New Zealand and Australian eventers now have chance to compete for a share of US$180,000 in the HSBC FEI World Cup.
The FEI announced yesterday a new and exciting format for the HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing series. Riders will now be competing for a top 15 place in the overall standings to take home a share of the US$180,000 prize pool on offer, rather than having to travel to Europe to compete in the Final. Riders are allowed to compete in as many qualifiers as they like, but only the best two results will count towards the final ranking.
Event organising committees of the New Zealand and Australian rounds of the HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing qualifiers have welcomed the announcement saying it will make the series far more equitable and attractive to Australia and New Zealand riders. In the previous years riders and their horses would have had to travel to Europe to compete in the Final and a chance for the major prizes.
“This new format means that riders who place well at two qualifiers – such as Kihikihi in New Zealand (2-4 Apr) and Sydney in Australia (7-9 May) have a really good chance of collecting a share of the significant prize pool” said Bruce Bason, Kihikihi Event Director. “We expect that the new format will see riders on both sides of the Tasman travel to Kihikihi and Sydney in order to secure maximum points and increase their chances of being in the top 15” added Bruce.
“Unfortunately Megan Jones winner of both the New Zealand and Australian qualifiers last year could not go to the Final in Poland due to lengthy quarantine requirements, if this system applied last year, Megan would have placed 3rd overall (just 8 points behind the overall winner) and received a $US23,000 prize in addition to the significant prize money she collected at Kihikihi and Sydney” added Rose Read, Sydney Event Director.
Kiwi and Aussie riders who travel across the Tasman to compete at either Kihikihi or Sydney will receive assistance with local travel, stabling and accommodation costs during by each event organsing committee.
Full details of the revised rules can be found on the FEI website www.horsesport.org.
USA Dressage Olympian Courtney King-Dye suffered a skull fracture and is in a coma following a fall last week. The fall left Courtney in a coma.
Courtney was injured while schooling a horse in Loxahatchee, prior to the Palm Beach Dressage Derby that was being held last weekend. It is understood that one of the horse’s hind feet stepped on the other and then he sat down and tipped over sidewards. Courtney ended under him, still in her tack.
It is unknown when Courtney might awake from her coma.
Courtney often wears a helmet, but she was not in this instance.
As a result, Grand Prix rider Heather Blitz has started a campaign that urges dressage riders to wear helmets, as she requires her students to do.
Courtney’s tragic accident has also lead to a push for safety helmets to be compulsory in dressage competition. Many dressage riders at the weekend’s Derby event wore helmets.
I thought I’d let you know about a horse riding holiday place that I have been to over the years.
Yarrabin is a horse and sheep country estate located 24 kilometres from Bathurst. It is one of Australia’s most acclaimed trail riding places and it over 1,000 hectares of gum forests, open paddocks and beautiful scenery.
Most visitors to Yarrabin opt to join in the riding aspects of the trip. While there are other activities to do such as bush walking and gold panning, I probably wouldn’t go to Yarrabin if I wasn’t planning to ride.
There are usually two rides a day, together with some half day and full day rides. Guided rides are provided around bushland areas and open paddocks, with plenty of opportunities for a good canter/gallop (if you wish) and to enjoy amazing views of the surrounding areas and wildlife. There are also opportunities to try sheep herding for all those city folk!
There are over 30 horses to suit all levels of riders and experienced wranglers fully supervise all rides. I have been to Yarrabin with beginners, nervous riders and experienced riders – all who have had safe and enjoyable riding experiences.
If you prefer to ride in your jods, you certainly do not feel out of place at Yarrabin. On the other hand, if you don’t have riding gear, boots and helmets are provided.
Three big country meals are provided each day, and you will definitely feel the need to eat up for the rides. And, if you don’t feel like you have coped so well with the hours in the saddle, you might find the spa a great place to go straight after.
Accommodation is in units, which while are nothing fancy, they definitely serve their purpose.
If you are unable to drive to Yarrabin, the staff kindly offer to collect you from Bathurst airport or railway station, as long as you make arrangements with them.
Yarrabin has special packages throughout the year, including for kids riding camps, horsemanship workshops and adults only weekends (the latter, I highly recommend).
Brett Parbery and Victory Salute leave for Europe this week, in preparation for the FEI World Cup Dressage Final. Brett and Victory Salute were the winners of the Pacific League World Cup Final.
The FEI World Cup Dressage Final will be held from 25 to 28 March 2010 at s-Hertongenbosch in the Netherlands. Brett will be based in Holland before the event.
FEI has announced the launch of its first ever official mobile application.
“FEI EquiTests”, developed in close cooperation with Canada-based e-learning and visual communication design specialists Numen Communications Inc., is a mobile application designed to help riders learn, reference and practice FEI Dressage tests.
“FEI EquiTests”is available worldwide through the Apple iTunes store under FEI license.
For each test, the application allows iPhone and iPod users to:
-read the test instructions along with the marking criteria;
-view dressage animation diagrams that outline the movements of the test;
-record and play readings of the test that re perfectly timed to match the user’s individual horses and the arena in which they are practising;
-reference the official dressage test score sheet to see where the judges’ emphasis is;
-get better understanding of the FEI Rules as PDFs of the rulebooks on topics such as movement definitions, competition rules, dress code, judging and veterinary inspection are available;
-keep up to date with the latest dressage news through the FEI news feed.
FEI EquiTests 1 is available for free, so that riders and coaches may evaluate the features available. This application includes all features related to one sample test: the globally used FEI Young Riders Individual Competition Test.
FEI Equitests 2 includes all the most recent 2009 FEI Eventing Dressage Tests and is available for only USD 9.99.
Additional versions of FEI EquiTests featuring FEI Dressage and FEI Para-Equestrian Dressage tests will be launched later this year.
Horseland is having a warehouse clean up sale, with savings of up to 75 per cent on thousands of products.
Winter and summer rugs, saddles, jodpurs, boots and clothing are on sale. There are excess and overstocks to clear from every department, plus samples and seconds.
The sale is on Friday 26 February – Sunday 7 March 2010, 9am – 5pm daily, at Hawkesbury Showgrounds, Racecourse Road, Clarendon.
The composition of the FEI working group tasked with expanding current guidelines for Stewards to facilitate clear implementation of the policy on warm-up techniques following on from last week’s round-table conference on hyperflexion/Rolkur has been finalised today.
As announced after last week’s conference in Lausanne, the working group will be chaired by Dressage Committee Chair Frank Kemperman. Group members are Richard Davison (GBR), Rider/Trainer; John P. Roche (IRL), FEI Director Jumping/Stewarding; Jacques Van Daele (BEL), FEI Honorary Dressage Steward General/Judge; Wolfram Wittig (GER), Trainer; and Trond Asmyr (NOR), FEI Dressage Director/Judge. The working group will also draw on the expertise of a number of other specialists, including but not limited to the participants of the round-table conference. The working group aims to have the guidelines completed by the end of March 2010.
The guidelines produced by the group will be communicated directly to Stewards and also to riders and trainers. The working group is expected to put forward further proposals for the education of Stewards to ensure that FEI rules are strictly adhered to and that the welfare of the horse is maintained at all times.
Guidelines for Stewards will incorporate the use of a range of sanctions, including verbal warnings and yellow cards for riders who transgress. Stewards will also be readvised to watch out for signs of distress in the horse, which may include but are not limited to obvious fatigue, profound or inappropriate sweating, persistent rough use of aids (i.e. bits, spurs or whip) and over-repetition of exercises.
The FEI Management is also currently studying a range of additional measures, including the use of closed circuit television for warm-up arenas at selected shows so that potential abuse accusations can be more readily identified and recorded.
The FEI will ensure that all findings produced by the working group are communicated on an ongoing basis.
The manufacturer of Dublin Onyx helmets wishes to voluntarily recall all Black or White basic Dublin Onyx helmets for inspection due to a possible manufacturing fault.
The outer shell is coming away from the foam inner mould due to insufficient gluing at point of manufacture. This problem affects only the basic Dublin Onyx Helmet in Black & White (item codes: 441218 – 441241) and does not affect Purple Onyx helmets, wick lined or leather harness versions.
The problem only affects stock made in China, not previous stock made in New Zealand. You can identify if your helmet was made in China by looking for the internal sewn in label with “Made in China” on the reverse side.
If you have purchased this item since December 1st 2009, please contact the store of purchase urgently to arrange inspection of your helmet.
Note to all gear check stewards - It is recommended that for any forthcoming events, stewards ask each rider to read the recall notice and confirm they have checked their helmet accordingly before competing.
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