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May Days

Team Fredericks – The Winning Combination

Lucinda's win at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials early this month is another “feather in the hat” for Team Fredericks. It occurred just one week after Clayton won the Rolex Kentucky International Three-Day Event. The pair has been setting the Eventing world alight with a string of successes over the last two years. Apart from wins and good placings in a number of 3-star CCIs, CICs and CICs-W, 4-Star wins have, of course, been the highlights:
 
2005
Clayton
wins the World Cup Eventing in Malmö, Sweden
2006
Clayton
wins Silver in the Individual and Bronze in the Team Classification at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen
2006
Lucinda
wins Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials
2007
Clayton
wins the Rolex Kentucky International Three-Day Event
2007
Lucinda
wins the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials

Congratulations, Lucinda and Clayton!  We are looking forward to more successes, particularly in the next 18 months.

Sonja Johnson wins Taupo CCI***

This event included the "senior" Trans-Tasman Competition. The Australian Team could not complete the event after one elimination during and one withdrawal after the cross-country, so the Trophy went to the Kiwis without a real fight.

On the upside, Team members Sonja Johnson and Ringwould Jaguar claimed the Individual Trophy at the Open New Zealand Eventing Championships.  Congratulation, Sonja!

Kristy does well at Wiesbaden

Germany-based Australian Dressage rider Kristy Oatley rode three horses at this year's Wiesbaden Pfingstturnier (Whitsuntide weekend), doing well in all classes she entered.  The highlights certainly were her win with Quando-Quando in the Grand Prix Freestyle and her third place with Don Bolero in the Grand Prix (for the Special). Peter Weston rode Winslow in the same classes as Quando-Quando but with more moderate success. The combination did, however, get a qualifying score. Kristy's cousin Lyndal competed with Feramo in the "small tour" (Prix St. Georges/Intermediate I). Unfortunately, Matthew Dowsley had to withdraw Cinderella, who was experiencing fitness problems and probably has not recovered as well from her operation as had been thought.

International Dressage in Australia

Australia's only 3-Star International Dressage Event, the Sydney CDI***/CDI-Y, had "standing room only" at its Saturday Gala night, which included the now traditional "Farewell to the Nations". Riders from New Zealand, Japan, Great Britain and Canada competed against Australians in the "small tour" and the exciting International Prix St. Georges Derby, where riders only have 30 minutes to familiarise themselves with their horses.

The Ground Jury included FEI-listed judges from Denmark, Canada, Gret Britain, Mexico, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia, three of them at O-level.

The 2007 Toowoomba Dressage Championships included a CDI-W World Cup qualifier and a CDI-Y for Young Riders and attracted great interest from riders and spectators.

High Performance Matters - Brett Mace reports

Ralf Isselhorst commences his role with Australian Dressage Riders

Ralf Isselhorst has commenced his role as National Dressage Trainer by travelling to the Wiesbaden CDI*** in Germany to observe and work with the Australian Dressage Squad riders and their trainers.

Ralf’s presence in Wiesbaden and the support and feedback he gave was well received by the Australian riders. Although most are well-established with their own trainers, Ralf’s assistance made a difference as all of our riders work towards attaining their Olympic “Minimum Eligibility Standard” (MES).

There were some very encouraging results leading up to next year’s Olympic Games. Kristy Oatley won the Grand Prix Freestyle and did well in other classes and Peter Weston achieved half of his MES qualification.

The first opportunity for our Australia-based riders to work with Ralf comes in June when the first of three clinics scheduled for this year will be held.    This clinic, to be held at Glenorie at the outskirts of Sydney, will take place 27 June – 01 July.    Interested coaches and media are welcome to attend these clinics by arrangement with the High Performance Manager through the EFA National Office.

Following the third clinic in October, National Squad Riders, the High Performance Panel and Ralf will review and assess the success of these clinics.

Good Luck Beijing – HKSAR 10th Anniversary Cup CCI**

This event is probably better known as the 2008 Olympic Games Equestrian Test Event. It will take place in Hong Kong 11 – 13 August 2007.

The EFA has committed to sending two horses from Australia to this event in preparation for next year’s Olympic Games.    2006 WEG team members Megan Jones riding Fedwel and Shane Rose riding Stafford Novalis will be our two combinations.   Olympic Gold medallist Wendy Schaeffer is on standby should one of these combinations become unavailable.

Triple Olympic Gold medallist Andrew Hoy, 2006 WEG Silver medallist Clayton Fredericks and recent Badminton winner Lucinda Fredericks will attend the event as observers to support Megan and Shane.    

Once again the campaign for the Olympic Games will be guided by the vastly experienced and ‘battle-hardened’ combination of National Coach Wayne Roycroft and National Vet Denis Goulding.

We hope that with this great depth of knowledge from past and current Australian Teams, we will gather important “intelligence” that will give Australia that winning edge and continue Australia’s great medal tradition

The EFA appreciate the support of the Australian Sports Commission, which has once again provided much needed and valued support in the preparation of our Teams for next year’s Olympic Games, in particular the very costly exercise of transporting horses to this event.

Upcoming events

You can find a listing of most equestrian events on our web calendar, but I will mention those with International-level competition.

The month starts off with the Woorooloo CCI/CIC in Western Australia. One has to admire the organisers in that State to put on 3-Star classes to give local riders the opportunity to gain qualifying scores. Let's hope that participant numbers at this level grow over time.

On the long weekend, our affiliate, the Australian Endurance Riders Association (AERA) is running a CEI*** Endurance ride in Nanango near Kingaroy in rural Queensland. The King of Malaysia, where next year's World Championships will be held, will participate to get a qualifying score. The King's visit has been keeping the local Council and State and Federal government offices excited.

On the same weekend, Melbourne will conduct its International Three-Day Event at Werribee, including a World Cup Eventing qualifier. The month is rounded off with the Coffs Harbour CIC.

Event Start End Date
Wooroloo CCI and CIC 2 Jun 4 Jun
Melbourne International Three-Day Event (CCI and 8 Jun 11 Jun
Nanango CEI (Qld) 9 Jun 11 Jun
Coffs Harbour CIC 30 Jun 1 Jul

On the governance side, the National Carriage Driving Committee will meet on 02 June, there will be meetings on 04 and 05 June in Alice Springs and Darwin, respectively, regarding the future of the Northern Territory Branch, and the National Board will have its June meeting on 16 June and then meet with the Chairs of the Branches on 17 June.

Protecting your property with the right policy

We all know the importance of insuring our property and possessions in the unfortunate event that something terrible occurs, however having the right insurance policy will eliminate much of the hassle, frustration and potential financial hardship that may occur in the event of a claim.

The "protecting your property with the right policy" bulletin demonstrates the difference between a standard home and contents insurance policy and landlords' insurance, and will assist you in ensuring that your investment property is correctly covered.

Through API Gold, not only do you receive premium discounts of up to 20%* on your personal insurance, but also benefits such as:

  • 24-hour online access
  • paperless claims
  • 24-hour claims assistance

Supporters and Sponsors

I cannot close without thanking our funding agencies, sponsors and supporters.

In particular, we would like to mention

Franz Venhaus
Chief Executive Officer


Clayton Fredericks wins Rolex Kentucky 4-Star Event
Clayton Fredericks riding Edwin McCauley's Ben Along Time has won the prestigious Rolex Kentucky International Three-Day Event, one of only five 4-star events in the world.

Lucinda Fredericks wins 2007 Badminton Horse Trials
The Badminton win continues a wonderful run of major four-star performances for Australian riders who have now won six of the last eight of these major events and finished second in the other two, including the World Equestrian Games last year in Aachen, Germany.

Kristy Oatley wins Wiesbaden Grand Prix Freestyle
Kristy and her horse Quando-Quando have won the Freestyle to Music class at the prestigious Wiesbaden Pfingstturnier in Germany.

'Live' results from the 2007 Sydney CDI 3-Star on the web
Competition is now over at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre after a packed house watched the gala evening on Saturday night.

Sonja Johnson and Ringwould Jaguar win 2007 Taupo CCI***
This is a great win for the AUS Team member after the disappointment of Australia not being able to field a team to complete the Trans-Tasman competition in the Jumping Test.

Hat Trick for Heath Ryan
Heath Ryan has won the Grand Prix of all three FEI Dressage Events in Australia this year

ICDF Applications for 2007-2008 closing soon
01 June 2007 is the deadline for applications and expressions of interest for grants from the International Competition and Development Fund (ICDF)in the 2007-08 financial year.

The King of Malaysia to compete in Endurance ride in Australia
The Nanango CEI 3-Star 160 km International Endurance ride near Kingaroy in Queensland will have a royal competitor. The current King of Malaysia hopes to gain the necessary qualification to compete in the FEI World Endurance Championships, which will be held in his country next year.

Invitations to the CCI* Pattaya, Thailand
The Thailand Equestrian Federation has invited Australia to send two riders, an official and a Chef d'Equipe to compete (with borrowed horses - not elephants) in the CCI* Pattaya being held at The Thai Polo, Pattaya, Thailand, 3-5 August 2007.

 


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