The rider who scores the highest mark in any class at the 10th Petplan Equine Area Festival Finals at Hartpury College, Glos (7-11 April) will win a five-day intensive training course with top dressage rider, trainer and BHS FellowAdam Kemp.

This new Petplan Equine High Achiever Award is the brainchild of AM Dressage — run by Adam Kemp and rider/trainer Matt Frost — in partnership with specialist insurance company Petplan Equine.

The overall winner will visit Adam at his Gloucestershire yard, where they will receive a tailored five-day training course. The prize includes accommodation and meals, an initial assessment, shared and individual lessons, test riding, lectures in sports psychology and access to a gala evening. The winner will also receive a Petplan Equine numnah and jacket.

Adam Kemp said: “This type of intensive course is a great way for serious amateurs to really polish up and work on that winning edge to help them move onto the next level.”

Alison Andrew of Petplan Equine said: “The Petplan Equine Area Festivals are going from strength to strength with the standard of riding improving every year. We wanted to find a way of rewarding this year’s highest achiever and provide inspiration for the future.”

Four hundred horses and riders will battle it out at the final for this top prize at the championships, which are aimed at amateur riders and run alongside British Dressage’s winter championships.

Taken from Horse and Hound

Top dressage riders and judges are planning a June “Dressage Extravaganza” to raise money for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. The idea stemmed from a British Dressage forum discussion in snowy January.

“Everyone was moaning about how difficult things were,” recalls Dressage Extravaganza show director and BD judge Gloria Leverett. “So I suggested we stop complaining and do something for other people for a change. The response was amazing and it grew from there.”

Carl Hester (pictured) has agreed to be patron of the event on 26-27 June at Hartpury College, which gave the venue free of charge. “It’s a chance for people to do something,” said Carl. “So come and support us. It should be a great show.”

Classes run from preliminary to grand prix and Saturday night will host a gala featuring top riders such as Carl Hester and GB Chef d’Equipe Richard Davison. There will be a Grand Prix Challenge, compered by David Pincus and featuring an X Factor-style judging panel. “Riders ride against each other and the audience will be asked to join in the judging,” explained David.

Tickets for the gala evening will cost £5.

Click on this link for more information on this horse dressage event.

Taken from http://www.britishdressage.co.uk/homepage

Should I compete in the open or restricted section?

Classes are split into open and restricted sections to create fair competition. The section you compete in is determined by your rider group. The restricted section is for riders who have won points at that level and up to 14 points at the next level up; the open section is for riders who have won more than 14 points at levels higher than the one they are competing in. For example, if a rider has won more than 14 points at medium or any points at advanced medium or above, they will need to compete in the open sections at levels lower than medium.

Can non-members compete in affiliated prelim classes?
Yes. Prelim classes are split into open and restricted sections. The open section is for anyone, member or non-member, riding a registered or non-registered horse which must not have won more than 49 points. Those competing in open sections do not qualify for summer or winter regional finals.

How do the points work?
You win points when you compete in an affiliated class at novice level and above and score more than 60%. The points are awarded to the horse according to the percentage they score above 60%. For example, if you score 65% in an elementary class, the horse wins three points.

At which level should I start competing?
The level you compete at is restricted by the number of points your horse has won. If your horse has no points, you do not have to start competing at the lower levels, but to compete in a prix st georges class, you must have scored 60% or above in an advanced test.

Taken from http://www.britishdressage.co.uk/homepage

Could the German International Dressage Rider Anja Ploenzke (website: http://www.anja-ploenzke.de) become the next Isabell Werth? If you ask her many fans all over the globe, the answer is a definite yes, because she is one of the sport’s top audience favorites. Ploenzke is not only highly talented and successful but in a sport characterized by elitism, she is also a very approachable star.

“I love speaking with my fans,” the Dressage Queen said at the Munich International Horse Show in May. “I am generally a gregarious type and really enjoy meeting new people. Sometimes, when I notice that someone comes to stand next to me and really wants to talk to me but cannot quite work up the courage, I just make the first move and start talking to them.”

Ploenzke, whose family runs the renowned German breeding station Gut Tannenhof, also has no qualms about making herself available for interviews or press conferences. “ That is all part of the job, I think,” she says. “I am not much one for an elitist attitude – in the end, we are all involved with horses and that unites us, whether we are at a big show to compete, to report about it, or to watch.”

Like many others of today’s top riders, Ploenzke’s early beginnings in riding can be traced back to the parental farm. “We had a farm when I grew up and there were many animals, among them a few ponies. Like the other kids, I started riding them a bit but for me the riding soon turned into a real passion and I realized there was much more I wanted to do in the sport. I was 12 when I got my first horse from my parents and from then on, I started seriously training for higher levels.”

When it came to training, Anja was very lucky: the parental groom also happened to be a very decent rider and was able to get her to advanced medium level in dressage.
From 1985 to 1993, she then went on to train with Conrad Schumacher of the Neuhof Estate in Dreieck/Germany, and it was not long before she was able to successfully compete in her first advanced level show. The rest is history, as they say, for Anja went on to win and compete at many of the big national and international shows, including winning the Bronze medal at last year’s German Championships. She also holds the German Riding Gold Medal in dressage. Nowadays, she is one of the absolute crowd favorites on the dressage circuit, highly placing or winning frequently with her current top mounts, the stallions Tannehof’s Solero (by Hyllos x Siri Arabella) and Tannenhof’s Conteur (by Contender x Ofarim H). At the recent International CDI/CSI at Munich-Riem/Germany, she had audiences rocking in their chairs when she rode a very spirited Grand Prix Freestyle to the music of American rapper Eminem.

“Music is my other big passion,” says Anja, “and I love to dance. So I wanted to transfer this passion for dancing to my horses and have them dance with me. Classical music is a bit boring for this, and this is how I came up with the idea of Eminem. At first, everyone thought I was nuts, using rap music. But now they all love it. For my next freestyle, I am going one step further: I will use the music of the Austrian singer Falco, but this time I will use the entire words, meaning that the singing will be included. I don’t know whether this has been done before in dressage freestyle or how people will react, but one can only wait and see. My horses love it, for sure.”

When she is not busy rising at the big shows in Europe, Anja loves travelling to Mallorca. Her sister, Britta, owns a small hotel there, the C’as x Orc. If there is no time for travelling on account of her full schedule, Anja loves going to restaurants for relaxation. “I am especially fond of Sushi, or of good Italian food. Couple that with a fine glass of dry red wine, and you’re in heaven!”

And her horses? Are they gourmets as well? “Not really,” she laughs, “the prefer more simple, earthly fare, such as carrots!”

Taken From http://www.equine-world.co.uk/

Even if you never intend to compete at dressage, teaching your horse to do some of the moves will help to make him more supple, flexible and disciplined. Leg yielding can also be useful for all kinds of situations, such as opening and closing gates when you are out hacking, or correcting your approach into a show jumping fence.

Dressage should always be done in a logical, step-by-step manner and the horse needs to understand the basics before he goes on to attempt any of the more advanced moves. If you are new to dressage it is a good idea to practice on an experienced school master horse so that you can ‘feel’ exactly what you are trying to achieve.

Never attempt to do any advanced lateral moves until your horse is physically capable, or you will encounter problems and the horse will be stiff. A good trainer is essential as each stage of skill and training must be worked at and completed before moving on.

The six stages are:

1. Rhythm and balance
2. Suppleness
3. Contact
4. Straightness
5. Impulsion
6. Collection

It is vital that the rider is able to maintain balance and position. The hands need to be sensitive, with good alignment and position of the shoulder, hip, knee and heel. It can be useful to ask someone to video you when you are riding, and also take photographs so that you can do your own critique.

All schooling sessions should begin and end with a period of warm up and cool down, with the horse stretching down and forwards to make a contact.

Leg yielding at canter is a good exercise to use during the warm up as it supples the horse and gets him moving away from the leg. It is very important that, before you attempt any of the other lateral movements the horse understands the leg yield and can do it in a supple way and go across sideways easily, maintaining good rhythm and balance.

In leg yield the horse is always flexing in the opposite direction to the way he is going, The rider must not restrict the canter, but keep it going forwards and sideways. The rider’s inside leg should go back behind the girth, ready to be used in time with the stride and to help maintain the sideways movement.

The aids:

• Taught from walk and trot first, it’s easiest to teach the horse leg yielding on the inner track as he will naturally want to return to the outer track.
• Turn down the inner track and flex the inside rein until the horse bends his neck just enough for you to see his eye and nostril.
• The outside rein and leg stay relatively still.
• Use the inside leg a little behind the girth in time with the stride to encourage the sideways movement.
• Give the horse confidence by praising him for just a couple of good steps initially.

Taken from http://www.equine-world.co.uk/