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A huge competition like the
Saddleworld/Winergy Dressage Festival requires an enormous team effort of
hundreds of keen enthusiasts to make up the volunteer workforce to make the
show happen.
Heading up the "DF Army' is the
Event Committee and this body of hard working individuals take on an almost
year on year job to ensure that every little detail is taken care of.
When everything goes to plan, the weekend will go smoothly and most people
who come along to enjoy the spectacle will believe that it has all happened
with a mimimum of fuss.
The Event Director is Glen Gault
who is known to most Victorians as a dedicated enthusiast who always puts in
through organisation, judging and when time permits, riding.
Glen is backed up by Tracy Gaspari
who is the Assistant Director and other on the Committee are Jennifer Evans,
Belinda Dawkins, Joan Adams Shelli Parker, Gaby Paranthoiene, Noeline
Mitchell, Tricia Read and Manfred Dobrow to mention those that I know
about, but there may be some new faces on the Committee that have escaped my
attention - apologies for any oversights.
Then there are the judges,
caterers, ground maintenance staff, gear check personnel, ushers, and many
other jobs which go to make the event interesting, competitor friendly,
financially viable and a top class competition meeting the best standards
which helps in the further development of the sport.
In some ways the success of
Australian shows has been a factor in creating a large percentage of
the workload. If the committee only had to concern themselves with
conducted a few days of competition and the riders' entry fees covered all
of the costs, then things would be quite simple. However in the past
10 years we have seen the standard of our top events such as the Sydney CDI,
the National Dressage Championships and Dressage with the Stars
This page includes some, but in
no way all, of the personalities at the event.
The indoor arena decorations are a 'special touch'
that the DF Committee take
to heart and I can recall some very innovative and timely themes in the
past.
The tranquil garden setting with bright flowers gave
a real lift and gave
the riders a happy greeting as they entered the ring. |
Helping is a great way to meet 'like minded Dressage
nuts' and exchange ideas - despite 4 frantic days this part of the team
were still smiling. On the top row, from left is Tracy Gaspari and
Leslie Sullivan (Qld). On the bottom row from left is
Di Schrapel, Sue Bright (Qld) Noeline Mitchell and Jenny Carrol (NSW) |
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Left - President of the Ground
Jury
Dr Barnabas Mandi
from Hungary
Barnabas
is making his 7th trip to Australia in 10 years. We love seeing
him and he loves the opportunity to see the many people who welcome him
back to help us improve our Dressage.
Barnabas
conducted a wonderful
Judges Clinic which I will
cover later on. |
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Left is Minako Furuoka (Judge from Japan) and her
penciller Mariko Tsukigawa (right) who came to help and gain some experience.
Minako started riding when she was only three and continued to ride
and compete reaching Prix St Georges level. Minako left for Belgium in
1993 and spent 7 yeas training with Mr & Mrs Withages. Whilst in
Europe Minako acted as secretary and shadow judge for Volker Moritz,
Uwe Mechlem, Eric Lette, Linda Zang, Stephen Clarke and Mariette
Withages.
The last 10 years have been spent helping to develop
Dressage in Japan. She has attained her S Level Judge License, FEI C Level Judge accreditation and
has been appointed as a member of
the Dressage Committee of the Japan Equestrian Federation, FEI 'I'
Judge and member of the organising committees of many Japanese
Championships.
Below left ... is Midori
Furukawa (also from Japan) who was a keen Dressage competitor in Japan
... and while she does not compete anymore, she still enjoys
riding. She has been an FEI Candidate Judge since January last year.
Her first step to this qualification was being Mary Seefried's
secretary , as a consequence of this experience Midori feels a strong bond with
Australia.
Below right - Mary Seefried,
our own FEI O Level Judge who was on the judging panel for Athens 2004 and
will judge at the World Equestrian Games in
Aachen in 2006.
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Midori Furukawa
Judge (Japan) |
Mary Seefried
Australian O Level
Judge
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Joy Charlton
Judge (NSW) |
Deborah McNicol
Dressage Australia Chairperson. |
Joaanne Fowler
Head of the Selection Panel |
Susie Hoevenaars
FEI Judge and on the CDI-W Panel |
Jill Cobcroft
Judge (NSW) |
Tiffany Joose - a young Victorian rider
who is always willing to help. |
Jane Grant
A Level Judge - Victoria. |
Robert Hammond
A Level Judge - Victoria. |
Lesley Sullivan formerly from the NT and now
Queensland
as she sits taking minutes at the Riders' Meeting on Thursday evening.
Lesley is a tireless worker for Dressage and makes an important
contribution. |
Rozzie Ryan - EFA
Dressage Sub-Committee
Dressage Riders Representative |
Manfred Dobrow representing
the main sponsor Saddleworld.
He spent most of each day on the microphone keeping us all up to date. |
Marg
England
Catering - Marj is a much loved
personality in Victoria. |
Irene
Bakels-Noreen
Heads up Dressage in Queensland. |
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Left - Jane
Bloomfield
from Queensland
getting experience to help her
become an Interternational
Candidate Judge.
Judges make
a huge commitment
to gain knowledge and develop their
skills - without them there is no
competition or furthering of
Dressage. |
A
magnificent centre line for Rob Clay as he grooms the sand arenas. |
Left Janet
Earl - Judge and penciller ... and Karen Thornton who took
care of the program advertising and other chores over the 4 day event. |
Caroline
Lieutenant - a respected
personality in Australian Dressage. |
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Above right - Anne Smith from Victoria's Western
District, worked very hard all weekend checking the gear for
competitors in the indoor arena. I noted her patience and
care to help a rider who's Novice level horse was quite worried about
the white tent. She was so considerate and kind and
deserves a special pat on the back for making an effort to help the
horse realise that nothing was going to get him . Anne's actions
went well above
the call of duty - well done Anne, you are a star.
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Manfred
again, sitting at his broadcaster's booth below the Saddleworld banner.
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