WELLINGTON, FL – February 19, 2006 – The $25,000 Windsome Dressage/Jumper Spectacular was held on Saturday, February 18, with seven teams competing and an enthusiastic crowd on hand to cheer them on. Stadium Jumping, Inc. was able to re-schedule this make-up date for the event, which had been rained out two weeks ago. The popular crowd-pleaser, which has been contested at the Winter Equestrian Festival for 10 years with the sponsorship of John Deuss and his Windsome Farm, features teams of show jumpers and dressage riders who switch disciplines and compete in a Third Level dressage test and over a Hit ’N’ Hurry Jump course. For the eighth consecutive year, the team of show jumping Olympian Anne Kursinski and dressage Olympian Bent Jensen claimed victory. The two will again split the first place prize money of $8,000.

The perennial winners barely squeaked by for the victory this year however, as the final tally had two teams tied with the top score of 13 points. In the Windsome Spectacular, the dressage score breaks the tie, and in this case it was Kursinski’s ride that clinched the win. Taking second place were show jumper Eliza Shuford, who rode Lieben in the dressage phase to 64.37% and third place, and dressage rider Lauren Sammis, who rode Words of Wisdom in the jumping phase to first place, notching 26 points in 65.618 seconds. The red-ribbon team split $6,000 in prize money.

“I’m just amazed that we won it again!” beamed Kursinski, who topped the dressage segment with a score of 69.407% riding Liberty Light owned by Randy Barenholtz. “I have to say I did practice twice this year and that was good. I’m glad I practiced! Bent’s a great teacher and it was a lovely horse. Personally, to be the best dressage rider is really great because I don’t think I was last year, or some of the other years either.”

The dressage judges were Jeanne McDonald, Jessica Ransehousen, and Brenda Minor.

Jensen acknowledged that Kursinski’s performance was the best ride she’d ever logged in the Windsome Spectacular. Liberty Light is a 10-year-old Dutch gelding that Jensen competes in the Prix St. Georges. As is their custom, Kursinski and Jensen were riding their traded mounts for the first time. “Every year it’s been a new horse for us,” said Jensen. “Anne always places in the top three. There have been some tough ones in there too, but she can do it.”

In the jumping segment, Jensen placed third riding Heisman’s Image owned by Debbie Feldstein. The pair scored 25 points in 61.868 seconds. Heisman’s Image is a 10-year-old Selle Francais that Kursinski has shown and who now competes in the Adult Amateur jumpers.

“I don’t practice,” Jensen admitted, noting that he competes in two competitions each year that require him to jump. He attributed his ability to go fast and get over the course to his experience jumping when he was a youngster. “But it’s amazing really when you think about it,” Jensen grinned. He noted that cheering crowd helped his performance as he tried to catch the leading score of 26 points. “I could hear them and that’s what makes it fun. You really want to go but at the same time you have to be careful to get the turns right. That’s what makes me a little nervous – you want to go fast but still you don’t want to miss a jump.” Jensen did have one rail down, which cost him one point.

“He has a good feel and he’s courageous,” Kursinski pointed out. “Bent is a very good natural jumping rider. I assign him a good horse and he says ‘OK, let’s go!’”

A simple point scale is used to determine the winner of the $25,000 Windsome Dressage/Show Jumper Spectacular. In the dressage phase, each rider receives a percentage score for his/her ride, as is the practice in regular dressage competition. The team that earns first place in the dressage phase receives one more point than the number of entries; the second placed rider receives one point less than the number of entries (6 points); third place receives two points less than the number of entries (5 points) and so on to the last placed rider, who receives 0. Competing against seven entries, Kursinski’s top score in this phase gave her team eight points.

The dressage scores also determine the starting order for the show jumping phase, with the rider on the lowest placed team going first. The riders in the jumping phase are required to jump a set course with each jump cleared valued at two points; then they can score additional points by jumping as many fences as possible within the time allowed. Again, the top scorer received eight points, and so on down the line.

After the winners, Kursinski/Jensen, and the second-placed team, Shuford/Sammis, the results were as follows:

Third place, $5,000 prize: Chris Delia rode Fortissimo in dressage to a score of 66.667% for second place (6 points); his teammate Tom Dvorak jumped Ramson to a score of 26 points in 66.282 seconds for a second place finish (6 points). They finished with a total of 12 points.

Fourth place, $3,000 prize: Nona Garson rode Tango to 63.704% and fourth place in dressage (4 points); her teammate Benny Konstantinova rode Giacomo to a jumping score of 23 points in 62.907 seconds and fourth place (4 points). Their total was 8 points.

Fifth place, $2,000: Pippa Green berg rode Fereska Figaro to a dressage score of 62.741 and fifth place (3 points); partner Elaine Sherer jumped Talk the Talk to a score of 21 points in 64.541 seconds for sixth place (2 points). Their total was 5 points.

Sixth place, $1,000: Elizabeth Maloney rode Prado to 58.889% and seventh place in dressage (1 point); her teammate Meredith Morray jumped Conti B to 24 points in 61.715 seconds for fifth place (3 points). The team’s total was 4 points.

Seventh place: Roberto Teran aboard Bona Sera earned 62.148 for sixth place (2 points); his teammate Heather Bender jumped Pogeno to a score of 20 points, and no time clocked as she went off course for seventh place (1 point). They finished with 3 points total.

Kursinski admitted that this year, as the long-time reigning team, she felt the pressure of maintaining the winning streak. “It’s still fun, but it is competitive and everybody’s practicing, everybody’s trying to beat you. Now, you really want to win!” she said. She attributed her tie-breaking performance this year to having “a good coach, great horse, a little luck and good judges.”