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Highlights from the 4th Annual Zada Enterprises, LLC Dressage at the National
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mary Hilton for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International
MEDIA CONTACT: Phelps Media Group, Inc. International at (561)
753-3389 or at info@phelpsmediagroup.com
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Highlights from the 4th Annual Zada Enterprises, LLC Dressage at the National
Competition Wraps Up with Impressive High Scores
WELLINGTON, FLORIDA - December 5, 2005 – Three days of topnotch dressage competition were featured at the 4th Annual Zada Enterprises, LLC Dressage at the National, held December 2-4 at the 122nd National Horse Show and Family Festival in Wellington, Florida. More than 100 horses vied for $7,000 in prize money and awards, with two rings in action all three days featuring competition from Training Level through Grand Prix.
Rider Nancy Pugh Later, who had a very successful show this year and has participated in previous dressage shows at the National, summed up the overall feeling of this year’s event, “They do a great job. It’s really fun to have the dressage with the jumpers, and we appreciate them making room for us. I think it’s really great for our sport that they are able to put it together. Thank-you to Joe Zada for his sponsorship!”
Kicking off the competition, the featured event on the first day was the FEI Grand Prix. Katherine Bateson-Chandler, 30, of Wellington, Florida, riding FBW Kennedy, a three-time Olympic horse owned by Jane Forbes Clark, won the class, topping a field of 10 horses with a score of 68.958%. Lisette Milner aboard her stallion Eminence placed second with 68.333%. Arlene Page riding her Wild One, earned third with a score of 66.146%. Officiating at the FEI ring were Gary Rockwell at C and Gen. Jonathan Burton at B.
Bateson-Chandler has shown Kennedy five times, with two prior wins. She was pleased with their performance in Wellington. “I loved the overall feeling. He comes in with so much expression, power, and so much energy. You don’t often get to feel that. He is just so there for you. Any mistakes you make in there are your own. He’s phenomenal that way.” She noted his best movements in the test, which helped her to the win, “I loved his extended trots. The pirouettes felt very good.”
Lisette Milner of Wellington was edged into second place in the Grand Prix by fractions, scoring 68.33% riding her 10-year-old Dutch stallion Eminence. “The horse has fabulous half-passes, really good pirouettes, and really good piaffe,” said Milner, “And he excels in his transitions. A lot of times he gets 9’s on piaffe.” Milner noted that her mount was “a little bit fresh and cocky” in the Grand Prix and she had to work on getting him to relax in the warm-up. “In the ring I was really working on getting him to swing and relax. He really does try and he listens. He was quite good in there actually.”
In other FEI competition, Mirja Block topped a field of 19 horses to claim the win in the FEI Prix St. Georges aboard Prince Charming. Prince Charming earned 65.5% from Judge Rockwell at C and 71.25% from Gen. Burton at B for a final average score of 68.375% and victory. Block also claimed second place with a score of 66.50% riding Attache.
Both horses are eight-year-old Hanoverian geldings that Block imported from Germany as four-year-olds. Block’s mounts are owned and trained by her father, Kurt Block.
“I’m really happy!” beamed Block, known as “Mimi,” who has not shown her string of horses for five months in order to give them a break. “Prince Charming was really forward. He had nice tempi changes, good trot extensions, and nice half-passes.”
Block’s second-placed mount, Attache, a striking 17-hand black with four white socks, was showing in his first Prix St. Georges. “He had really good trot extensions, a nice walk tour, and nice flying changes,” said Block. “I didn’t expect that he would be that confident already in his first time. He’s a really forward-going horse.”
Day two of competition featured five FEI (Federation Equestre International) classes. For the second consecutive day, Katherine Bateson-Chandler riding FBW Kennedy for owner Jane Forbes Clark topped the highest level class, winning the Grand Prix Special on a score of 70.70%. Arlene Page aboard Wild One placed second, scoring 67.00%. Lisette Milner and Eminence earned third place with 66.800%. Judging the FEI classes were Gary Rockwell at C and Col. A. R. Kitts at B.
In other FEI competition, Nancy Pugh Later of Wellington won both the FEI Intermediaire I and the FEI Intermediaire II.
In the Intermediaire II class, Later aboard her 13-year-old Oldenburg mare Alexis-D earned a score of 65.244% for the win. Marco Bernal riding Diamore placed second with 64.024%. Bent Jensen and Columbo were third scoring 61.341%.
“She’s a very special mare,” said Later of Alexis-D. “She’s very pretty and she has super gaits and a lot of this work is physically easier for her than for a lot of other horses, but mentally she can be stressed in the show atmosphere. Today she was focused on me and feeling confident in the ring to do what she can do easily. That was the fun part.”
The win was the first time in the show ring for the pair since May 2005. Later admitted that Alexis-D had some mistakes in her one-tempis and that she lost her footing in the extended trot, but in general the mare was focused and working. “It’s really my mistake not to get her attention better to make it possible for her to do the movements,” confessed Later. “In the extended trot I should have told her ‘not so much!’” In the test, Later assessed that her mare’s best movements were her passage, extended trot, and pirouettes.
The 16-hand bay mare by Archipel was previously trained and shown to Grand Prix in Germany by Kattrin Bettenworth. Later has owned Alexis-D for two-and-a-half years and has previously shown her at the Grand Prix level. Later plans to move the mare back up to Grand Prix in the future.
In her second victory of the day, Later topped a field of 12 horses in the Intermediaire I class, earning a score of 66.500% aboard Rubinski. Ingred Pollak placed second, scoring 64.500% with Que Ba Hm. Bent Jensen was third earning 64.375% with Liberty Light.
Wrapping up the competition on the final day, a special awards ceremony was held in the FEI ring at the conclusion of competition. Dawn Dorland, 34, of Loxahatchee, Florida, earned the Leading Rider Award for achieving the highest score posted at the three-day show. Dorman scored 73.636% in Training Level Test 1, open to Adult Amateurs, Juniors, and Young Riders. Dorland’s mount, Bear Animation, a five-year-old Appaloosa gelding, received the Leading Horse Award for his performance.
“It’s really, really amazing,” Dorland said. “It just goes to show that with the right dressage training, any horse can do well at the lower levels. You’ve got to have the right basics and fundamentals. If you skip it, these judges can tell. We’ve been working on his fundamentals for a long time. Being an Appaloosa, none of this comes to him naturally. He has to learn one step at a time how to do everything. He’s got to work hard to get every score he gets.”
Dorland and Bear Animation achieved the high score of the show in their test on Friday, December 2. She noted the attributes of her horse that helped earned the percentage. “He was really light, he was carrying himself, and he was forward.” On her score sheet, the duo received all 7s and 8s, with one 6, on the individual movements. In the Collective Marks, the pair received encouraging scores and comments from the judge, Col. A. R. Kitts: 14 on Gaits, “good potential”; 16 on Impulsion, “nicely forward”; 14 on Submission, “willing horse”; and 16 for the Rider, “nicely ridden.”
Bear Animation, a “bay with snowflakes on his rump” is a foundation Appaloosa, a horse that is almost pure Appaloosa blood without any outbreeding. “There are not many of those around anymore,” explained Dorland, who has been a devotee of the breed for most of her life. She described her mount as, “extremely quiet and laid back. He loves to show.” She has owned the gelding for two years and done all the initial training. An Emergency Room Nurse at Palms West in Wellington, Dorland currently boards and trains with Lisa Payne-Hyslop at Oak Hammock Farm in Loxahatchee. A hunt seat rider for 15 years, Dorland began riding dressage on-and-off eight years ago, “but I never made it out of Training Level with my last horse,” she laughed. “Now we have one we’re going to move on with.”
In addition to the Leading Horse and Rider Awards, Champions and Reserves in the High Score Award standings for this year’s Zada Enterprises, LLC Dressage at the National were awarded to riders and horses from First through Fourth Level, and the Junior and Young Riders. Winners received ribbons and prize money for their accomplishments.
The High Score Champions and Reserves were:
First Level Christopher Hickey and Tango, 71.324% Champion
Valerie Eric and Maximus, 71.111% Reserve
Second Level Beverly Zimmer and Eurythmic, 69.474% Champion
Heather Houck and Tacolando Triple R, 67.895% Reserve
Third Level Terrie Nichols and Renaissance, 70.833% Champion
Gary Lane and A'Sherif Af Hvarre, 66.429% Co-Reserve
Jan Brons and Winzerin, 66.429% Co-Reserve
Fourth Level Patti Pierucci and Mejorano, 69.302% Champion
Jane Savoie and Menno PM, 68.372% Reserve
Junior & Young Rider
Erin Moran and Widerhall, YR Team 65.222% Champion
Arianne Weiss and Nowah, JR Individual 61.923% Reserve
For complete show results of the 4th Annual Zada Enterprises, LLC Dressage at the National, visit http://www.phelpsmediagroup.com/ or http://www.stadiumjumping.com/
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