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2008 Dressage Festival
of Champions & US Olympic Trials
Article & photos by Laurie Virkstis
©2008
Click
here for picture gallery
(Photos Laurie Virkstis ©2008)
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Ravel...
Your Future Looks Bright!
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The
privately owned Oaks Blenheim Equestrian
facility in San Juan Capistrano, California
was the chosen picturesque site for
the 2008 Collecting Gaits Farm / USEF
Dressage Festival of Champions held
two weekends in June. The festival weekend
of June 27-29 was extremely popular
and a complete sellout with standing
room only. The weather was California
perfect: warm sun and breezy cool air,
with US flags proudly waving over the
grandstands.
National Grand Prix Championship
& Olympic Trials
The beautiful rolling hills of San Juan
Capistrano offered a unique up close
and personal opportunity to witness
our nation’s top dressage riders
such as Steffen Peters, Debbie McDonald,
Courtney King-Dye, Lisa Wilcox, Leslie
Morse, George Williams, Kristina Harrison-Naness,
Sue Blinks, Michelle Gibson, and Shawna
Harding among many others. The
famed Ground Jury included Uwe Mechlem
(O) of Germany, Anne Gribbons (O), Axel
Steiner (O), Janet Foy (I), Jessica
Ransehousen (I) all of the United States.
The
National Grand Prix Dressage Championship
weekend standings paved the way for
the USEF Selection of the 2008 U.S.
Olympic Team in Dressage and “The
Road to Hong Kong.” Beijing
is where the 2008 Summer Olympics will
be held, Hong Kong is where the equestrian
events will be held mid-August in all
new equestrian facilities. John Long
of the United States Equestrian Federation
urges everyone to contact NBC to televise
more dressage and equestrian events,
especially for the 2008 Olympics.
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Media
coverage was evident during the weekend, but
by mid-day Sunday the frenzy escalated. Massive
photo camera’s entered the Press Box
looking more like weapons than cameras. Newspapers
and television stations did their part, sending
out AP and local reporters. USEF had videographers
too, capturing dressage video to create “cinema
quality” promotional clips for the upcoming
WEG – FEI World Equestrian Games in
Lexington, KY Summer 2010.
When the show announcer, Brian O’Connor, wasn’t
entertaining and making the spectators laugh, some
of us clicked on our private dressage judge.
Our Queen of Dressage, Hilda Gurney, served as a
USEF commentator for three days via purchased radio
headsets for $30.00. The fans loved her style, and
felt as though they were sitting next to their best
friend throughout the performances. Hilda has judged
many of the riders previously on the East coast
and it made for good listening dialog. When Hilda
wanted the audience to see the fluid like dancing
of horse and rider, she would comment on the cadence
and the “centaur effect,” of ½
horse and ½ human in harmony.
Sunday’s Olympic Grand Prix Musical Freestyle
climax had everyone in goose bumps after watching
moving, emotional freestyles performed with heart
and soul. The extensions, the half passes,
the pirouettes, the tempi changes, the piaffes,
and the passages are all made more beautiful when
performed to music.
The fans did their part to show enthusiasm and rider
support; rider Steffen Peters had his own fan club
cheering section and he was clearly pleased to see
such overwhelming support for his perfectly choreographed
musical kir. Even his wife said, “Look
honey!” pointing to the grandstands of cheering
fans with Steffen poster boards and American flags.
Debbie McDonald and her 16’ 2 hand mare, Brentina,
did not disappoint and rode to a Motown medley with
the crowd breaking the dressage “code of silence”
by clapping to Aretha Franklin’s RESPECT finale.
Fans not able to get in to the sold-out event climbed
the fence to sneak a peak at all the excitement
of Debbie’s ride. Brentina looks better
than ever and will appropriately return to the (Parry)
Thomas - Mack Center for the FEI World Cup Las Vegas
in April 2009 for her final retirement performance
before changing her maiden mare status.
Even more exciting was Sunday afternoon’s
announcement of the overall final scores for the
2008 Olympic US Dressage Team. Steffen Peters
with “Ravel” # 1 and #5 with “Lombardi
II”, Debbie McDonald with “Brentina”
#2, Courtney King-Dye with “Harmony’s
Mythilus” #3 and #4 with “Idocus”,
Leslie Morse with “Kingston” #6, Michael
Barisone with “Neruda” #7 , Sue Blinks
with “Mark” #8, Lisa Wilcox with “Naomi”
#9, George Williams with “Rocher” #10,
and Kristina Harrison-Naness with “Rociero
XV” #11. This is the first
time the United States has had their top five horses
and three riders all over the 70% mark heading to
the Olympics, with scores ranging from 70.0% to
75.8%. This creates a delicate situation of
deciding exactly how many horses to bring to Hong
Kong, since the US now has Steffen and Courtney
with multiple horses and unforeseen, possible injuries.
All horses must be quarantined in Acchen, Germany
in mid-July for a period before going on to Hong
Kong; it would be impossible to bring a replacement
horse to the Olympics at the last minute.
National Intermediaire I Dressage Championship
Michelle Gibson on “Don Angelo” and
Steffen Peters on “Montango” take the
Champion at 72.898% and Reserve Champion 70.950%
spots for the 2008 Festival of Champions - National
Intermediaire I Dressage Championship.
Hilda Gurney says Michelle Gibson has that special
talent to work with young Stallions, to get them
to do what you want and she did. “Don Angelo”
is an eight – year old Oldenburg stallion
owned by Terri Kane of Diamante Farms in Wellington,
FL. (Dick, Terri, and Young Rider Devon Kane
are formerly of San Antonio, Texas.) This
year “Don Angelo” won the USEF National
Developing Horse Dressage Championship for 7-9 year
olds in Lexington, KY. Michelle made that
stallion work and was clearly showing the judges
all his stuff. Michelle says she didn’t feel
that she could let him go as much earlier in the
week, but poured it on by the weekend and it showed
in his extensions.
Coming in third was Michelle’s friend and
competitor, Shawna Harding on “Come On III”
with a 70.545% Hilda Gurney often complimented that
Shawna Harding and “Come on III” were
the picture of harmony, having the “centaur
effect” with her horse. This harmony is what
judges are looking to see in the riding.
Harding and Gibson coached each other throughout
the entire competition. "We've had a lot of fun
together in Florida," Harding said. "We help each
other and we're both good competitors and good friends,
so it's good fun."
Asked if either of them hold back coaching help
in the warm-up when they are neck-and-neck for the
top placings, Harding responded, "No - that's never
a question because you're on your own when you get
in the ring. So what happens outside the ring -
she's a fantastic support and gives me little tips
that keep me focused."
Michelle concurred with Harding. "It's great that
we have a friendship and that we can support each
other," Gibson said. "What makes us such good competitors,
is that we can compete and we can be serious and
we can be really driven about it, and then be like
'You know what, there was a mistake or there wasn't
a mistake and today was his day or it wasn't his
day, and let's go have a glass of wine' - and it's
all good."
National Young Adult “Brentina Cup”
Dressage Championship
The Brentina Cup, generously sponsored by “Brentina’s”
owner Mr. and Mrs., Parry Thomas is a transition
program for US Young Riders between the age of 20
and 25. This program helps transition Young Riders
to Senior Grand Prix competitor. This year’s
2008 Brentina Cup winner is Adrienne Lyle on “Wizard”.
Taking 2nd is Kelly Casey on “Luzifer”,
3rd is Lindsey Anderson-O’Kee on “Intrepid”,
and 4th is Endel Ots on “Picasso.”
Adrienne started working with Debbie McDonald as
a working student in the summer 2005, and soon became
a full time member of the Thomas’s River Grove
Farm Team in Idaho. Adrienne encourages all
young riders to be dedicated to hard work and their
sport. When asked about lack of finances for
a Grand Prix horse, she suggested YR’s use
their creative resources to seek out horse owners
who may offer an opportunity to be a working student,
learn, or lease a Grand Prix horse to help the United
States create a more successful Junior / Young Rider
/Young Adult Program.
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