For me,  Dressage With the Stars creates a great feeling that is part of the 'festive season high'.  Until the second weekend in December, Christmas feel like ages away. This competition seems to capture the spirit of the season and combines it with Australia's premier horse show, it makes it a very special time of the year.

Dressage with the Stars - The most popular Australian performance Event.  Numbers are sure to grow with the introduction of Jumping with the Stars which was introduced this year.

Unlike the first years of DWTS, Cyberhorse did not have such an involvement with the organisation by way of creating, hosting and promoting the DWTS web site.  So the many e-mails that I received looking for information about times, tickets and other organisational matters, suggested that this is an area that needs to be addressed in the future in order to keep people informed and ensure that everyone with an interest in horses comes along to the event.

The competition has 'hit the spot' for most horse enthusiasts, as it provides an interest for riders, breeders and owners of our promising young horses, as well as the public who have come to see the best youngsters in the land. 

This is the fifth year for Dressage with the Stars and as a knowledgeable observer, I believe that the standard of entries significantly demonstrates a year on year improvement in quality.  I am sure this is due - in large measure - to the fact that breeders are now involved in the sport of Dressage.  They can see value in producing  quality young stock as a way of promoting their stud and breeding stock.  Many horses are owned by the breeders and this has added a very positive dimension to the performance horse market.

This year's guest riding judge was Ulf Möller (pictured left, at his Master Class) from Germany.   Ulf was an instant success with everyone - he had a warm and  gentle, yet positive approach and his perceptive eye for the talent of young Dressage horses was very apparent.  Ulf Möller is the Manager of Performance Sales International.  He works under the direction of internationally acclaimed horseman Ulrich Kasselman.   PSI have earned the reputation of being the leading sales organisation specialising in quality young performance horses for both Dressage and Showjumping.

Ulf Möller conducted a Master Class and only horses purchased from PSI were invited to take part - the quality of these horses was outstanding and did a great job to promote PSI to Australian's looking for an outstanding future competition horse/s.

The Australian Young Dressage Horse Championships (now also Showjumping) are run in conjunction with the Australian final of the FEI World Cup Dressage Competition.  This is the most important Australian Dressage event on the calendar, as the winner of this competition will have the opportunity to travel to Europe and represent Australia at the World Cup Final,   which is conducted in about April/May next Year. 

Picture right:  Mariette Withages (Belgium) on the left and Merrilyn Hamilton-Smith draw the names and the horses in order to establish the start order for the important Grand Prix Dressage competition.

As part of this competition we have 5 highly experienced Dressage judges - this year two of them were from overseas.   Mariette Withages  from Belguim is the chairwoman of the International Dressage Judges' Club and a driving force in the popularisation of the Kür.    Mariette has been to Australia on previous occasions and her warm and spontaneous personality makes her a very popular guest.  Angelika Fromming from Germany was the other visiting judge and as she works at the German National Federation in Warendorf, training and testing judges - her expertise is much valued and respected - I was not lucky enough to have met her.

All of the FEI horses got through the Trot-Up even though there were some worrying moments for Lesley-Anne Taylor from SA as HP Finagin wa asked to represent.  There was absolutely no problem second time around.	Team Vet Dennis Goulding has a word to Mariette Withages while the judges and Technical Delegate look on. The Trot-up is conducted at all competitions that have status with the FEI.

The trot up for the CDI-W horses was conducted on Thursday afternoon at 5 PM and the draw at 7.30 in conjunction with a welcome cocktail party.

During the course of the evening a number of the interstate competitors told of their concerns travelling through New South Wales where bushfires were causing major concerns.  Ricky McMillan told me how the flames were either side of the highway and she was concerned that she would be stopped from getting through.  Di Jenkyn had similar worries.  It was great to see that the top riders were prepared to travel under such conditions.  Everyone at DWTS was relieved to learn that NSW had received a 2 inch dumping, which had eased the threat of further outbreaks - at least we could all enjoy the competition knowing that the immediate threat was under control.

The organisers of the CDI-W, in particular Deborah McNicol have worked very hard and done lots of talking to find a way around the very contentious 'hard hat issue'.  It seems that she has been able to get cover from the insurance company which covers several branches of the 'western' horse movement. There was a fee of $2,000 (I believe) to cover this event and this was met from the personal pockets of some of those who feel strongly about this matter.   Hopefully this will pave the way to have the recent EFA rulings overturned.

Mariette Withages (left) catches up with Ricky McMillan's groom Mary-Anne - who was delighted to say hello.	Ulf Möller and Ricky McMillan enjoy a relaxed moment.

This year saw for the first time - Jumping with the Stars - the same theme, but this time for young showjumping horses.   With many breeders now focusing on specialist bloodlines for jumping horses the inclusion of Young Horse Jumping classes was welcomed by industry leaders.  Eil Kingma from International Horse Breeders was most enthusiastic about the recognition of the importance of encouraging top showjumping lines as a way of improving performance horses in Australia.

Jumping with the Stars is the 'brainchild' of Jan Heine - who is well known to Cyberhorse fans, as our Showjumping correspondent.  Jan is passionate about Showjumping and was prepared to make an enormous personal contribution of time and money to see that this inaugural event was a success.

John Cottle on Wondaree without a Doubt

Jan arranged for top New Zealand, Olympic Showjumping rider and trainer, John Cottle to judge the classes.   John did a great job in the final round when he rode the horses and tested their talent and potential.  John impressed me with his ability to quickly and accurately assess each horse.  He appeared to feel when he could 'push' a little and ask some big questions, and yet with some of the youngsters, he advised that they needed a little more training before he felt that it was fair to ask for more.  I hope that all of our riders took heed of his insightful comments!

Go to: Australian Young Dressage Championships Results | CDI-W Results
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