News & Horses:
Found 5 results
News Articles
March 2-4, Weekend Wrap-Up
Mica Mabragana took both the CDI and National Level High Point Awards for USPRE at last weekend's Palm Beach Derby in Loxahatchee, FL, with Cuatrero at the International Prix St. George--64.8%--and Infanta HGF (owned by Mary Magee of Chicago) with 67.7% at First Level. Cuatrero had a good first day in the international show, but appeared to go slightly irregular in the Intermediare I, with difficulties in the canter work. Will update before their next outing. Daniel Martin Dockx won the Grand Prix with Encanto at Dos Lunas in Sotogrande, Spain. This elegant facility near Marbella, owned by Mrs. Anunciada Torras, serves as a riding club for both Dressage and Polo. For the Spanish report, seewww.topiberian.com .
HGF-bred Young Horses Compete in Wellington 2012
Two HGF-bred young horses were actively competed in Wellington this past season, and both with stand-out results. Mary Magee's Infanta HGF (Idilio x Candela), ridden by Mica Mabragana, was a multiple First Place winner of her Training Level classes, USPRE High Point winner at the Florida Classic Dressage Show (she was also the High Point winner for the show) and the Palm Beach Derby, and Reserve Champion Training Level High Point for the Global Dressage Festival National Circuit (9 shows). Robert Dover's HGF Fiero (Grandioso x Ibiza), ridden by Nicholas Fyffe, was the USPRE High Point winner for the national show at the Nation's Cup, with a 71.6% and First Place at Training Level. He was also the overall High Point winner for that show. Fiero turns 4 in July. Congratulations to riders and owners!
Courtney King-Dye Introduces Grandioso to International Competition
At the Wellington Classic Spring Challenge on Februrary 6-8, Courtney King-Dye rode HGF's Grandioso in his first international show and instantly put themselves on the map in the national rankings. The prior weekend, at the ESP Wellington Dressage Open Show, the pair did warm-up classes of Prix St. George and their first Intermediare 1, with scores above 68% in both classes. At the CDI in the Prix St. George, Grandioso's test had a few mistakes and he finished 6th in the class of 17 with a 66.2. He was more confident in the Intermediare 1 and the pair finished 2nd with a 68.2%. On Sunday, Courtney rode Grandioso to a compilation of classic Spanish orchestral pieces in his first Freestyle, and the pair won the class with over 72%, with artistic marks to 80%. Congratulations Courtney and Grandioso! National Intermediare 1 rankings have them for the moment in third place. We look forward now to the Palm Beach Derby, for Courtney and Grandioso as well as HGF's other riders and horses.
Hampton Green Farm at the Palm Beach Derby
What a difference a year makes. The Derby has always been one of the most competitive shows in the Florida winter circuit, bringing out the best horses and riders who are down for the season. The judging at the Derby is always the most critical, as the show is a national qualifier for a number of championships. In the past, HGF has found the Derby to be an especially difficult venue at which to show the PRE well, however this year HGF was in the ribbons in every class we entered , bringing home 3 Firsts, a Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth. Ana Gilmour was the rider to beat at Third Level with Camaron. Her consistent scores of 68% maintained their winning position against a number of top riders and fancy horses at Third Level Tests 2 and 3. In her warm-up class on day one, Ana decided to do a Fourth Level Test 1, and scored a respectable 66.7 for Fifth Place in a class that fielded, among others, four Team riders for various countries. We are very proud of our own little Camaron and his heart of gold! We reported last time that Adelante was not sure he wanted to be ridden inside of that white box with a scary tent at the end. At some point over the last two weeks, his rider Maria Lithander was able to change his mind and they entered the Training class as if they were old pros, instead of a young horse in only his second show. With ears pointed forward and maintaining his gait and frame throughout, Adelante floated around the ring at both Training 1 and Training 3, scoring a 70.4 on day one (Third Place) from judge Uwe Mechlem, and a 72 on day two (First Place) from MariLynn Griffin. (The 72% also garnered Maria the coveted and hotly contested USPRE Open High Point Award for the show--edging out the valiant efforts of both Ana and the ever-competitive Janne Rumbough on JR.) We also presented Bolero who, like several of our other young horses in the past, found the Derby to be particularly challenging with its blowing tents and arenas bordering on deep ravines. With Ana, he brought home a Second Place and a Fourth, however the distractions prevented him from scoring in his usual range. Courtney decided not to show Grandioso at the Derby this year, and his next show is the upcoming High Performance show at Equestrian Estates. Although all the PREs (including Janne and JR) at the Derby last weekend were showing in the lower levels, they were clearly the horses to beat in each of their various classes and many people commented to us how things have changed for our breed and our various programs. Holding High Point Award competitions adds another level of challenge and fun to these shows and continues to highlight the competitiveness of the PRE horse. In fact, it has been said that PREs will only score well at higher levels where more collection is demanded, however this year's Derby has proven that the basic gaits and trainability of the PRE are competitive against the top warmbloods in the country at every level. Congratulations Ana, Maria and Janne and see you all at the Gold Coast Finale!
Wellington Show Report
Maria Lithander has been quite busy with her young horses recently. She dominated the First Level at the Palm Beach Derby with all three of the younger horses--Bolero, Idolo Americano, and Adelante. Each of the horses showed that they were ready to move up, with all three horses scoring over 70 per cent. Now if we could just not have them all in the same class! We were especially proud of Idolo for his 3 scores over 72% at only his second dressage show--and of Bolero for winning the USPRE Open National Level High Point Award, and missing the High Point Award for the entire Palm Beach Derby by only .2 points! Palm Beach Dressage Derby Results First Level Test One Idolo 72.00 First Bolero 66.67 Second First Level Test Two (Judge Lilo Fore) Idolo 74.722 First Adelante 70.667 Second First Level Test Three Bolero 69.714 Second Adelante 64.00 Fourth First Level Test Four Bolero 75.5 First Idolo 75.2 Second We also want to congratulate Maria and Adelante for their win at Adelante's first ever 2nd level test, at the Wellington Classic Dressage Challenge II with a 66.3. At the FEI Level, we are following Daniel Martin's progress with HGF's Encanto XI in Vejer, Spain, at the 2010 Sunshine Tour. This is Dani and Encanto's first international competition and first time to compete at Inter I together, and for a 7 1/2 year old horse, Encanto has shown exceptional promise. His results so far in this highly competitive CDI, with one weekend of the Tour left to go, are: Week One PSG 68.5 4th out of 34 Inter I 64.8 10th out of 29 Week Two PSG 65.4 10th out of 38 Inter I 66.5 7th out of 32 For real time results and information about the Sunshine Tour, go tohttp://www.sunshinetour.net/index_sp.html . Courtney continues to make small signs of progress and we remain hopeful for her full recovery. For current updates, please seewww.courtneykingdressage.com .