"Succes" Defines Raleigh CDI-W/Y/J; U.S. Breeders Take Top Honors Among Aspiring Young Horses
RELEASE: June 5, 2008
AUTHOR/ADMINISTRATOR: By Suzanne Mullen
For the 17th year running, the Raleigh CDI-W/Y/J and Capital Dressage Classic sponsored by the NCDCTA, proved to be a weekend not to be missed for top international dressage competitors and supporters. The steamy weather scarcely dampened the electric atmosphere of this crucial qualifying competition for top riders from the U.S., Europe, and Hong Kong who are vying for a chance to represent their country at the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2009 FEI World Cup Final. In addition, riders from the U.S. were also competing to earn qualifying scores for the 2008 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Dressage Grand Prix Championship; 2008 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Dressage Intermediare I Championship; 2008 North American Junior and Young Riders Championships (NAJYRC); and Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Junior/Young Rider and Brentina Cup championships. Also this was a qualifying competition for the USEF National Developing Horse Dressage Championship, sponsored by the Dutta Corp & PSI.
This weekend also featured a hotly contested competition among breeders of future dressage stars with the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Eastern Selection Trial for the 2008 FEI World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Dressage.
Lars Peterson of Denmark wasn’t trying to qualify for the 2008 Olympics, but he showed international star power Saturday night with his grand prix musical freestyle on the grey DWB gelding Succes. Choreographed to perfection to a whimsical selection of cartoon themes, the flowing ride showed off Succes’s lightness and athleticism, delighting the crowd and the judges who gave it the winning score of 74.2%.
“He is normally a very spooky and hot horse, but today he was hot, but he stayed with me the whole way, then he can really show off his talent—it was really fun. I really like this show. I’ve been in this country for six years, and I’ve been here every year. It has a little bit more of an international atmosphere because of the indoor, good footing. We particularly like to come here.”
George Williams of the U.S., always a crowd favorite in Raleigh with his Westphalian mare Rocher, was second with a 69.8%, followed by Tara Stegen with New Tango with a 67.7% and North Carolina’s own Joe Sandven and his Hannoverian gelding Rachmaninoff with 66.9%
The competition among the grand prix riders was close throughout the weekend, with the top spots in the other FEI grand prix classes claimed by different teams, rather than a single horse and rider dominating the weekend. Michael Barisone who has enjoyed a lot of recent success with his DWB gelding Neruda won the FEI grand prix class of 16 with a 67%, while Jane Hannigan was the winner of the FEI grand prix special with a 65.8% on Maksymilian.
While world-class competitions such as the Raleigh CDI-W/Y/J may have only a fraction of the number of grand prix riders and horses of comparable CDI competitions taking place in Europe—which often boast 50 or more FEI grand prix competitors—longtime “O” Judge Barnabas Mandi of Hungary was none-the-less very complimentary of show organizer Janine Malone and her team from the NCDCTA, saying it definitely belonged on the calendar of top FEI competitions.
“This is a very well organized competition. The volunteers are working very well, the scribers are excellent and the hospitality and the atmosphere [are] great. I think this competition has its own significance. [In addition to getting needed qualifying scores] grand prix riders can check where the actual stage of the training of the horse [is], where is the actual capacity, and how can we improve for the future.”
Among the other classes closely watched and contested were the intermediare I class won by Lars Peterson on Chicco Roslev with a 64.9; the intermediare freestyle topped by Lauren Sprieser and Clairvoya with a 65.65.
In the qualifying competiton for the NAJ