Gary Lung
© Stephen Mowbray Photography
By Gary Lung
The iconic Queensland slogan “Beautiful one day, perfect the next” cannot be further than the truth when it comes to the weather for the start of the Saddleworld 2019 Brisbane CDI. Crispy mornings and sunny days welcome competitors, owners, officials, volunteers and spectators from around Australia and New Zealand.
Competitors started rolling into the Queensland State Equestrian Centre located in Caboolture (45 mins north of Brisbane city) on Tuesday 16th with the majority arriving on the following day.
The competition commenced on Wednesday the 17th with the CSG Medium 4B and 4C with Jayden Brown winning both tests on Lauren George’s elegant horse Bertone. In the Equestrian Qld Advanced 5B, successful Qld young rider Elloise Devlin won on her homebred Brimstone Florente. For the Saddleworld Intermediate II CDN, Fererro Chocolate Box ridden and owned by Sheridyn Ashwood from NSW was a clear winner with most of the judges.
The “trot up” or in other countries “jog up” is always a highlight for an International dressage event. Competitors present their horses to the ground jury with FEI vet/s to determine the horse’s fitness and readiness to compete at the event. This is where competitors take the opportunity to plan at great lengths their outfits to wear. It was so lovely to see a range of elegant, to very colourful ensembles, making their way to this year’s event especially from the younger riders.
Day 2 was packed with FEI tests starting at 7-30am. With the cool morning breeze blowing around the indoor, the warm-up arena was hustling with Prix St George and Medium Tour horses each working through their preparation. Sequence flying changes across the diagonal and sort piaff steps were part of the warm-up regime. Melissa Van den berge on her Locksley 2 mare Remi Lady Locksley just pitted Dean Izzard on Salmour for first place in the Equine Edge Rehabilitation and The Saddle Fitter Prix St George CDN. In the EJ & Co Intermediate A CDN, NSW coach and trainer Lizzie Wilson-Fellows on her and Moria Kelly’s Lets Jazzabit was the clear winner. In the Horse First Supplements Grand Prix CDN, Elloise Devlin on Brimstone Anakiwa was the clear winner for all the judges.
Competing in a CDI as an adult is sometimes considered exciting and challenging but can you imagine how exciting it would be for a young rider to take part? At this Saddleworld CDI there are several competitions that cater for the Junior rider (14 to 18 years old) and Young rider (16 to 25 years old). On day 2, Sabrina Hitch riding Dicavilli Dandy won the Dressage Qld Junior Rider (14 to 18 years old) CDI-J. This test is similar to a medium level test. In the Riders XOXO FEI Young Rider (16 to 21 years old), Mary Warren from NSW won it on her handsome horse, Mindarah Park Ramirus. This test is similar to a Prix St George test. For the EA FEI Intermediate II Under 25, Mary Nitschke on Utopia Cardinal all the way from South Australia won it. What an excellent platform for our up and coming riders to perfect their art?
No CDI is complete without the big kids, the Grand Prix CDI 3 Star. This competition is sponsored by Kohnke’s Own and the clear winner is Sue Hearn on her Olympic horse Remmington with a score of 67.63%
The Saddleworld 2019 Brisbane CDI event is considered one of the qualifying events for the para equestrian for the Tokyo Olympics, so it was fantastic to see a number of para competitors traveling from around Australia and New Zealand to take part. Victoria Davies on her gorgeous horse Celere from NSW won the Chris Wain Equine Vet Services FEI Team
Test – Grade II, while Louise Duncan and her gelding Wolkenstein BC, who both travelled all the way from NZ, won the Grade IV FEI Team Test.
The Brisbane CDI event which is traditionally held in July of each year has always been a perfect event to host the Queensland Young Dressage Horse of the Year. This year has been an excellent example of beautifully bred, exceptional moving and carefully trained 4, 5, 6 and 7 year old horses and ponies. These competitions were kindly sponsored by The Hanoverian Horse Society Aust and Hannoveraner Verband and the Toowoomba Dressage Inc and winners for the first round are: 4 Year Old Horse – Sirsation ridden by Harvey Besley, 5 Year Old Horse – Quincy B ridden by Jayden Brown, 6 Year Old – Bertone ridden by Jayden Brown, 7 Year Old Horse – Remi Lorenzo ridden by Kaz Roe, 4 Year Old Pony – Cognac Diamond – ridden by Jacqueline Hubbert, 5 Year Old Pony – Salient Park Telynor ridden by Toni Webb, 6 Year Old Pony – Donablitzen ridden by Melissa Van den berge and 7 Year Old Pony – Salient Park Prince ridden by Toni Webb. Young dressage horse competitions such as this are always interesting to not only see the future champions coming through but to hear what judges have to say about their paces, what they give for the submission and perspective/potential marks as a dressage horse.
An event like this not only bring spectators to see competitors from around Australia and New Zealand but spectators also flock to the fantastic bargains from the famous trade stands. Shopping for anything equestrian related is part of the whole deal. I love seeing the bargain hunters who can view and shop online from the comfort of their home prefer to come to a trade village such as this. Online shopping has advantages but it is never the same as real life shopping where one gets to touch, feel, smell, compare and try on the latest trends and items. Shopping paradise for the hard-core shoppers. It’s lovely to see an event like this to bring together dressage community from everywhere. Bring on day 3 and 4!
Click here for live results.
READ THE LATEST NEWS ARTICLES HERE
