Friday 12th December saw Day 2 of the Saddleworld Dressage Festival and everyone at Werribee Park was in good spirits as the perfect weather conditions lent well for a wonderful day of top class competition.

The condition of the grounds was excellent - still green from early summer rains. An experienced ground crew put on the finishing touches to get the venue ready for visitors from all over Australia.

	Saddleworld Signage

The quality of horses and ponies is rising, along with the sound training and first class presentation. This reflects great credit on the Australian Dressage community and sees the sport on a sound path for continued improvement.

Saddleworld congratulates all competitors taking part at this event, as competing at State Championship level requires a long term commitment to enter many qualifying events and pacing the training regime so that the horse will peak at just the right time.

The first round of competition for for 4,5 and 6 year old horses and ponies put fans on notice that riders and trainers take this important facet of the sport very seriously, and the Saddleworld Dressage Festival affords the perfect opportunity to familiarise young equines for the Australian Young Horse Championships which will be held in 2015 as part of Dressage and Jumping with the Stars.  Tickets for this event have just gone on sale and many have been sold as Christmas gifts for special horsey friends or to secure VIP tables.  Go to Equestrian Victoria for more information.

Noble Dancer	Announcer and long time supporter, Brian Cheffers

The winner of the 6 YO horse was the fabulous Aurum Walter, very well ridden by Stuart Archibald, student of our WEG superstar and SaddleUp Saddleworld sponsored rider, Maree Tomkinson.  Stuart’s attractive black gelding is by Weltmeyer and was bred by Kim Jocobson’s Aurum Stud.  Walter was beautiful presented, sporting the MND (motor neuron disease) logo as quartermarks on his gleaming black coat.  This is a special cause for Tomkinson Group Dressage and Stuart played an important role in raising awareness.

Aurum Walter	Maria Schwenessen and Mary Seefried

The winner of the 6 YO pony was an interstate combination, the imported palomino Noble Dancer, expertly ridden by Amanda Shoobridge.  This pony needed no introduction as he was the 5 YO Champion and Pony Champion of Champions at 2014 Dressage and Jumping with the Stars.  His paces, trainability and general impression were highly commended by the expert judging panel and he is sure to make positive impact on the gene pool for future purpose bred dressage ponies.

Novice 2.2 Placegetters	Novice 2.3 Placegetters

The Novice Championship went to Victorian rider Monica Bird and her horse Quatermain with Alicia Ryan and Bluefields Furstentanz, very close Reserve Champions.

Charlotte Pedersen and Come to Me in GP	The maintenance team at work during the break

The Grand Prix test was held indoors with a strong field and many interstate representatives confirmed the depth in the sport.  New Grand Prix combinations are now knocking on the door for entry into the ranks of Australia’s Elite and the long list for the Rio Olympics is wide open. 

The winner was Mary Hanna riding Umbro with Mary’s former partner Tango V and Caroline Wagner, not far off in second place. Dirk Djikstra’s amazing imported stallion Metallic finished in 3rd place.  Metallic thrilled the Saturday night 2014 Equitana crowd when Charlotte Dujardin partnered with the loose moving stallion and gave us a glimpse of his international potential.
The Intermediate 1 test was another victory to the Shoobridge family with David’s import, Agent De Jeu putting in a solid performance on outdoor Arena 1 for first place.  Another NSW visitor, Gina Montgomery rode Stedinger into second place and local girl Holly Cutler gave a beautiful demonstration of lightness and harmony on her imported mare Diva Royale.

Umbro and Mary Hanna	Dirk Dijkstra and Metallic

The Para-Equestrian classes inspired and showed what “grit and determination” can achieve.  London Gold Medallist Joann Formosa partnered with her wonderful 20 year old stallion Worldwide PB, to win their section of the Championship decider.
Saddleworld are delighted that their sponsorship facilitated a “free entry policy” and there was no one the gate asking dressage fans to pay to watch.  Although gate takings were once considered an important part of the income stream, it was decided to encourage people to come along, enjoy the sport, support the traders and other commercial aspects of the event – a real win’/win, thanks to Saddleworld and the Organising Committee.

Saddleworld's David Sharp Congratulates Joann Formosa	Morgan Web-Liddle is very pleased with her result

Friday evening dinner was another generous gesture from the organisers.  Everyone was invited to a sausage sizzle and the chance to catch up with like-minded friends.  The day ended on a high note with eager anticipation for the main day’s events on Saturday 13th December.  Competition gets off to an early start and finishes with the Grand Prix Freestyle as the evenings highlight.

Full results HERE thanks to Equiscore Dressage Scoring who are also providing live scoring throughout the event.

For all other information about the 2014 Saddleworld Dressage Festival –
Go to: http://www.equestrianvictoriaevents.com.au/DF/