Tthis weekend’s 2013 Australian Dressage Championships will see Australia’s leading riders battle it out for individual and state team's trophies. The riders come well prepared to Sydney as they have been participating in a week-long High Performance training camp leading up to the Nationals.
Entries to the dressage includes representatives from each state and territory and with Australia’s leading horse and rider combinations looking to claim their respective national title, fierce competition from novice through to Grand Prix is assured.
National squad riders have been provided with the ideal preparation leading into the nationals with a week-long staging camp as part of the EA High Performance program. Riders were offered expert coaching sessions with visiting trainers Lone Joergensen and Bjarne Elefsen.
On-horse sessions were complemented with a series of lectures on international horse transport, equine nutrition, sports science and medicine as well as a series of veterinary talks from the Australian Equestrian Team Vets for Dressage and Para-Equestrian, Dr Robin Bell and Dr Kirsten Neil.
National Performance Director for Dressage and Para-Equestrian, Julia Battams, says the camp has provided the squad riders with the best possible preparation ahead of the nationals.
“Staging the camp within such close proximity to the nationals has given our riders an excellent opportunity to work with the trainers on specific areas and will give them a chance to put into practice everything they’ve learnt over the past week,” said Ms Battams. “One session which was particularly successful saw the riders work together to brainstorm a vision statement for the squads moving forward.
“Let’s step it up - professionally inspire excellence came out of a four hour seminar and embodies the squad’s collective purpose moving forward,” she said.
One rider that all spectators will have their eyes on this weekend is the defending champion Maree Tomkinson who is looking to cement her name in the record books for a second consecutive year.
“I feel so lucky to have such a great partner in Diamantina, we’ve been working really hard in recent months and hopefully our efforts will pay off,” she said.
Photo © Silke Rottermann
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