The USEF Annual Meeting celebrated 2010’s champions and Reining superstars Tom McCutcheon and Gunners Special Nite were honored for an outstanding year of achievement. They were the only U.S. pair to win two Gold medals at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Gunners Special Nite, owned by Sarah Wilemen, was voted USEF Horse of the Year for his achievements and the following night, McCutcheon won the top honor (Equestrian of the Year) for himself. It was an outstanding accomplishment for both horse and rider.
Meanwhile, in warmer climates, the 2011 season was getting underway in the competition arena.

Dressage

The first 2010 CDI kicked off the season in Florida over the weekend and Tina Konyot took top honors with Calecto V. They represented the U.S. at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games last fall and returned to form after a winter break with a convincing performance for a score of 71.745% to win the Grand Prix for the Freestyle. Konyot was then second in the Freestyle behind Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven and Favourit from Sweden.

Elizabeth Austin scored a win in the Grand Prix for the Special with Olivier – their score of 66.809% gave them a clear victory over Tuny Page and Alina. The pair swapped places in the Special, with Page’s score of 65.771% relegating Austin and Olivier to second on 62.917%.

The small tour classes featured some exciting up-and-coming horses with qualification for the 2011 Pan Americna Games on their minds. Heather Blitz and Paragon scored 75.746% to win the Prix St Georges and 73.509% to win the Intermediaire I, Shawna Harding and Rigo were runners-up in both classes but went on to win the Intermediaire I Freestyle.

Complete results are available here: http://www.gcdafl.org/