Dressage News Notes - An Olympic Wrap Up

Great Britain makes Olympic victory! (Photo: Diana DeRosa)

Great Britain has made history at the 2012 London Olympic Games taking team Gold over Germany and the Netherlands and shutting out Germany from any individual medal. Charlotte Dujardin was the queen of the show breaking Olympic records along the way! That said, the golden stars of Uthopia and Valegro will now move on to new riders as they are both being offered for sale! Steffen Peters announced the retirement of his long term star Ravel. Italy's Valentina Truppa gets to hold on to her Olympic ride through 2016 after finishing 15th in the Freestyle. Great Britain has another up and coming superstar after Woodlander's Farouch flew to victory at the World Breeding Dressage Championships for six-year-old horses!

In non-Olympic news - mini horses are now accepted as service animals in Illinois and are entertaining the elderly in style! A veteran of the US military wants to help fellow soliders recover from a common problem with what helped her most - horses!

California is a busy place this coming weekend with several shows starting with the CDS East Bay Chapter Show - August in Pleasanton, the Capistrano Dressage in San Juan Capistrano, the Summer Dressage at Hansen Dam in Sylmar, the Fieldstone Farm Dressage August in Santa Rosa, The Dress Rehearsal in Los Alamos and the Dressage in the Almonds in Lodi. Arizona has the Mountain Air Dressage Show and the Dressage in the Pines in Flagstaff. Colorado will host the Paragon Dressage I, II and III in Estes Park. The mid west has the Otter Creek Dressage Fest in Wheeler, WI and Silverwood Dressage in Camp Lake, MI. The northeast has the LVDA Recognized Competition in Revere, PA and the Centerline Events @ Hits on the Hudson in Saugerties, NY. The south will host the Dressage at Greystone in Lynnville, TN, the Meadow Lake Summer Classic in Bryantsville, KY and the CDCTA Dressage at Glenwood Park in Middleburg, VA.

As a fan of dressage, you would have to be living under a rock to not have read many accounts on the historic success of team Great Britain's golden run at the Olympic Games in London. Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester and Laura Bectolsheimer brought home the very first medal of any color in dressage during the team competition and Charlotte then stormed to victory in the individual competition with an astouding 90.089%! Remember when it took 70's to medal and now the top 9 riders in the Freestyle all broke 80%! Germany was held to a Team Silver ending their rein of Olympic Gold and The Netherlands took Bronze. Check out the full story here!

In the aftermath of the Olympic Games - Great Britain's golden boys, Uthopia and double gold winner Valegro, are set to be sold to some new lucky rider! It was always understood that the two horses (Uthpoia is owned by Carl Hester and Sasha Stewart and Valegro by Carl and Roly Luard) would be held onto through the Olympics for Great Britain and then sold. I for one can't wait to see who gets the ride on these two fabulous horses (and for what price!) Both Carl and Charlotte have a string of young talent coming up the ranks. Read the Reuters story here!

Great Britain can certainly watch with much anticipation the development of another rising superstar - Woodlander Farouche who was the very convincing winner of the World Breeding Dressage Championships for six-year-old horses! The British Hanoverian mare by Fürst Heinrich – Dimaggio, scored impressive scores of 10 for walk and general impression, 9.9 for canter, 9.8 for trot and the "worst" score of 9.7 for submission! Her rider, Michael Georg Eilberg, stated after the ride that "She is simply wonderful." I guess so! Read more on the story at DressageDaily.com!

Steffen Peters has announced the retirement of his longtime dressage partner Ravel. While they did not have an up to par result in their Freestyle due to Ravel being distracted, the pair have had a stellar career with Grand Prix wins at Aachen and a Bronze medal at the World Equestrian Games in front of a very enthusiastic crowd in Kentucky! Ravel will retire to his owner Akiko Yamazaki's ranch. Read More!

On the opposite side of that news, Eurodressage.com reports that Italy's Valentina Truppa "can sigh in relief as the ride on her horse Eremo del Castegno (Rohdiamant x Weltmeyer) has been secured until the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil." The pair fininshed 15th in the individual freestyle. The Italian Equestrian Federation as well as the Italian Olympic Committee have committed to supporting the pair finacially so that the horse will not "be lost" to Italy for the Olympics in 2016. Read more at Eurodressage.com!

In non-Olympic news there are stories of Horses helping people - In Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has signed a new bill that approves miniature horses as service animals. This means that they will now be allowed in public places just as service dogs are allowed. Cute!! Mini's also made a big impression at the New Horizons retirement community when "Boss" and "Pixie" delighted more than 50 residents at the home. Last, but certainly not least, a Spokane woman is pressing for equine therapy for soliders to help Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. As a former solider, her bonding with horses and learning to trust again has made the difference for her! Watch the video here!