Dressage News Notes Brought to You By Back On Track

 

The big action this week is out in Del Mar, CA with the Del Mar National Horse Show underway and Dressage Week kicks off April 26! Also getting started is the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in Lexington, KY with a record international field with 73 horses set to go! Over in Europe, the Horses & Dreams (Hagen 4*) show will showcase Olympic hopefuls including memebers of the European Champions Great Britain, although it will be without Carl Hester and Uthopia! The World Cup is a wrap and Adlinde Cornelissen defended her World CUp Title. A shadow was cast of the World Cup Final when the German Team coach passed away on the eve of competition. His tea choose to ride after debate as it is what they felt he would want them to do.California has the top spot for more CDI3* action at the Del Mar National Dressage Show in Del Mar. Elsewhere in California, the Yarra Yarra Dressage May will take place in Pleasanton and the Bridlewood Equestrian Center Cinco De Mayo will take place in Copperopolis. Nevada will host the SNC Spring Dressage Show in Carson City and in Texas we have the Houston Dressage Society, Inc. Spring Classic I and II in Katy. The south rounds out the action with several shows starting in Florida with the International Horse Sport Series Final in Loxahatchee and the Dressage On The First Coast in Jacksonville. Georgia has the The Good Horseman/Massey Ferguson Dressage At The Horse Park in Conyers and in Virginia we have the VADA-CH Spring Into Dressage in Culpeper.

The Horses & Dreams CDI4* is kicking off today at Hof Kasselemann in Hagen Germany. While this is set to be top notch action from some world class Olympic hopefuls, Carl Hester and Uthopia will not be among the field.  Carl reported that Uthopia pulled a shoe during turnout and while it is "no big deal" it will delay Carl's quest for a coveted spot on a very strong Great Britain Olympic team. Great Briatins Charlotte Dujardin, Emile Faurie, Germans Matthias Rath and Kristina Sprehe and Isabell Werth are among some of the exciting competitors that will go head to head in Hagen! Check out the full story at Eurodressage.com

On US soil, Dressage Week gets underway tomorrow, APril 26t, at the Del Mar National Horse Show in Del Mar, CA. Some of the best of the west coast riders will converge at the Del Mar Fairgrounds to continue on the March to London. The competition will be a CDI3* with a National show held in conjunction. Steffen Peters, Gunter Seidel, David Blake and Adrienne Lyle are are sample of some of the talent that will contest the CDI3* Grand Prix classes. Visit their website for ride times!

Even though it is not dressage it seems the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is very popular across many diciplines. A record 73 horses are entered to compete and some of the biggest names in the sport have traveled a very long way to take place! The international field is comprised of Olympic veterans, past Rolex champions and many others from the US, New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain! Competition goes from April 26 through the 29 and Free Admission is being offered on Thursday to College students and on Friday, our Military and their families will get in free! Check out the Rolex Kentucky website for more information!

Germany suffered a great sadness at the FEI World Cup Dressage Final in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands when their team coach Holger Schmezer, passed away unexpectedly at his hotel the night before the start of competition. Our heart and prayers go out to the Team and to Holger's family. Check out the full story at DressageDaily.com

The World Cup proved very exciting with Adelinde Cornelissen successfully defending her title of World Champion with Jerich Parzival. After a slight hiccup, when Parzival was held for reeinspection after the jog, he showed no unsoundness under saddle and proved to the world that he was just fine clinching the title with an outstanding score of 86.250%! The US riders put in enjoyable and fun freestyles improving on the rides from the previous days Grand Prix. Read more coverage of the FEI World Cup Dressage Final!