The Saddleworld Dressage Festival, held each year in mid-December at the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre, has become THE place where dressage fans catch up with friends and share the joys of the coming Christmas and holiday season.

Everyone enjoyed the wonderful festival atmosphere, beautiful horses, fantastic training, Christmas shopping and great food which ensured that a good time was had by all.

	Great decor added to the atmosphere

Saddleworld is proud to be the main name sponsor and all stores are delighted that their support has helped to keep entry fees and admin costs to a minimum and the savings have been passed on to the competitors.  In 2014 spectator entry fees were abolished to ensure that dressage fans, friends and supporters were able to come through the gates at no cost and enjoy the festival.

Saddleworld is a franchise group of 44 independently owned stores, which is able to source exclusive, quality products at very competitive prices.  As Saddleworld stores are independently owned and managed, each store will bring to their business a range of unique and specialty items as well as the popular everyday items that are trusted by Saddleworld customers.  We believe that this is the perfect mix and customers are the winners

Sincere thanks go to the Event Director Deborah McNicol and the Festival’s Organising Committee for a job well done.   Their dedication made this a great event for competitors, spectators and traders.  The Werribee Park ground crew were right on top of the presentation and on-going maintenance of the facility throughout the 4 days.  Arena raking, emptying bins, cleaning toilets and showers are tasks that go un-noticed, unless they are neglected.

Deborah McNicol	Chris Lloyd - EquiScore
Arena Maintenance	Brian Cheffers - Announcer

Over the 4 days, 693 dressage tests were ridden with just 32 scratchings/no shows. The information from1486 test sheets were fed into the scoring system.  Approximately 10,000 people logged on to the live scoring service of EquiScore over 4 days and the visitors came from various countries including Australia,New Zealand, United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Brazil and the USA for a total of 150,000 views.

The competition got off to a great start on Thursday 11th December, with many fantastic performances to set a high standard for the following days.  The first round of the 6YO class for Young Horses was won by Aurum Walter (by Weltmeyer) bred by Kim Jacobson’s Aurum Stud and ridden by Tomkinson Group Dressage’s highly respected rider, Stuart Archibald.

	Stuart Archibald and Aurum Walter - winner of the 6 YO Young Horse and runner up Elementary show their support for motor neuron disease by sporting the beautiful logo on the horse's hindquarters.

The Prix St George was a high-class event with David Shoobridge (NSW) riding Agent De Jeu (by the Revelwood Stud stallion, 00 Seven) the eventual winner.  Runner up was Gina Montgomery (NSW) riding the Sandro Hit stallion Stedinger.

	David Shoobridge (NSW) riding Agent De Jeu Small Tour Champions

The first of the Para-Equestrian events took place and the 1 A Team test was won by the delightful Morgan Webb Liddle, who rides the patient and kind Don Amani. Morgan’s big smile said it all, reward for effort and thanks to her team.

	David Sharp from Saddleworld congratulates successful Para-Equestrian Morgan Webb Liddle

Congratulations to the Preliminary Champion – Victorian FEI rider Karen Blythe who was delighted to have bred, owned and trained the lovely mare Sensoria K.  Saddleworld spoke to Karen and she said, “It was a real thrill to ride a horse that I bred and started, this is a great competition and the win means a lot.”

Friday 12th was day 2 and saw some friendly NSW rivalry take shape in battles between David Shoobridge and Gina Montgomery who are good friends away from the dressage arena.  The pair challenged each other to bring out their best at both Preliminary level and again in the “Small Tour” events.

The pair commenced the battle in the 4 YO Young Horse class with Gina’s Artes Lauries Gift in first place and Revelwood Amaretta with David in second place.

David turned the tables and repeated the previous day’s PSG placings, with Agent De Jeu winning the Intermediate 1 class and Gina riding Stedinger, forced to settle for second place.

Amanda Shoobridge and Noble Dancer (imp) defended their DWTS Champion of Champions title by winning the 6 YO Pony Championship and the Pony Novice Championship at the Saddleworld Dressage Festival.

Demand at Novice level was very strong and justified scheduling two divisions.  The Division 1 Champion was Quatermain ridden by Monica Bird with Bluefields Furstentanz and Alicia Ryan the reserve champions. Heathcote Park Heiress with Sara McDonald was the Division 2 Champion with Mayfield Zaphir and Dr Kerry Mack the Runners-Up.

Mary Hanna and her second-string horse Umbro won the Grand Prix test, with Caroline Wagner and Tango V in second place.   First season Grand Prix combination Dirk Dijkstra and the imported stallion Metallic finished in a commendable 3rd place … and look to be the ones to watch.

Friday’s activities came to an end with a “sausage sizzle’ put on by the Organising Committee and free to competitors, friends and helpers.   This gesture was much appreciated and answered any questions about Friday night’s dinner arrangements.

Considered the main day of the event, Saturday the 13th December had a very full program at various levels.  All rings got off to an early start and the crowd gathered at arena 1 for the first round of the prestigious Marcus Oldham Aachen Challenge.  This event is open to young riders between 16 and 25 years of age at Prix St Georges level.  Riders can take part on their own, or a borrowed horse.  The generous prize provides lessons and a study trip to Germany, taking in the most acclaimed horse show in the world – Aachen Show.  The inaugural event was sponsored by Rob Hanna’s Daronmont Technologies and is now sponsored by Australia’s premier Agricultural College – Marcus Oldham at Waurn Ponds near Geelong.  The winner will get the chance to learn much about carving out a career in the horse industry and 2014 saw very strong entries with many of the young riders already working with horses.  The top 5 placegetters all scored between 68 and 69% but only the top 3 went through to the final round.

	Australian Olympians Margaret McIvor and Mary Hanna present the Rosettes to the top seven riders in the Marcus Oldham Challenge Qualifier (Grace Kaye in second place was not present)

Congratulations to Victoria Stuckey (Victoria) Grace Kaye (NSW) and Ian Smith (WA).  They will ride their own and the other two of the top three horses in the final round on Sunday.

The Elementary Champion was another award to NSW’s Revelwood Stud with Amanda Shoobridge and Revelwood Florentine taking the title.  Aurum Walter and Stuart Archibald continued their success as runner up in the Elementary Championship.

The highlight of Saturday’s program was the Grand Prix Freestyle to Music.  This is what most enthusiasts had come to see and they would not have been disappointed by the demonstration of superb horsemanship, musical appreciation, harmony and technical excellence. 

	Django of Cacharel and Jeremy Janjic Always popular and fantastic in the GP Freestyle

The riders are unanimous when describing the pleasure they get from putting together and riding a freestyle test.  It is the opportunity to choreograph a routine to suit the horse’s strengths and choose music which reflects the style of the horse and any special personality traits.  Mary Hanna and Umbro won this class with AEA Metallic and Dirk Dijkstra in second place. Dr Kerry Mack (mum of Aachen Challenge Round 1 winner, Tori Stuckey) and her much loved stallion Mayfield Pzazz finished in 3rd place.

	Mary Hanna and Umbro - Big Tour Champions
	Dirk Dijkstra and Metallic were the runners-up

Mary Hanna was named the “Big Tour” Champion at the 2014 Saddleworld Dressage Festival.

Kerry Mack added to her workload by taking on a job of organising a fund raising Silent Auction to aid the development of dressage for young riders.  The Victorian dressage community have pulled together to make this great initiative happen.  The auction was a gratifying success and more details will be found on the Equestrian Victoria web site (http://www.vic.equestrian.org.au)

The Advanced Champion was another title for the Shoobridge family and this time it was Amanda and her special mare, Revelwood Destiny in top place on the leaderboard.

Amanda’s fine form carried through to the Elementary events.  Riding Revelwood Florentine, she took the Elementary Championship.

The Advanced Pony winner was Koora Lyn Sunrise and Allysse Smith.  They showed everyone that good things come in small packages!

Stedinger and Gina Montgomery took the Intermediate 1 Freestyle with David Shoobridge and Agent De Jeu in second place. Based on the results from the Prix St Georges, Intermediate 1 and the Inter 1 Freestyle, the “Small Tour” champion was Agent De Jeu with David Shoorbridge standing tall on the podium.

Amanda Shoobridge and Noble Dancer were unstoppable and won the Pony Elementary Championship with a clear 5% margin … what a pony and what a great influence on the gene pool of future Australian bred dressage ponies Noble Dancer will have.

	Amanda Shoobridge and Noble Dancer Champion 6 YO Pony, Champion Novice Pony and Champion Elementary Pony

Saturday’s extensive competition program and the weather conditions made it a long and tiring day but the upbeat mood of competitors and spectators was a breath of fresh air, and everyone was looking forward to the final day’s events and awarding the titles for Victorian Dressage Champions for the coming year.

Sunday, the final day of the Saddleworld DF saw the wish for cooler more “horse friendly’ weather come true.  The low to mid 20’s temperatures and a cool sea breeze were welcome relief and gave near perfect conditions.

A highlight of the final day was the deciding rounds for the top three riders through from the Marcus Oldham Aachen Challenge qualifier.  The final three rounds took place indoors and saw the top three riders match skills on their own horse and then the horses of the other two riders.  With only 30 minutes to familiarise themselves and get to know the way to get the best from their mount, the pressure was on.    This made for engaging and entertaining dressage.

	Winner of the Marcus Oldham Challenge Grace Kaye riding her own Karingal Jamirquai

The ultimate winner was Grace Kay (Karingal Jamirquai) from NSW who scored higher percentages on both Tori (Mayfield Be Brave) and Ian’s (Dornkaart) horses.  The runner up was Ian Smith, who travelled 4000 across the Nullarbor to be at the Saddleworld Dressage Festival and Victoria Stuckey finished in 3rd place.

	Ian Smith and Dornkaart, Marcus Oldham Challenge runner-up.

Amanda Shoobridge repeated her Advanced Championship result and took out the Advanced Freestyle event, riding her beautiful Revelwood Destiny.

The Medium Championship was decided on the final day and went to Victorian rider Michael Baker riding the Queensland bred Jaybee Alexander.

The Pony Medium Champion was Thorpeville Dane and Casey Arthur-Wise.  The strength of pony dressage is on the rise with good percentages due to an adherence to the training scale and a better understanding of the judging directives.

The Para-Equestrian Freestyle test were ridden indoors and top places went to Morgan Webb Liddle, Joann Formosa, Elizabeth Skinner and Caitlin Radford.  The riders have worked hard to reach this high standard and their horses show a special “knowing” quality.

Mobile phones and IPads were out in number with many enthusiasts taking advantage of the live scoring and daily updates by Chris Lloyd and his team at EquiScore Dressage Scoring.  This is a fantastic service, well managed and of great value to those keen to follow the days results progressively. 

Full Results for Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4 can be found on
http://equiscore.com.au/?page_id=2907

All in all, the 2014 Saddleworld Dressage Festival was a great success and Saddleworld acknowledges the outstanding performances of the winning combinations and placegetters.  The year round participation at qualifying events to be eligible to participate is a very big undertaking.  All Saddleworld Stores have riders at this event or aspiring to take part in the future and wish enthusiasts well with their dressage goals and trust that each and every one enjoyed this great celebration of the horse and the fantastic riders who train them.  Call into your local store and share your thoughts.
(go to www.saddleworld.com.au for you’re nearest store location)

SaddleUp Saddleworld At the Dressage Festival		Beautiful Saddleworld decor

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