image showing Carl Hester image showing winners image showing Shearwater winner

Festival of Dressage

Hartpury Festival of Dressage 2011

Report on the final day of competition

With short intervals of sunshine and at times a little overcast the weather held for the Final day of the Festival
Premier League

FEI Intermediate II 2009 Q - Sponsored by Fab Horses
The first class of the day was the FAB Horses FEI Intermediate II held in the Hartpury Arena.
Once again the winner was Michael Eilberg riding Half Moon Delphi 68.68, 2nd place went to Kate Smith riding Keystone Darling 64.74 3rd place Daniel Watson riding Fideramber 64.39.
The prizes were presented by Fabian Reammenzweig , Senior Consultant of FAB Horses.
Fab Horses was established to facilitate German Sports Horse purchases. Fabian and his team will support you in every phase of your quest rendering you the right advice.

FEI Pony/Junior/Young Rider Ream Test 2009 – Supported by Mr & Mrs Manning
1st Kirsty Imm and Languard 4 71.250, 2nd Amber Barton and Doctor Little 66.389, 3rd Chloe Vell and Tymo 65.903
The prizes were presented by Porche Manning on behalf of the Manning family

Medium 61 2002
Parkway Arena 1 - Medium 61 - this class was won by Maria Griffin riding D.J. on a score of 73.79, 2nd Matt Hicks riding El Zorro 73.10, 3rd Harry Payne riding Divine Inspiration 68.28

Medium 75 2002
1st Beth Barnett riding Zantino II 70.00, 2nd Matt Hicks riding El Zorro 68.92, 3rd Georgina Davis riding Richmans Manta 68.38.

FEI Prix St Georges – Sponsored by Cushionbed Equestrian Bedding – Equestrian comfort by Giffords
Ruth Edge and Zero took 1st place on a fine score of 72.11, 2nd place Isobel Wessels and Chagall 68.86, 3rd Jodie Lister and Royal Dancer 67.19.

The presentations were made by the judge Penny Lang

FEI CDEI3* International Dressage

Horsatack FEI Intermediate I Freestyle
Once again Michael Eilberg and Torino performed a supeb test to win on a score of 75.000 2nd place went to Becky Moody riding Wallenstein 73.625 and in 3rd place Kate Cowell and Corbiere II 72.975.
The presentations were made by Richard Utting, Sales Manager of Horsatack Saddlery.
Horsatack Saddlery have outlets in Droitwich and Milton Keynes which stock all leading brands -everything you need for you and your horse.

The finale to this Festival of Dressage was the Dodson & Horrell FEI CDI Grand Prix Special – Sponsored by Dodson & Horrell –suppliers of high quality Horse Feeds, supplements and herbal products.

1st Michael Eilberg riding Marakov 69.375, 2nd Gareth Hughes riding DVStenkjers Nadonna 69.208, 3rd Anders Dahl riding Bukowski 67.875.

Thank you to all of our very generous Sponsors.

This concludes five wonderful days of International Dressage.

Report on Day Four of Competiton

Competitors in the Shearwater Young Horse Championships had to compete in the early morning rain but later the summer sunshine returned.

These competitions for 4 year, 5 year and 6 year olds are hotly contested classes with qualifying rounds held throughout the country. Many past champions have gone on to compete at Advanced level and represent Great Britain.

Shearwater Insurance Services Ltd offer a most comprehensive and competitive insurance for horses, horse boxes, trailers, commercial and residential property, motors, marine cargo, travel etc.

Shearwater Young Horse Championships

The top two in each class went through to the the Gala Evening

6 year old horses
1st Rebeca Hughes riding Classic Annette Ballerina 8.20, 2nd Jennifer Johnson riding Donnergrollen 7.74, 3rd Michael Eilberg riding Dargento 7.62

5 year old horses
1st Michael Eilberg riding Woodlander Farouche 9.36, 2nd Michael Bates riding Samphire II 8.24, 3rd Callum Whitworth riding Remix 8.12.

4 year old horses
1st Becky Moody riding Carinsio 8.24, 2nd Jo Hamilton riding Corchapin 8.12. 3rd Henry Boswell riding Furst Edition 8.00.
The prizes were presented by Jeremy Lawton, Managing Director of Shearwater Insurance Ltd. who have been long time supporters of Dressage, Eventing and Show Jumping.

BYRDS A Squad Ride Off – Supported by Mr & Mrs David Manning
The annual BYRDS Inter-Regional was held a last weekend in Bedfordshire and the top nine A Squad riders who qualified to come here to Hartpury were:
Shannon Role (Central), Elspeth Day (North), Rachael Clark (Central), Alex Armstrong (South West) Charlie Sawyer (South West) Emma Jenkinson (South West), Ruth Hole (East), Henry Day (North) and Katie Knight (Wales).
The three finaists were: Katie Knight,Charlie Sawyer and Rachael Clark
BRYDS – The Regional BRYDS training has developed hugely in the past six years. The number of young riders in the regions has trebled in the past three years. Each region organises things differently depending on the geographics and demographics of their area and depending how long the regional structure has been in place.

FEI CDI3* International Dressage

Hartpury College CDI Intermediate I
1st place went to Becky Moody riding Wallenstein 69.500, 2nd Michael Eilberg riding Torino 68.553, 3rd place Nikki Patrick riding Uglesias 68.079

The highlight of this Festival was the GALA EVENING

The BYRDS A Squad final started off the programme of events which was watched by a packed audience.
Charlie Sawyer carried off the 1st prize - a £500 training voucher, a rug and a jacket. 2nd prize a £300 training voucher and a jacket went to Rachael Clark and 3rd place went Katie Knight who won a £200 training voucher and a jacket.

The prizes were presented by Porche Manning whose family have been long standing supporters of BYRDS.
The next item on the programme was the Shearwater Young Horse Championship - 4,5 and 6 year olds – the top two from- each class came forward and three of the judges explained to the audience why they had chosen these outstanding horses as the winners.

Stallion Parade - During the interval there was a very exciting and exhilerating display of Stallions compered by Lynne Crowden from The Woodlander Stud.
The stallions in the parade were:

Zamboucca – who has a modern, unique pedigree. He has everything you could wish for in a talented top dressage horse.
Woodlander Wavavoom – a five year chestnut stallion – a true cocktail of the best of Woodlander Breeding.
Sforzando – a 3 year old upstanding horse with tremedous activity, a willing temperament and great strength for his age.
Forest Gump ridden by Michel Assouline, who also competed in the Superflex FEI Grand Prix and
Solaris Amorouex – a black 6 year old KWPN Dutch Warmblood who is currently in training with Michel Assouline.

At the end of the parade Ragazzo from the Hartpury Stud came into the Arena to say goodbye as the decision has been taken to retire him as a public breeding stallion. Ragazzo was born on 4th April 1990 at the legendary Gunter Pape’s stud in Germany. He won his stallion performance tests in Germany in 1994 with top score 10 for confirmation, character, temperament, willingness to perform, rideability and canter. He was ‘Champion of the Future’ at the German Stallion Championships in 2006.
In 2000 he was sold to Flyinge, the National stud of Sweden. He was very popular as a sire breeding 145 mares in his first year and was for a while also schoolmaster for the students at Flyinge.
In 2006 Hartpury got the opportunity to lease Ragazzo for a year, then also for 2007 when Flyinge had tempting offers from Germany to buy him back. Luckily we persuaded the Swedes that he would be happier here. As the stud at Hartpury College is primary for the students it is incredibly important that the horses are suitable. We could not have found any better stallion than Ragazzo. He is perfect for the job being incredibly kind not only as a stallion but also as a horse and still very much a stallion. He is dearly loved by all the students who get to handle him.
Ragazzo has proved himself as a consistant producer of top class horses and stamps his progeny with his wonderful temperament. He has several graded sons and more than 100 offspring competing at international level. He can now look forward to a very gracious retirement.

Superflex FEI CDI Grand Prix Freestyle Part I – this was a very exciting competition – Maria Eilberg and Two Sox gave a brilliant performance to win on a score of 72.475, 2nd place went to Henriette Anderson and Louis D’Or 72.100, 3rd place went to Louis Principe for Portugal riding World Performance Washington 68.125.
The presentations were made by Tracey Lloyd of Superflex. NAF Superflex are the Official suppliers to the British Equestrian Teams.

This concluded an extremely successful fourth day.

Report on Day Three of Competition

It was a beautiful sunny day for the third day of the Festival

FEI CPEDI3* International Para Dressage Competition – Sponsored by Markey Group
Prizes were presented by Katie Brookes and Annabelle Pusham representatives from the Markey Group and assisted by the judges.

FEI Para Freestyle Test Grade Ia & Ib

Grade Ib 1st Alison Moore (GBR) riding Just Z 73.850, 2nd Natalie Povey (GBR) riding Westpoint First Lady 73.550, 3rd Ashley Gowanlock (CAN) riding Donny Maskell 68.250

Grade Ia Anne Dunham riding Teddy performed a great test to win on a score of 76.850, =2nd Emma Shearwater (GBR) riding Purdy’s Dream 74.100, =2nd Sophie Christiansen (GBR) riding Rivaldo of Berkeley 74.100.

FEI Para Freestyle Test Grade II
Once again Natasha Baker(GB) and Cabral were in great form and won on a score of 75.800, 2nd place went to Lauren Barwick (CAN) and Off To Paris 74.050 and she also took 3rd place on Ferdonia 2 72.150

FEI Para Freestyle Test Grade III 1st Debroah Criddle (GBR) riding LJT Akilles 72/433, 2nd Nicky Thompson (GBR) riding Welt Santa Cruz 69.567 3rd Emma Kent (GBR) riding Gentle II 67.500.

FEI Para Freestyle Test Grade IV 1st Sophie Wells riding Valerius, 2nd James Dwyer (IRE) riding Orlando 71.200, 3rd Rosemary Gaffney (IRE) riding Aldham Mill Dubloon 71.100.
The prizes for the above have been kindly donated by:
Dodson & Horrell – suppliers of high quality horse feeds, supplements and herbal products donated a selection of braded clothing
B.J. Cowles- Electricians to the College donated satalite navigation systems
J.S. Equine – College contractors donated a selection of yard equipment – skips forks etc.

FEI CPEDI3* Team Competition
1st Great Britain: Sophie Wells, Deborah Criddle, Natasha Baker, Emma Sheardown 218,338
2nd Ireland: Rosemary Gaffney, James Dwyer, Eilish Byrne, Helen Kearney 210.249
3rd Canada: Eleonore Elstone, Lauren Barwick, Jody Schloss, Ashley Gowanlock 204.723
4th Russia: 183.770, 5th Poland: 181.773, 6th New Zealand: 180.183, 7th Hong Kong: 166.935, 8th Singapore: 134.647
Woof Wear kindly donated a selection of over-reach boots, brushing boots and bandages for the Team Championships
Champagne kindly donated by A.J. Lowther & Sons, College Contractors - was presented to best rider under 21 years of age - Anthony Dawson from the Republic of South Africa and to the owner of his horse Sally Andrews

Individual Champion in each Grade:
Grade Ia   Anne Dunham
Grade Ib   Alison Moore
Grade II    Natasha Baker
Grade III   Deborah Criddle
Grade IV   Sophie Wells
Callinan’s Carpets Ltd. providers of all carpeting for the College - kindly donated 5 TV sets which were awarded to each individual Champion.

Overall Champion: Anne Dunham
NAF, DC Butcher, Countrywide, Classic Dressage Collection, Equilibrium Products, Ace Cleaning Services all very generously donated prizes for the Team and Individual Championships.
This has been a fantastic competition. Congratulations to everyone and best of luck at the Para Dressage European Championships at Moorselle, Belgium in August.

FEI CDI3* International Dressage Competition
Equimat FEI Prix St George
The Eilberg family dominated this competition with Michael taking 1st place on Torino on a score of 70.184 and 2nd place went to Maria and Woodlander Rockstar 67.711, 3rd place when to Becky Moody and Wallenstein 67.316.
The prizes were presented by the judge Peter Holler (GER) and Gerald Flannigan of Equimat.

Holiday Inn FEI CDI Grand Prix
A win for Demark - Anders Dahl riding Bukowski produced great performance to win on a score of 70.085, 2nd Henriette Andersen riding Louis D’Or 68.787, 3rd Hannah Biggs riding Weltzin 67.787.
The prizes were presented by the judge Cara Whitham (CAN)

This concluded a very successful third day.

Report on Day Two of Competiton

The second day of the Festival was blessed with brilliant sunshine.

FEI CPEDi3* International Para Dressage Competition –Sponsored by the Markey Group
The Markey Group is currently building an office, classroom and learning resource centre block for agriculture, countryside (game), farm mechanisation and land-based technology students based at the College’s Home Farm. The build is aiming at the highest BREEAM rating. BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become the effective measure used to describe a building's environmental performance.

FEI Para Individual Championship Test Grade III – everyone was up bright and early for a
7.30 a.m. start. Once again Deborah Criddle (GBR) and LJT Akillies were in great form to take 1st position on a score of 72.433, 2nd Nicky Thompson (GBR) riding Welt Santa Cruz 69.567, 3rd Emma Kent (GBR) riding Gentle II 67.500.
Nicky Thompson, who is totally blind, is in her first year in Grade III and this is her second International show this year.

FEI Para Individual Championship Test Grade Ia and Ib
Grade Ia Sophie Christiansen (GBR) and Rivaldo of Berkeley produced an excellent performance to win on a score of 73.650, 2nd Anne Dunham (GBR) and Teddy 72.400, 3rd Emma Sheardown (GBR) and Purdy’s Dream 70.200.
Grade Ib 1st Alison Moore (GBR) riding Just Z 69.478, 2nd Natalie Povey (GBR) riding Westpoint First Lady, 3rd Ashley Gowanlock (CAN) riding Donny Maskell.

FEI Para Individual Championship Test Grade II
1st place went to Natasha Baker (GBR) and Cabral, who have been unbeaten so far this year, on a score of 73.190, 2nd Jo Pitt (GBR) and Estralita 71.857, 3rd Eilish Byrne (IRL) and Youri 71.143.

FEI Para Individual Championship Test Grade IV
1st Sophie Wells (GBR) riding Valerius 70.290, 2nd Rosemary Gaffney (IRE) riding Aldham Mill Dubloon 68.581, 3rd James Dwyer riding Orlando 67.258.

The Team positions at the end of the second day:
1st Great Britain 434.162, 2nd Ireland 419.922, 3rd Canada 402.117, 4th New Zealand 362.759, 5th Poland 361.994, 6th Russia 356.944, 7th Singapore 329.393, 8th Hong Kong 323.179.

Premier League

Advanced 100 2002 – Sponsored by Kempley Catering
Outdoor Parkway Arena 1 - Norma Allard and Red Butler took 1st prize on a score of 68.13, 2nd Belinda Lamble riding Furstenberg, 3rd Zoe Sleigh riding Fantastic Light 65.94.
The prizes were presented by the judge Cara Whitham (CAN) and David Hoggett of Kempley Catering

Advanced 105
1st Aby Hughes and Weronella 64.72, 2nd Emily Stanford and Korenbloem Vincit Omnia 62.50, 3rd Helena Charlesworth and Jukebox Jury 62.08
The prizes were presented by the judge Karin Kruger (DEN)

FEI Grand Prix 2009 Q – Sponsored by City West Commercials Ltd. - Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles for the South West
1st Rhett Bird riding Cascade 64.33, 2nd Rhett Bird riding Donzello 63.55, 3rd Belinda Skipper riding Capetto Vestervay 62.55.
The prizes were presented by the judge Karin Kruger (DEN) and the champagne to the winner owner of was presented by Penelope Lang of Smith & Williamson.

FEI Intermediate I 2009 – Sponsored by Comfort Zone Equestrian
Michael Eilberg and Woodlander Dornroshen continued on their winning streak by taking 1st position on a score of 73.07, 2nd Ulrik Molgaard and Michigan 67.63, 3rd Emily Harris and Washington 103 66.75.

This concluded a very successful second day.

Report on Day One of Competition

Set amongst the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside Hartpury College is looking forward to the next five days of World Class Dressage in which over 300 horses will compete.

Premier League
The FEI Prix St Georges 2009 Q - sponsored by Huish Horseboxes, was the first competition to get the Festival underway in the outdoor Parkway Arena 1. This was won by Michael Eilberg riding Woodlander Dornroshen, winners of this competition last year, with a score of 71.84, 2nd Isobel Wessels riding Chagall 67.98, 3rd Ruth Edge riding Zero 66.93.

The prizes were presented by Eduard De Wolff Van Westerrode (NED), and Megan Dennis of Huish Horseboxes.

Teviot Design Advanced Medium 85 – sponsored by Teviot Equine Design. Peter Storr and Labiat were the clear winners with a score of 75.29, 2nd Jacky Stolper and Exposito 73.53, 3rd Lucy Cartwright and Waterloo V 71.18. Georgina Starkie and Fantango, were the first to go in the competition and held on to the lead right up to the last few horses, finished in 4th place on a score of 70.00.

FEI Intermediate II 2009 Q – sponsored by Barnsby Saddlery
Michel Eilberg has his second win of the day riding Half Moon Delphi with a score of 71.49, 2nd place Vicki Thompson-Winfield riding OEC Papillion 67.54, 3rd Belinda Skipper riding Capetto Vestervay 63.68.
The prizes were presented by the judge Karin Kruger (DEN) and James Hitchin of Barnsby Saddlery.

Advanced Medium 98 2002 WQ – sponsored by Lovington Ice
1st Christian Landolt riding his own and Nicole Landolt’s Don Jovi 71.58, 2nd Peter Storr riding Labiat 70.53, 3rd Theresa Smyth riding Holme Grove Bernini 68.42.
The prizes were presented by the judge Judith Harris (GBR)

The winning owner in each Premier League class during the Festival will receive a bottle of champagne, generously donated by Smith & Williamson.

FEI CPEDI3* International Para Dressage kindly sponsored by the Markey Group.
The Markey Group have worked with Hartpury College for over 12 years with their construction company and by providing off site accommodation which can house the many students enrolling for the College developed under the ‘Move in With Markey.

FEI Para Team Test Grade IV was the first competition to get this Festival underway in the Indoor Arena. Rosemary Gaffney for Ireland riding Aldham Mill Dubloon took 1st place with a score of 68.375, James Dwyer (IRE) riding Orlando finished 2nd 68.219, 3rd Sophie Wells (GBR) riding Valerius 67.438.

FEI Para Team Test Grade III - 10 competitors took part and the clear winner was Deborah Criddle (GBR) riding LJT Akilles with a score of 72.926, 2nd Nicky Thompson (GBR) riding Welt Santa Cruz 68.444, 3rd Emma Kent (GBR) riding Gentle II 66.444.

FEI Para Team Test Grade II
1st Natasha Baker (GBR) riding Cabral 73.000, 2nd Jo Pitt (GBR) riding Estralita 72.619, 3rd Erin Orford (GBR) riding Nirvana Morroko 71.810

FEI Para Team Test Grades la & lb
Grade lb 1st place went to Alison Moore (GBR) and Just Z 72.409, 2nd Natalie Povey (GBR) and Westpoint First Lady 70.727, 3rd Ashley Gowanlock (CAN) and Donny Maskell 68.682
Grade la 1st British team gold medalist at WEG Sophie Christiansen (GBR) riding Rivaldo of Berkley 74.294, 2nd place Anne Dunham (GBR) riding Teddy 73.471, 3rd place to Emma Sheardown riding Purdy’s Dream

Teams positions: 1st Great Britain, 2nd Ireland, 3rd Canada

This concluded the end of very successful first day