DressageDaily: Dressage Takes Over Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club For Zada Enterprises, LLC WEF Dressage Classic CDI

Thursday March 13, 2003

Dressage Takes Over Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club For Zada Enterprises, LLC WEF Dressage Classic

rainbow wellington The Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, will host the third dressage show of the 2003 circuit, the Zada Enterprises, LLC WEF Dressage Classic CDI***/Y, at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club show grounds, March 13-16.

While the jumpers are in Tampa, Florida, the WEF grounds in Wellington are exclusively devoted to dressage for four days, as designated by the FEI (Fédération Equestre Internationale) ‘CDI’ status (Concours Dressage International), including Young Riders (‘Y’). At stake are qualifiers for the upcoming USET Grand Prix Dressage Championship and 2003 Pan Am Games Selection Trials/USET Intermediaire I Championship, which will both be held in Gladstone, New Jersey, (June 19-23), as well as qualifying classes for the United States Dressage Federation’s Region 3 North American Young Rider’s Championship (NAYRC), to be held in Bromont, Canada (August 5-10). In addition to nine CDI classes, the three-star show will also host 38 National classes, from Training Level through Intermediaire II, and will include FEI Young Horse competitions for Five- and Six-Year-Olds. Approximately 175 riders are scheduled to compete and nearly 250 horses are entered.

With FEI rules in effect, the Palm Beach grounds will take on the intricacies of international competition – horses in the CDI must have passports, be stabled in the special FEI stable area, and participate in a pre-show jog on March 12. Competition will be judged by an international panel, including the Ground Jury – Hanne Valentin, Denmark; Axel Steiner, USA; Francis Verbeek-VonRooy, The Netherlands; Linda Zang, USA; and Marianne Ludwig, USA; as well as top judges: Lorraine McDonald, Canada; Gary Rockwell, USA; Lois Yukins, USA; Fatima Pawlenki-Kranz, USA; and Heiner Jeibmann, Germany.

Jan Brons and Josien Pan Am Games hopefuls Jan Brons and Tara Stegen of the US, Dr. Cesar Parra of Columbia, and Yvonne de los Muniz of the Dominican Republic, have topped the qualifiers all season and will compete in the CDI, aiming to raise their percentages further. Making their ‘2003 Florida debut’ at the Zada Enterprises, LLC WEF Dressage Classic CDI***/Y, will be Olympic Team Bronze Medallist Michelle Gibson on her World of Dreams, competing in the Intermediaire II; Pan Am Team Silver Medallist Anne Gribbons on her Aureate in the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special; and Jessica Rizzi, NAYRC Individual Silver Medallist on Louis Rukeyser’s Jamboree. The event’s sponsor, Joe Zada, will compete his Ramazon in the Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I.