NEWS

South East Dressage Championship Report by Elly Schobel

The South East Championships were held December 9/10, 2006 at the well known Clarcona Show Grounds. According to Show Secretary Sandra Trussell, the show was full which lead to waiting lists for some of us (including this reporter).

Friday was one of those crazy Florida days - lots of wind, the temperature dropped and dropped - Klaus Fraessdorf, the long time organizer of this show informed us over the PA, that the forecast was calling for low to mid 30's - well, the permanent stalls at Clarcona are great for hot days, with their airy design, but when it is cold and windy, it is a different story.

The footing in the FEI ring was good, except for the corners at C - too much water which resulted in deep puddles - I mentioned this to Klaus who immediately spoke to the park supervisor - it's great to have such a pro-active organizer. Saturday brought sunshine and milder temperatures - both rings started at 8 AM, with judges Marianne Ludwig in Ring 1, Joan Humphries in Ring 2 - they did swap rings on Sunday.

Horse and rider combinations which caught my attention were Partouche, owned and ridden by 23 year old Oregonian Jessica Rattner - jetblack, with outstanding walk and canter, this 10 year old gelding and his rider won both the PSG and Intermediare 1 (the first for both). Jessica has been a working student for a number of well known FEI trainers and is currently working for Anne Gribbons. Anne's long time Assistant trainer Tamra Brown rode the gorgeous Dutch FEI breeding stallion Leoliet to third place in PSG on Saturday and second behind Jessica in Intermediare 1 on Sunday - a accomplished rider and trainer in her own right, it was wonderful to see Tamra out and about.

Anne Gribbons herself won Intermediare 2, GP and GP Special on her 10 year old Swedish gelding Alazan, who according to her is the Equine version of a Jack Russell - bright, athletic and a bit cheeky.

Another successful rider was Jules Anderson with her US bred gelding Leopold Q - the winners of the 2005 North American Breeder Futurity for 4 year olds and the 2006 Five year old Born in the US Award Winner at the Markel Young Horse Championship, this talented horse won Fourth level, test 1 with a whopping 70 %, and the Third Level, Test 3 with 69 +.

Jill Hardt and Leslie Feakins's 6 year old eye catching New Forrest Pony stallion Forrest Flame were successful in Saturday's Third Level, test 3 - Jill is a positive thinking rider who brings out the best in her horses - this pony stallion is the perfect example.

Highlife Farms' resident Dressage Trainer Tracy Masterson could not have had a lot of time for relaxation. Everytime I looked up, she was on another horse - Der Euro, Der Dollar, Ferdonia 2 or Flamboyant - Der Dollar, the approved and licensed 3 years old full brother to Der Euro (you may remember, that Der Euro sold for 300.000 Euro in 2002 to Joan Sims of Highlife Farm, Orlando and won the 2002 German Bundeschampionat for 4 years old) was the High Score Champion of this show. In September he was the 3 year old Materiale and in-hand Champion at the prestigious Dressage at Devon.

Michael Poulin brought 2 exciting FEI horses to the show - Champagne, 9 year old chestnut Hanoverian mare who won the South East PSG Championship and Lawool, a 13 year old Dutch gelding who won the FEI test of Choice. His daughter Katherine Poulin-Neff's 20 year old TB gelding Herb Commander carried his rider Marie DiBiccari to success in Third and Fourth level.

Susanne Bene, a fully licensed and trained German Riding Instructor now living with her American husband in Satellite Beach, FL successfully rode a number of horses (Silver, Roger Rabbit and One Night Stand) and impressed this reporter with her warm-ups and correctness of riding in the tests.

The Clarcona Show Grounds will host a number of prestigious shows over the next few months, such as the German Alliance Cup, the Zada Cup and the Heidelberg Cup. We will be covering all of these events for you. On Saturday evening I was able to observe the Shuttle launch and it caped off another great weekend in sunny Florida.

Have a wonderful Holiday season !

By Elly Schobel (www.thehomestedt.com)

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