald experienced a bad fall earlier in the year, and credits King-Dye for her fast recovery.

Dressage Olympian Debbie McDonald took a nasty fall earlier this year and credits her recovery to fellow teammate Courtney King Dye. “After Courtney’s accident I wore the helmet in honor of her as a soldier would do for his fallen brother.” Debbie told dressagedaily. “I said from that day that I would never get on a horse without one nor would I teach anyone without one. There is never a day that I don’t think of my Teammate and friend Courtney.” Earlier this year, McDonald had a nasty fall from a young horse. “I went head first and flew about 30 in air before landing. They say that I never even got my hands out in front of me. My helmet had the base of the footing on it and the whole shell shifted.”

While a CAT scan found no bleeding and no apparent fractures, within a week McDonald who had a fusion 20 years ago noticed her neck was not right. An MRI showed that she had a few herniated discs pressing on my spinal cord and nerves. “To be honest there are so many spurs and damage that I am afraid my riding days are over.” Debbie revealed. “They will start doing injections into the disc to help relieve pressure soon.

The concussion has been difficult and it is the mental part that I am having problems with, teaching and not riding is not what I had planned for in my retirement. I do believe that things would have ended up differently if it were not for the helmet I was wearing. I have Courtney to thank for that. Yes, my life is going to change and I have a lot to think about but I am truly lucky to be here. I only hope that Courtney knows how many stories like mine have happened and because of her we will be alright. Courtney, we all love you and can’t wait to see you out there once again!

Debbie is not the first rider to start wearing a helmet due to King-Dye’s fall, as we have previously written in Grand Prix Dressage Rider To Wear Helmet – many Dressage riders have taken to wearing helmets during competition since the tragic accident.

You can learn more about Courtney King-Dye’s accident by reading: King-Dye’s Recovery Unknown After Terrible Fall

Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival recorded their fourth victory of the 2010/2011 Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage season at Gothenburg, Sweden on February 26 and jumped to the top of the Western European League leaderboard.

The 32 year old rider and her 14-year-old horse produced a more harmonious test than ever before, and Cornelissen declared herself delighted with the result. Sweden’s Patrik Kittel finished a close second however with a personal-best result from his stallion Watermill Scandic HBC, while Germany’s Isabell Werth and Warum Nicht FRH had to settle for third.

In a competition that was very much “a game of two halves,” many of the early riders produced low scores. Ground Jury President, The Netherlands’ Wim Ernes, said “tonight we saw some bad tests… but the top riders did a good job.” He added “we saw today in the first group a lot of riders who did not have enough impulsion and so made a lot of mistakes.”

Source horsejournals.com/news

Patrik Kittle at Reem Acra FEI World Cup 2011

The profile of Dressage Rider Patrik Kittle at the Reem Acra FEI World Cup qualifier in Goteborg.

Watch this excellent video of Dressage competitor Anky Van Grunsven on Keltec Salinero at the 2006 Freestyle Dressage Final performance WEG2006.

Anky Van Grunsven is a Dutch dressage champion who won the gold medal in the 2000 Olympics with her horse Bonfire and gold in the 2004 Olympics and in the 2008 Olympics with her horse Salinero which she is riding in this video.

As of late 2008, Salinero now competes under the name “IPS Salinero,” changed from the former Gestion Salinero, and Keltec Salinero. Keltic Salinero is now 16 (2010) and retired from the big shows.