Dressage Judges’ Retirement Age May Go To 72 from 70 Years of Age as Sport Undergoes Dramatic Makeover

The 2012 Olympic Games ground jury and officials. © Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

Nov. 18, 2015

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

The retirement age of dressage judges may go to 72 from the current limit of 70 years at the same time the sport has undergone a dramatic makeover in the past five years to keep younger riders in the sport and recognize the role of amateurs.

A move by Austria to raise the retirement age of judges in all categories to 72 but continue to allow extensions “in special circumstances” was proposed at the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) General Assembly last week on the grounds it has not changed for many years although life expectancy and retirement ages in most countries has increased.

“In the 1970s, we had approximately eight years of retirement and nowadays it is up to 22 years,” according to the proposal.

Although it was deferred to the FEI Sports Forum next April, the changed face of dressage may impact the retirement consideration as well as other aspects of judging to keep pace with demands and maintain development aimed at assuring dressage and other horse sports stay in the Olympic Games beyond Tokyo in 2020.

The number of FEI approved judges stands at a total of about 165–18 at 2*, 40 at 3*, 83 at 4* and 32 at the top 5* level, according to a derssage-news.com calculation of the list of FEI officials.

Judges come from more than 40 nations to be on ground juries that at CDI Grand Prix events are typically made up of a minimum of three foreign judges.

The United States has the greatest number of judges with 16, including four 5*s, followed by Germany with 13 including five 5*s, France with 12 (three 5*s), Netherlands 11 (five 5*s), Australia, Denmark and Great Britain each with eight, Russia and Sweden with six and Canada Belgium, South Africa and Spain have five each.

Some countries where no CDIs are scheduled for 2016 such as Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Luxembourg, Peru, Philippines, Thailand and United Arab Emirates have judges, part of the campaign to expand the base outside traditional dressage nations.

The sweeping makeover of dressage came after the 2008 Olympic Games where serious missteps in judging and organization by officials led to the then judge-dominated FEI Dressage Committee being disbanded. A task force was created to re-format the sport with a new Dressage Committee representing different stakeholder groups such as riders, trainers, organizers and judges.

Beginning in 2011, major championships such as the Olympics, World and European Championships and the World Cup Final had seven judges spread around the competition arena instead of five previously.

To answer demands for instant reviews, a three-member Judges Supervisory Panel (JSP) watches championship rides and views video replays of movements with the right to make some changes to the scores. The right of the JSP to make changes has been expanded over the past couple of years, and the media is provided some information about the changes after the event.

However, the biggest changes may have come with the changed makeup of shows.

In 2010, there were about 136 CDI competitions in 30 countries on the FEI calendar. Most of the events ranged from CDI1* to CDI5* Grand Prix, with a number of junior, young rider and young horse divisions.

The single FEI list ranked 610 combinations in the world.

By 2016, the number of shows had risen more than 18 per cent to 161, including increases in CDI5* and CDI4* competitions with bigger prize money.

The Under-25 division will explode to 59 competition in 14 countries in 2016 from a total of just nine in Germany, France, Netherlands and Italy in 2010. The United States leads the way with 19 competitions with 10 in Spain and seven in France in 2016.

The CDI amateur division that did not exist until this year when it was inaugurated at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida moves into 2016 with 11 competitions in the U.S. and nine in Spain among at least six nations with a total of about 28.

An example is the Nations Cup event in Wellington that just two years ago encompassed six different divisions but in 2016 is scheduling nine divisions from the main team competition to ponies.

Rankings have also grown enormously, from 765 on the main world list to 131 on newly created Under-25 count, 374 young riders, 438 juniors, 241 pony riders and 74 in the children’s division.

Royal Gem Bred by late Lloyd Landhamer to be Competed by Missy Fladland at Dutta Corp. US Championships

Royal Gem ridden by Melissa Fladland. © 2015 SusanJStickle

Nov. 16, 2015

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

When Royal Gem goes down the centerline at the Dutta Corp. United States Intermediate Freestyle Championships next month Melissa Fladland will be riding to honor the late Lloyd Landkamer who bred the Oldenburg gelding.

But for the cancer that took his life at the age of 60 this fall, Lloyd would have been the manager of the championships at the Global Dressage Festival grounds in Wellington, Florida.

Royal Gem by Rubin-Royal out of a Renaissance mare and now 10 years old was one of several dressage horses that Lloyd and Bill Solyntjes, his life partner, bred at their Brandywine Farm in Hamel outside Minneapolis.

He will be one of three American-bred horses competing at the championships, all in the Small Tour division. The others are Whirlpool, a 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding, ridden by Melissa Jackson of Parrish, Florida and Festivo RS, a 10-year-old P.R.E. (Pura Raza Española) stallion competed by  Emily Copeland of Loxahatchee, Florida.

Melissa, or “Missy,” lives in the tiny community of Griswold, Iowa an hour east of Omaha where the World Cup Final will be staged for the first time in 2017. She qualified “Gem” at CDIs on the East Coast, including Devon last month where she debuted the Freestyle choreographed specially for Lloyd.

Lloyd was one of the most popular show managers in the United States who for years organized several championships and numerous horse shows and was well-known on both sides of the Atlantic as manager of dressage at the World Games in Kentucky in 2010 and was organizer of the Global circuit from its inception five years ago.

Missy has been working regularly with Bill Solyntjes when she was looking for a horse for her clients, Bill and Marcia Young in 2010.

“We knew that Bill and Lloyd were so good in selecting their bloodlines when breeding, not only for athletic ability, but for their mind too,” she said, “so we knew Gem would be a ‘gem. We have never looked back and it has been a great journey so far.”

In 2012, the pair competed at national levels throughout the Midwest. The highlight that year was scoring almost 82 percent at first level and winning the regional Training level championships.

The next two years were focused on preparing to go to Florida for the season of 12 weeks of national competitions and seven CDIs in the winter of 2015. She showed Gem at 4^th level during the season to keep his confidence and build strength.

“Gem progressed super over the summer,” the 44-year-old Missy said, “and in the early fall of 2015 it was time to put our foot into the CDI ring. I was really hoping to make it to Devon as Lloyd usually runs that show and I wanted him and Bill to see their boy go. We headed back east in September and were entered in our first CDI together.

“Our first one out was a bit shaky but we forged forward and we both gained confidence and learned a lot from it. In the meantime we had gotten into Devon and now had a little over a week to clean up some things in our tests as well as finish up our freestyle. Gem and I were training hard and things were coming together.

“I remember it so vividly, it was a week before Devon and I was standing in the grooming stall with Gem and his Rolfer (a system designed to improve alignment and movement of the body) while she worked on him. I had just put a call in to Bill to update him and Lloyd, but did not get an answer.

“Instead I got a text back that simply said. ‘I’m with Lloyd, I’ll call you later.’  I knew Lloyd had been struggling lately but did not know how bad it was. Later that night Bill sent me a text that Lloyd had passed. I just broke down and cried.

“I was not super close to Lloyd, but did count him as a friend. No matter how busy he was, if I needed anything, he would always help me find a solution, answer a question, impart wisdom to help me learn, and sometimes scold me when I had done something without thinking that ended up making his job harder. However, he always explained why he scolded me so I could learn and not do it again. He was truly a very generous man who wanted to help others learn and then watch them become successful.”

She will show the Freestyle one more time–at the Festival of Champions in Wellington Dec 8-13.

-0-

This report was prepared by dressage-news.com and presented by Cunningham & Cunningham Livestock Insurance.

USA Dutta Corp. Grand Prix & Intermediate Championship Horses & Riders Confirmed

Steffen Peters on Legolas and Laura Graves on Verdades at the 2014 U.S. Championships. © Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Nov. 15, 2015–The top 18 Grand Prix horses and riders and nine Intermediate combinations have been confirmed for the Dutta Corp. Festival of Champions to be staged for the first time in Wellington, Florida Dec. 8-12.

Steffen Peters and Legolas, No. 9 in the world, and Laura Graves and Verdades that won team gold and individual gold and silver medals, respectively, at the Pan American Games and earned a start for the United States at next summer’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will lead off the Grand national championships.

Steffen of San Diego, California and Legolas–he will also bring the eight year old mare, Rosamunde–won the title for each of the past three years. Laura of Plymouth, Florid and Verdades were reserve champion last year, the first appearance for the partnership that placed fifth in the World Games Freestyle in 2014.

The championships will kick off the most intensive period of individuals seeking to qualify for the U.S, team with the California and Florida winter circuits starting a month later after which a squad of about eight combinations will go to Europe for the final selection stage.

Confirmed entries for the Dutta Corp./USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship
–Katherine Bateson-Chandler of Wellington & Jane F. Clark’s Alcazar, 10, KWPN gelding
–Allison Brock of Wellington with Fritz & Claudine Kundrun’s Rosevelt, 13, KWPN stallion
–Susan Dutta of Wellington with Tim and Susan Dutta’s Currency DC, 15, Oldenburg gelding
–Shelly Francis of Loxahatchee, Florida with Patricia Stempel’s Danilo, 11, Hanoverian gelding
–Shelly Francis and Doktor, 12. Oldenburg gelding
–Laura Graves of Plymouth, Florida with her own Verdades, 13, KWPN gelding
–Catherine Haddad-Staller of Califon, New Jersey with Rowan O’Riley’s Mane Stream Hotmail, 13, Oldenburg gelding
–Charlotte Jorst of Reno, Nevada with her own Kastel’s Nintendo, 12, KWPN stallion
–Tracey Lert of Scotts Valley, California and her own Udo, 14, KWPN gelding
–Beatrice Marienau of Oak Creek, Colorado with her own Stefano 8, 16, KWPN gelding
–Kimberly McGrath of Redlands, California with Arianthi Ferronato’s Winslow, 12, KWPN gelding
–Heather Oleson of Eagle, Idaho with her own Victor, 13, KWPN gelding
–Arlene Page of Wellington with her own Alina, 17, Danish Warmblood mare
–Arlene Page with her own Woodstock, 12, KWPN gelding
–Steffen Peters of San Diego, California with Four Winds Farm’s Legolas 92, 13, Westfalen gelding
–Steffen Peters and Four Winds Farm’s Rosamunde, 8, Rhineland mare
–Günter Seidel of Cardiff, California with James & Charlotte Mashburn’s Zero Gravity, 11, KWPN gelding
–Alice Tarjan of Oldwick, New Jersey and her own Elfenfeuer, 8, Oldenburg mare

Confirmed entries for the Dutta Corp./USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship
–Emily Copeland of Loxahatchee, Florida with her own Festivo RS, 10, P.R.E. (Pura Raza Española) stallion
–Shelly Francis with Patricia Stempel’s Rubinio, 9, Westfalen gelding
–Melissa Fladland of Griswold, Iowa with her own Royal Gem, 10, Oldenburg gelding
–Melissa Jackson of Parrish, Florida with Laura Eyre’s Whirlpool, 12, Hanoverian gelding
–Jane Karol of Concord, Massachusetts with her own Sunshine Tour, 8, Oldenburg mare
–Dorothy Morkis of Dover, Massachusetts with her own Artiest, 10, KWPN gelding
–Cesar Parra of Whitehouse Station with his own and Cavallias’ Blickpunkt 4, 10, Westfalen stallion
–Katie Riley of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey with Heather Hornor’s Toy Story, 9, KWPN gelding
–Christina Vinios of Wellington with her own Folkestone, 9, Oldenburg gelding

The tentative schedule at the Global Dressage Festival grounds in Wellington is:

Tuesday, Dec. 8–Veterinary check for both Grand Prix/Intermediaire horses
Wednesday, Dec. 9–Grand Prix with $6,000 prize money/Prix St. Georges with $2,000
Thursday, Dec. 10–Grand Prix Special $6,000/Intermediare 1 $2,000
Friday, Dec. 11–No competition
Saturday, Dec. 12 – Grand Prix Freestyle $8,000/Intermediaire Freestyle $1,000

Although the championships are not a CDI, international rules are being followed so it meets Olympic qualifying standards, including a ground jury of five with three foreign judges.

The ground jury comprises Gary Rockwell (5*) USA, President – Linda Zang (5*) USA – Hans Christian Matthiesen (5*) Denmark – Peter Holler (5*) Germany – Christof Umbach (4*) Luxembourg

Carol Lavell Gifted Memorial Fund Makes Grants to Adult Amateurs

Cecilia Cox with Winnie Too and Janne Rumbough. Photo Courtesy: Mikala Gundersen

LINCOLN, Nebraska, Nov. 14, 2015–The Dressage Foundation announced nine recipients each receiving $1,000 from the Carol Lavell Gifted Memorial Fund Scholarships for Adult Amateurs.

They are:

–Christine Dickenson of Pennsylvania and her Oldenburg, Qhuo Vadis, will train with Pierre St. Jacques;

–Emily Hadden Morris of Pennsylvania and her American Hanoverian, Poseidon HF, will train with Phoebe DeVoe Moore;

–Lindsay Saad of West Virginia and her Hanoverian/TB, Gadget to train with Kristin Stein;

–Joanna Simonton of Florida and her Thoroughbred, Andiamo, will train with Greta Wrigley;

–Jean Rude of Iowa and her Oldenburg, Hot-Royal Hit, will train with Patti Becker;

–Dian Seabury of Arizona and her Andalusian, Calisto, will train with Shelly Lawder;

–Laurie Daniel-Smith of California and her Irish Draught Sport Horse, Keela, will train with Julie Thomas;

–Cecilia Cox of Texas and her American Warmblood, Winnie Too will train with Whit Watkins.

–Carrie Chaffin of Texas and her Holsteiner, Rijkens will train with Lyndon Rife.

“Eddie” Jose Eduardo Garcia Luna, Groom for Steffen Peters, Named FEI 2015 Best

“Eddie” Jose Eduardo Garcia Luna, the groom for horses ridden by America’s No. 1 rider Steffen Peters, was named the FEI Best Groom for 2015. Photo Courtesy Steffen Peters

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

“Eddie” Jose Eduardo Garcia Luna, the groom for horses ridden by America’s No. 1 rider Steffen Peters, on Friday night was named the International Equestrian Federation’s FEI Best Groom for 2015.

The award honoring what was described as “the all-important, behind-the-scenes team members who work around the clock to provide best possible care and attention to equine athletes was presented to Eddie by Hollywood actress Bo Derek, chair of the jury for this year’s awards. It was made at a banquet wrapping up the annual FEI General Assembly meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Eddie has been a groom for Steffen at his San Diego, California base for 10 years.

The rider described Eddie as also “the mentor and sounding board for other staff and grooms. He sets himself apart from his peers by being the person who brings the team together—by sharing his expertise in equine care, his good sense of humor or by demonstrating sportsmanship while doing the most lackluster tasks.”

Eddie is the father of two children. Stefanie and Leonardo. He was born in Mexico but is a permanent resident of the United States.

“Radical Changes” to Olympic Equestrian Formats Outlined at FEI General Assembly

FEI President Ingmar De Vos (left) leading discussions on proposed changes to Olympic competition formats with Frank Kemperman (dressage), John Madden (jumping) and Giuseppe Della Chiesa (eventing). © 2015 FEI/Richard Juilliart

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Nov. 12, 2015–Changes to the Olympic formats of dressage, eventing and jumping that the International Equestrian Federation(FEI) described as “radical” were outlined to national federations Thursday.

Equestrian sports were already undergoing change, said FEI President Ingmar De Vos, but were accelerated by the so-called Olympic Agenda 2020 being implemented by the International Olympic Committee ahead of the Games in Tokyo in 2020. Proposed change were reported earlier by dressage-news.com and are available here.

“Olympic Agenda 2020 is a driving force in this process,” he told the organization’s General Assembly holding its annual meeting here, “but even prior to that we already knew that changes needed to be made to our formats and the presentation of our sport.

“But why do we want to change our formats and the way our sport is presented? The answer is really quite simple, because we want to remain relevant in today’s ever changing sporting landscape and gain the exposure and visibility our sport deserves.

“As the IOC President aptly said at the IOC Session in Monaco last December, ‘to change or to be changed, that is the question.’ This is why we are here today, to lead that change.

“We need to take advantage of the excitement and drama of our sport, make it easier to understand, attract young and larger audiences, be broadcast friendly and see more nations represented in our sport.”

The goal was to move from sport-based to event-based Olympic program in Tokyo 2020.

Frank Kemperman, chairman of the Dressage Committee, John Madden for jumping and Giuseppe Della Chiesa for eventing outlined proposed changes.

Harmonizing Olympic equestrian sport with a cap of three team members across the three disciplines was one of the key proposals, with the by-product of increasing the number of flags at the Olympic Games. Separating individual and team events and removing team drop scores were also put forward.

Under the new proposals, dressage would have a total of 15 teams and 15 individual athletes, using heats to qualify the top 18 for the individual final, maximizing the emotion and drama of the sport.

Jumping would have 20 teams and 15 individuals, with a jump-off for first place in both individual and team. If team gold is decided by a jump-off, all three team horse/rider combinations would compete against the clock but only the best score would count. Other proposed changes would see the team competition mirror the current Nations Cup format, with just the top 10 teams starting with zero penalties in the medal-decider final.

The dressage phase of eventing would be condensed to a single day using a shorter test, but the traditional format of dressage, cross country and jumping would be retained as the essence of the discipline.

Based on feedback from this session proposed new formats would be tweaked in time for the FEI Sports Forum in Lausanne, Switzerland next April 4-5 and voted on at the General Assembly a year from now.

Global Dressage Festival Prize Money Close to $700,000 in Olympic Year

Mikala Gundersen and My Lady at the European Championships this year, the culmination of a European campaign by the Florida-based rider that was made possible by prize money earned at the Global Dressage Festival. © 2015 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Nov. 11, 2015–Prize money at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival circuit of seven international events over 12 weeks next winter will increase to almost $700,000 (€650,000), maintaining its status as the richest lineup of dressage shows in the world.

The fifth year of the Global circuit at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center’s Stadium complex is expected to be a draw for combinations seeking to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next summer.

Combinations from Australia, Canada, Central and South America and Europe will be pursuing their Olympic goals with seven CDIs at Global that can count for the International Equestrian Federation individual rankings before the Mar. 6 deadline.

But opportunities for combinations to make teams and fill individual places already allocated will be available until decided by the country of the rider–typically up until a few weeks before the Olympics in August.

Among additions to the GDF schedule are consolation Grand Prix to provide more money-winning opportunities for competitors in Big Tour events that are expected to have a substantial number of entries.

Prize money was allocated as schedules for the competitions were being completed.

A special annual award for a top show management in the United States is being created to honor Lloyd Landkamer, who was manager of Global from its creation until his death from cancer recently.

Further development of the only non-championship Nations Cup as the template for the Pan American Games is also in the works. Consideration is being given to raising the level to require at least one Grand Prix combination on teams up to full Grand Prix squads ahead of the next Pan Ams in Lima, Peru in 2019.

All seven weeks of the CDI circuit include Pony, Junior, Young Rider, Under-25 and the Amateur division that was launched last year.

The schedule for the 2016 winter circuit:

Jan. 13-17 – -CDI-W-Word Cup, CDI1*, CDIAm, CDIJ, CDIP, CDIU25, CDIY
Jan. 27-31 – CDI-W, CDI1*, CDIAm, CDIJ, CDIP, CDIU25, CDIY
Feb. 10-14 – CDI5*, CDI3*, CDI1*, CDIAm, CDIJ, CDIP, CDIU25, CDIY
Feb. 24-28 – CDI-W, CDI1*, CDIAm , CDIJ, CDIP, CDIU25, CDIY
Mar. 3-6 – CDI-W, CDI3*, CDI1*, CDIAm, CDIJ, CDIP, CDIU25, CDIY
Mar. 16-20 – CDI4*, CDI1*, CDIAm, CDIJ, CDIP, CDIU25, CDIY, CDIYH
Mar. 29-Apr. 2 – CDIO3*-Nations Cup, CDI3*, CDI1*, CDIAm , CDIJ, CDIP, CDIU25, CDIY, CDIYH

American riders will be seeking selection to a European squad from which the United States team for Rio will be chosen.

Canadians that are a large segment of the Florida circuit will be seeking selection for the two Olympic individual places pretty much assured and looking to qualify a third to be able to start a team in Rio. However, the selection procedures are mired in a tussle over a move to give preference to combinations that attained the Olympic starting places.

Denmark, with team riders Lars Petersen and Mikala Gundersen both resident in Wellington and standout performers at Global since its inception, will also be looking to join their European-based compatriots in adding to Olympic rankings.

A minimum of three combinations that qualify from the same country through geographic groups and individual rankings enable a nation to field a so-called “composite” team to line up with Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Sweden and the United States that directly qualified teams.

The individual place for Central and South America is still up for grabs, as are places in other areas of the world that could take advantage of the single largest concentration of international competitions to earn scores for the Olympic ranking list.

The Global circuit was launched at the show grounds created by an investment of about $10 million from a vacant polo field in 2012. Prize money in the inaugural year was about $270,000.

Participation and spectators exploded over the next four years.

The circuit has become the premier center of dressage shows in the Western Hemisphere and one of the top in the world as a companion to the Winter Equestrian Festival of jumpers and hunters at the same show grounds.

Dressage competitors represent more than 30 nations from throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Although not a part of GDF, the United States national championships of Grand Prix and Intermediate will be staged at the Global grounds next month–a first for the venue.