Dressage:
Horses and riders with the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and the 2011 Pan American Games on the brain got busy in Florida over the weekend training with 2009 FEI World Cup Champion Steffen Peters and US Technical Advisor Anne Gribbons.

Peters helped the riders before they rode a test in front of Gribbons. Gribbons is also an ‘O’ judge with one of the keenest eyes in the game for attention to detail.

These USEF clinics are designed to provide guidance and instruction for future team horses and riders. This clinic was hosted at Betsy Juliano’s Havensafe Farm South in Wellington, FL and was a valuable opportunity for both horses and riders to gain guidance from some of the best in the sport.

“We tried a new format which consisted of a day of training and ‘warm-up’ with Steffen for the next day, when we had a morning ‘show’ in full dress and with video,” said Gribbons. “In the afternoon the participants sat down together and went through their test sheets with me and watched their performances. I commented and explained, and the riders asked questions and discussed their problems together in a very open and positive way. The next day we worked on fixing some of the movements and further improve some areas of the tests. Steffen was great with the riders and got a lot from them and their horses without stressing them. The horses looked as fresh and happy the third day as the first, only more through and working even better.”

The following riders took place in the clinic: George Williams, Elisabeth Austin, Melissa Taylor, Tina Konyot, Lauren Sammis, Shawna Harding, Tuny Page and Courtney King-Dye. For more information about upcoming clinics please visit the Dressage page at: www.usef.org.

Jumping:
The Florida contingent went to the grass over the weekend as the $50,000 CN Palm Beach Jumping Derby took place on the Derby Field at the Stadium – a satellite competition area across the street from the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. This was the feature jumper class during the Bainbridge AHJF/WCHR Hunter Spectacular week at the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Forty-one entries took to the course which featured 25 jumping efforts – as much a test of stamina as jumping ability. Charlie Jacobs triumphed on the 10-year-old Oldenburg mare Quidditch II (owned by Deeridge Farm) over Irish Rider Shane Sweetnam. Sister Brianne and Clementine Goutal rounded out the top four placings. Please see: www.equestriansport.com for complete information and results.

The USEF Selection Trials for the US Show Jumping Team for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games begin February 25, 2010. Please see: http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/breedsDisciplines/discipline/alljumping/sjSelectionTrials.aspx for all the information and results.

Vaulting:
The USEF High Performance Vaulters were polishing their skills over the weekend too. The USEF High Performance Vaulting clinic was held February 20-21 at the Frankel’s Equestrian Center and the Garrod’s Equestrian Center respectively, both in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Invited to participate were the top six US ranked female vaulters, top five ranked male vaulters and Megan Benjamin based on her Gold Medal performance at the 2006 World Equestrian Games. Top clinicians were present: Daniel Kaiser, who is the Top Ranked Male German Vaulter, worked diligently with the vaulters on fundamentals and routine. Susan Detol ‘O’ and Craig Coburn ‘I’ judged a mock competition during the morning and then spent time with each vaulter and their coach in the afternoon reviewing a tape of their session and discussing ways to improve their performance.

Sebastian Grubb worked on choreography and Shawn Ricci enhanced their routines with ballet movements.

Reports from the training sessions were great, enthusiasm was very high and everyone put in an incredible effort and all eyes are focused on the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in September.

Participants in the clinics were: Megan Benjamin, Alicien Divita, Marisa Hamar, Elizabeth Ioannou, Mary McCormick, Shannyn Poer, Katherine Wick, Gabe Aniello, Eric Garcia and Patrick Stevens.

For more information about the US High Performance programs see: http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/breedsdisciplines/discipline/allvaulting/hpvaulting.aspx.

The US will send teams in eight different disciplines to the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY in September of 2010 – watch this space for information about the best in the US on the road to Kentucky.

ENDS

For more information or to submit High Performance news, please email: [email protected]