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Monday, January 28, 2008

Highlights from the 2008 Gold Coast Opener CDI-W/Y

As always, there’s far too much happening at a show like the 2008 Gold Coast Opener CDI-W/Y to report on it all, but some other wins of note include Lauren Barwick’s victories in Saturday’s FEI Test of Choice and Sunday’s Introductory Test B with Hungarian Cayenne, otherwise known as Maile. Barwick and the 13-year-old mare scored a 65.476 in the Test of Choice competition and beat out a field of more than 20 competitors. The pair scored a 69 percent in the Introductory competition. The pair’s winnings at the Gold Coast Opener were just what they needed for Maile to qualify to be Barwick’s mount at the 2008 Paralympic Games. To learn more about Barwick, check out DressageDaily.com’s coverage of last weekend’s Ocala Winter Dressage.

In the Markel/USEF FEI Test for Six-Year-Olds, Jules Anderson and the Dutch Warmblood gelding Vialdi-V scored an impressive 77.80 percent. In Friday’s FEI Grand Prix de Dressage Open competition, Anne Gribbons topped a field of 13 competitors. She and Alazan, a 13-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding owned by Gribbons, scored a 65.729 percent, showing that when it comes to FEI competition, she can ride it as well as she judges it. Check out Tuesday’s DressageDaily.com interview with Gribbons on how she balances her career as judge with her career as rider and trainer.

Dogs and horses go together and there were a good number of dogs on hand with their owners watching Saturday’s CDI Grand Prix Special. Following Ashley Holzer’s winning ride on Pop Art, the crowd gathered around the ring went wild with applause, which immediately set off the dogs a barking and howling. That led show announcer Brian O’Connor to remark on Holzer’s ride, "Even the dogs liked it."   

Janne Rumbough got a big thanks from competitors for sponsoring Saturday’s competitor party, which featured a crowd-pleasing dance contest. But the award for having the most fun might just have to go to Canadian rider Jackie Brooks(#3). She got the cement “dance floor” rocking with the help of some very young partygoers – as in children of riders – and they were having such fun that adults soon had to join them. Brooks seems to bring a "joie de vie" attitude to much of what she does. Following her Sunday Grand Prix Freestyle ride with Gran Gesto, the crowd’s cheers set the 13-year-old gelding to bucking and Brooks had a smile of joy as Gran Gesto bucked his way out the ring.

HorsesDaily On the Scene 2008 – Gold Coast Opener CDI-W/Y
More highlights,photos and coverage to come.....