Day One of the 2011 Australian Dressage Championships

Shows

2011 Australian Dressage Championships

Over the last week, over 180 horses arrived at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre for the Bates Australian Dressage Championships. Except for Tasmania, all states are represented including our close neighbour New Zealand. Some horses and riders have travelled unbelievable distances to compete at these championships.

For example, Sara Thean, from Western Australia, has travelled over 4000 Kilometres. “It’s worth the trip as the Championships gives us a great opportunity to gauge how we’re going”. Sara is trained by the Western Aust state coach Glenys Barry who travels to WA regularly.

Although the weather has not been the best for the past couple of days, the arenas were in good condition and the first day of competition was perfect riding weather – overcast with a temperature of 20 degrees.

The Equestrian NSW FEI Intermediate II Championship kicked off with 23 of competitors, it was a tough competition. There was only 1.7 points between the top five combinations. Heath Ryan (NSW) and Regardez Moi came first with a score of 65.000, second was Alexandra Berns on Kings Legend (QLD) , scoring 64.053 and third went to Gitte Donvig (Vic) on Port Said 10 with a score of 63.895.

Tomorrow, Friday, 28 October, is a significant day as it includes the Australian Sports Commission FEI Grand Prix – CDI-W which gives riders the chance to qualify for the Pacific League Final which will be held in Australia at the end of the year. The winner of the Pacific League Final will then have the chance to compete at the World Cup Final which will be held in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in April 2012. The Grand Prix CDI-W is also one of the two Regional Dressage Team Qualifiers for the London Olympic Games. The Australian and New Zealand teams will compete against each other hoping to get that bit closer to securing a team for the 2012 Olympics.

The top fifteen riders of the Grand Prix that have a score qualifying score will compete in the Hamilton Island Grand Prix Freestyle on Saturday night. Each day of the Bates Australian Dressage Championships features horse and rider combinations that are already at the elite level or well on their way.