Swiss dressage riders Gilles Ngovan and Melanie Hofmann became the proud parents of baby girl Leana. She was born on 15 August 2010. Five days later father Gilles rode Melanie's Grand Prix horse GB Cazzago (owned by Hans Grunder) in the 2010 Swiss Dressage Championships. Melanie watched his performance as a trainer, but afterwards the happy couple could enjoy some rest with Leana.
Photo © Elisabeth Weiland
Eurodressage has received HUGE amounts of support from dressage enthusiasts world wide in standing up against censorship following the Anky Van Grunsven Lawsuit against this website. (THANK YOU!!!!) Eurodressage fans have also started a petition. It says: "We the undersigned wish to show Astrid Appels our support and believe not only should the freedom of the press upheld when objectively commenting on proven facts, but that we are against the training methods used by not only Ms van Grunsven and Mr Jannsen, but many other riders and trainers." The petition can be found in ipetition.com. (You can sign without making a donation to Ipetition).
The famous artist Michelle Guillot also kicked into action and made a great new illustration of the Rollkur-LDR debate for Horses For Life. Check out her powerful artwork here. By the way, her illustrations can also be found on T-shirts at Cafe Press.
The notorious Carrot of Horses Love Carrots and Bute has found the solution for the rollkur-hyperflexion-LDR training dispute. No, not a third definition but an icon: "The Training Method Formerly Known As. . .LDR/RK/HF/LDR/WTF/DNR".
The Totilas-breeding mania has not caused the major public hype as predicted. The first mare in foal to Totilas has been auctioned and she only fetched a price of 30,000 euro. That was slightly less than the price highlight Hanoverian broodmare (in foal to Desperados) sold at the 2010 Hanoverian Foal Auction in Verden. At the Brabant Foal Auction in Etten-Leur, The Netherlands, the Dutch warmblood mare Nicol (by Contango x Kaiserstern xx - and in foal to Totilas) achieved a knock down price of 30,000 euro. She sold to Stable De Randhoeve in Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
With less than a month to go until the start of the World Equestrian Games, Australian dressage riders Parbery, Beresford, Oatley and Sanna have decided to try and get the "Go the Gold" idea out there. Cyberhorse.net.au reported that Hayley, Brett & Lyndal have all started to rally thier friends & family together on facebook in an attempt to get as many people heading over to WEG to don something Gold and make their presence both seen and felt in the Grandstands. The Dutch fans are always the first to be noticed due to their bright orange get up and the British & American fans are always in their navy blue and red. So, if you are making the trip over to WEG, as many of you are, then perhaps it is time to peer into your wardrobes for any gold items that may just do the trick. If you don’t have anything appropriate, now would be as good a time as any to get shopping.
Horse & Country TV is teaming up with Olympic dressage rider Carl Hester to produce a new observational documentary series that will take viewers behind the scenes at Carl’s yard.
“At Home with Carl Hester” is a series of five programmes charting the day-to-day life of one of Britain’s top riders, and providing insights into his background, his spectacular facilities, his team, and – of course – his horses.
Horses.nl reported that Moniek van Dijk's Grand Prix horse Now I'm Here will have a new future under young rider Debora Pijpers. The 15-year old Contango x Onyx offspring has been sold to the Pijpers' family (mom is famous Dutch journalist Claartje van Andel) and the new combination will be trained by Van Dijk and Coby van Baalen.
The 2010 Dutch Outdoor Pony Championships were cancelled due to heavy rainfall. The Dutch Equestrian Federation has set a new date, 5 September, for the FEI Pony level classes. The location is still the KNHS headquarters in Ermelo, The Netherlands
A two day British Dressage seminar ‘Principles of Judging Dressage’ will be held at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire on 23 - 24 October 2010. The course will be taken by FEI International Judges Jo Graham and Isobel Wessels and will cover movements up to Small Tour level. Read more here
German O-judge Katrina Wust has been giving clinics in Italy. Her last "stage" was held at Centro Equestro Monferrato on 31 August - 1 September. The participating riders were Valentina Truppa, Esther Soldi, Silvia Benzan, Roberto Brenna, Federico Addari, Gloria Colombo, Micol Rustignoli, Federica Scolari, Monica Iemi, and Mrs. Villa. Italy is one of the very few nations which still has not announced its official team for WEG. Dressage manager David Holmes disclosed to Eurodressage that this will be done "shortly".