NZ Dressage Riders Gear Up for Group VIII Olympic Team Qualifier in Sydney

Ten of New Zealand's top combinations have indicated they would come out of winter hibernation to compete in a Grand Prix Test at Manfeild on Friday 26 August in preparation for the CDIW at the Australian Championships from 28 – 30 October at SIEC, near Sydney, but Two Top Combinations Forced to Miss Manfeild Trial on Friday. 

But selectors will not have the chance to view the early spring benchmark of two of the most favoured combinations, Louisa Hill & Bates Antonello from Clevedon, Auckland and Vanessa Way & KH Arvan from Oakura in Taranaki. Hill recently broke a bone in her hand quite badly and is not able to ride yet while Way’s KH Arvan is recovering from a mild gastric upset and is out of action for a week as a precaution. However both riders have indicated these setbacks have not deterred them from their plans to be at the Sydney qualifier

The eight riders to line up at Manfeild are:

• Shiwon Green, - Gosh (Cambridge)
• Bill Noble - Airthrey Highlander (Matangi )
• Otillie Upshall - Tama Park Bradman (Rotorua)
• Scott McKenna - Achenbach (Hamilton)
• Hannah Appleton - Zactac Graceful (Palmerston North)
• Nicky Pope - Fabarchie (Whitford)
• Kieryn Walton - Saraceni (Taumaranui)
• Debbie Barke - Mzungu (Rotorua)

NZL plans to send a team of 4 and a travelling reserve to Sydney where Australian & NZL riders will compete and then the same ground jury of five judges will fly directly to Ermelo in the Netherlands to assess combinations from Japan, the remaining members of the Australian team and possibly South Africa. 

The  judges for this Olympic Teams Qualifier are confirmed as Stephen Clarke (GB) Gotthilf Riexinger (GER), Susie Hoovenaars (AUS) Mariette Sanders van Gansewinkel (NED) &  Raphael Salle (FRA)*

From this teams qualifier, two nations will qualify a team for the London 2012 Olympic Games, but will still require to be nominated by their national Olympic committee and all must meet the both the FEI minimum eligibility requirements and the selection criteria of their own NF & NZOC.

Riders who are part of any team successful in the team qualifying event are not necessarily the riders who may represent the NF at London.

If an NF qualifies a team but for any reason cannot field a team at London, they have the possibility to send a maximum of two individuals subject to conditions mentioned above.

Individual riders may also qualify their NF an individual place from the World Dressage Rider Olympic rankings from 1 Mar 2011 - 1 Mar 2012 based on their best 8 scores in international competitions

This Manfeild event will form a key component of the final NZL team selection process but will not be the sole decider.

Judges will be Susie Hoovenaars – 5* FEI judge from Melbourne who will be in town as a presenter at the FEI Regional Dressage Forum, 4* Judge Jan Bird from Wellington and Sue Hobson (3*judge _ from Pahiatua)

Jeremy Steinberg, USEF Youth Coach will be on hand to observe the competition, and offer his advice to riders.

It has been a long and involved process getting this Regional qualifier to the arena with some details still to be confirmed, but it will be a fantastic opportunity for NZL riders to compete as a team in Australia and experience the different atmosphere of a real teams event on their own horses with something serious at stake -   something that our riders rarely get the chance to participate do.

The Manfeild competition is scheduled to start at 10.30am on the Pub Charity Outdoor Arena on Friday 26th and will be completed just after noon.

Story: ESNZ