The proposed changes for Dressage competitions are set for approval later this month. Once implemented, officials are confident that the competition will gain more fans due to easy accessibility of the sport.

According to reports, a dressage taskforce (DTF) has been set up to make dressage more mainstream just like any other mainstream sports wherein judges can be assessed, supervised and continually educated.

Part of the proposal includes increasing the number of judges in major championships – from five to seven in a bid to spread the influence when it comes to individual scores.

DTF member Frank Kempermann said that even if the judge has been into the sport for more than two decades, he or she should still undergo educational activities to be more updated with the latest trends and rules. DTF was formed by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

Two racing horses are up for the Horse of the Year honors. The judges will have a hard time deciding considering the two have never competed with each other on the track.

According to reports, racing horses Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra have great credentials that either will certainly deserve getting the award. This will be the first time since 2002 that a female horse will get honored once more.

Rachel Alexandra won eight out of eight races this year with three of them winning over male horses. As for Zenyatta, she improved to 14-0 after winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with most of the competitors are male horses.

The verdict will be determined this coming January at the Eclipse Awards, considered as the Oscars of horse racing. The winner will be announced during a special gathering in Beverly Hills.

Olympic equestrian judge and world-renowned dressage rider Linda Zang will be honored this coming December at the Travis County Exposition Center in Austin, Texas.
According to reports, Zang will be inducted into the United States Dressage Foundation (USDF) Hall of Fame for this year. The induction takes place at the USDF Annual Convention on December 4, 2009.

Zang has won numerous Federation Equestre International (FEI) titles during her 30-year equestrian career. One of her biggest achievements was winning the gold medal in the aforementioned event at the 1979 Pan American Games. She ride Swedish Warmblood Fellow Traveler during her lustrous career.

In 1985, Zang earned an FEI “O” judge and USEF “S” judge accreditation which means she’s the lead authority when it comes to competitions. She served as a judge at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. She’s a regular fixture in international events.

The Dressage Task Force, initiated by FEI – the governing body for all Olympic equestrian disciplines, will be spearheading the demonstration of dressage tests this week in the German city of Aachen.

The Dressage Task Force is attempting to make this sport more understandable to the public in order to gain interest. Aside from that, the task force is aiming to create a fairer environment among players. CHIO Aachen Show Director Frank Kemperman, the chairman of the task force, has already outlined the ideas and concepts of this upcoming event.

The officials also consulted with experts from other sporting fields such as figure skating and gymnastics. This is in order to get more insights as to how to implement the judging methods for dressage test competitions.

The venue of the dressage test is at the Deutsche Bank Stadium in Aachen. Qualified international judges have been invited to assess the performances of the dressage riders and give necessary feedback.

England’s dressage team is targeting an unusual goal. Instead of aiming for gold, the team would be very happy settling for silver – that is, as long as they achieve this feat.

The European Championships is set in Windsor later this month and the British dressage team has been handed the challenge to perform well on their home country and get at least the silver medal.

Richard Davison, the dressage team captain, stated this challenge before the tournament featuring showjumping and dressage will take place later this month.

In an interview with the media, Davison said that the team has a great chance to achieve the bronze model but it would be great to go one step further and clinch the silver.

Fighting for a chance for the second best finish would mean performing better than dressage powerhouse Germany and Holland.

Three out of four dressage riders have been revealed to represent the British team at the upcoming Alltech FEI European Dressage and Jumping Championships which takes place at the Windsor Castle. The competition will run from August 25 to 30, 2009.

The selected British dressage team riders are: Laura Bechtolsheimer, Carl Hester and Emma Hindle.

Bechtolsheimer will be riding Dr. Wilfried Bechtolsheimer’s Mistral Hojris, Hester to ride Donald McTaggart’s Liebling II and Hindle to ride her won horse named Lancet 2.

The three dressage riders were ecstatic to be part of a prestigious competition.

Bechtolsheimer said that this year’s competition is more special because it is going to be staged in the country which means that they get a lot of crowd support. Hester, on the other hand, expressed his excitement for the competition saying that he’s been training hard for the past few weeks.

Hindle agreed with her teammates saying that competing in front of the home crowd is going to be “amazing.” The young rider recently competed in Aachen and went home with the bronze medal.

The fourth and last member of the British dressage team will be announced by the end of this month.

A horse rider from New Hampshire in the United States clinched a prestigious dressage event held recently.

Keene resident Jocelyn Wiese and her horse Lamborghini clinched the Brentina Cup title which was held at the US Equestrian Foundation’s Dressage Festival Champions in Gladstone, New Jersey. The competition was open for riders ages 20 to 28. Wiese is currently 21 and her horse is 13 years of age.

The young rider is a junior at the University of Maryland. She stated in an interview that she’s going to the right direction of becoming a major force in the dressage horse racing events.
Dressage is a challenging equestrian sport wherein the rider and the horse execute a series of movements. This sport is said to be the oldest equestrian event.

The 21-year old revealed that she started riding horses at the age of three in their humble family farm. She then focused her attention on dressage contests. She considered her recent triumph as the biggest one yet and she’s looking forward to compete in national and international competitions in the future.

Wiese and Lamborghini have been working and competing together for the past five years.

Equestrian Australia, the national governing body for equestrian sports in the country, will reportedly implement new dressage tests next month. These updates are said to take place from preliminary to advanced levels.

The  Preliminary (1A – 1D), Novice (2A – 2D) and Elementary (3A – 3D) dressage tests will be divided into four categories while the Medium (4A – 4C) and Advance (5A – 5C) dressage tests will have three. These changes will take place on July 1.

According to reports, the changes mean fresh movements that will test the horses and riders’ abilities. The new movements include turn on Haunches, Renvers and Leg Yields.

Later this month, there will be a Riders and Judges Training Clinic at the Bendick Murrell Recreation grounds. This is an ample opportunity for the participants to familiarize themselves with the changes on the dressage tests. The clinic will have discussions on the new movements and tests.

This event is expected to be attended by junior and adult riding clubs, trainers, community members, coaches and riders.

Equestrian Australia, formerly called Equestrian Federation of Australia, was established in 1951 by Sir Sam Hordern. The name change was made in November last year.

British horse riders are busily preparing themselves for an important dressage event this weekend – the Saumur CDIO which takes place at le Cadre Noir in France. Leading the British team are Olympians Carl Hester and Jane Gregory.

Hester, who hails from Gloucestershire, will ride 16.2hh bay gelding Liebling II while Gregory of Wiltshire will ride Lucky Star. Joining the two are Richard Barrett (Hampshire) and Stephanie Croxford (Derbyshire).

Here are the other British riders that will compete in other dressage events:

CDI Big Tour – Emma Hindle, Judy Harvey and Fiona Bigwood
CDI Small Tour – Dane Rawlins, Emma Hindle, Judy Harvey, Carl Hester, Henriette Andersen
CDIY – Lara Griffith, Charlie Hutton and Rebecca Drane
CDIJ – Alexandria Barr, Phillipa Hutton,
CDIP – Eliza Mason, Georgina Starkie and Fiona Wood

The British dressage team has always been a fierce competitor in this annual event. Hester has won several events in last year’s edition. This will make him the person to beat in this prestigious competition.

Last September, Hester clinched the grand prix honors at Saumur riding Liebling II with a score of 71.16. At that time, he’s taken over the said ride from Anna Rose-Davis for about three weeks. He credited Davis for the outstanding training program.

The 31st Rolex World Cup officially began this week with players from all over the world vying for honors.  In jumping and dressage categories, Anky van Grunsven of Netherlands and Meredith Michaels-Beerbum of Germany are ready to defend their respective titles.

The German will be riding Shutterfly, the same horse that helped her win the final in 2005 and last year in Sweden. Van Grunsven, on the other hand, will be riding a substitute horse, IPS Painted Black. The Dutch player has already won three Olympic gold medals and has nine world cup titles under her belt.

An organizing committee of the games revealed that there were no unfortunate events that took place while the jumping and dressage horses were transported from Belgium last weekend. The flight lasted ten hours and the horses underwent mandatory exams in order to be pronounced fit to compete.

Posing as a major threat for the duo’s title defense is American McLain Ward. His mare Sapphire has been doing well in other international events thus making him a great contender for the title. He’s also a gold medalist Olympian.

The dressage event winner will be known on Saturday.