Thursday, February 2, 2006

Wellington Dressage to Feature Large Contingent of International Grand Prix Riders Aiming for FEI World Equestrian Games

Wellington Dressage, the first of three dressage shows featured at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, kicks off on Thursday, February 2, and runs through Sunday, February 5, at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club. Featured in the four-ring show are qualifying competitions for the 2006 World Equestrian Games Selection Trials, and qualifiers for the 2006 USEF National Grand Prix Championship and USEF National USEF Intermediaire I Championship.

Mary Silcox, head of dressage at Stadium Jumping, Inc., the producer of the Winter Equestrian Festival, stated that an especially large contingency of international riders is competing this year, a reflection of the drive towards the World Equestrian Games (WEG), which will be held August 20 to September 3 in Aachen, Germany. “Many of these international riders are using our shows to gain scores to qualify for the WEG, or to compete in a setting that helps prepare them for the WEG,” Silcox said. To accommodate the increased amount of entries at the Grand Prix level, Silcox has extended the Grand Prix classes by one hour and included an additional Grand Prix section.

Riders representing Canada, Colombia, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, and Brazil will be competing in the Wellington Dressage show, with the Colombian and Brazilian riders using the competition as one of their country’s qualifiers for the WEG. The Canadians represent the largest international contingency and include five of the country’s Short-Listed riders: Ashley Holzer, Shannon Dueck, Tom Dvorak, Evi Strasser, and Jacqueline Brooks. Germany is also well represented, with riders including Martin Rathfelder, Franzi Pfeiffer, and Mirja Block. Additional international riders include Pia Aragao of Brazil; Marco Bernal of Colombia; Lars Petersen of Denmark; and Nina Soderberg of Sweden.