DRESSAGE

Please click here for the  Dressage Draw
Dressage at the Kelt Capital promises an air of anticipation as several exciting new combinations across all the levels prepare to contest the coveted Horse of the Year titles and Zilco National Leaderboards.

It will be a truly international affair with experienced FEI “O” Judges Anne Gribbons (USA) Mary Seefried (AUS) and Peter Holler (GER) confirmed, plus invitations to Australian horses and riders, and German riders who will contest the International Derby.

Anne Gribbons is a native of Sweden who has been active in dressage in the United States since 1972. She has trained and shown over a dozen of her own horses to Grand Prix, nine of which were USET long listed. In 1995, she was a member of the Pan American Silver Medal team in Argentina, and she also represented the USET at the North American Championships in 1985 and the World Championships in 1986. She has officiated at prestigious shows in Europe, including the FEI World Cup Finals in Dusseldorf and the Stuttgart CHIO, and numerous CDI’s, Olympic, World Game and Panam Trials in North America. She was also a member of the World Cup jury in Las Vegas in 2007.

Peter Holler runs a Public Relations business and trains several riders. He is an I status FEI Judge and has judged at major shows including the German Championships, World Championships for Young Horses, European Championships for Juniors and Young Riders, and CDIOs and CDI***s in Wiesbaden, Frankfurt, Dortmund, Oldenburg, Bremen, Hagen, Oslo, Arhus, Marianske Lazne, Athens, Saumur, Hartpury, Vejer de la Fronteira, Lipica, Minsk, Wellington (USA), Ottawa and Blainville (Can) etc.

Mary Seefried completes the International Panel. She has recently been elected as President of the Equestrian Federation of Australia.

Thanks to the Hatton Estate an Australasian record prize pool for a dressage competition is again up for grabs at the 2009 Kelt Capital. An extraordinary $30,000 pool is offered for the Grand Prix Musical Freestyle with $10,000 to the winner. This will be the first opportunity NZL dressage combinations have to gain a qualifying score for the Kentucky World Games 2010.

Dressage in the main oval will be dominated by musical freestyles – horses and riders having a chance to express their personality in the artistic section, but also requiring strong technical skills to score well in front of such an experienced panel of judges.

Please click here for Dressage conditions and schedules.