This is the fifth year that Dressage with the Stars has been conducted at the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre.  It would be very difficult to top the extravaganza that was the inaugural event back in 1998 when Dutch superstar Anky Van Grunsven was the visiting judge.  The Dressage Symphony and sit down dinner along with first class entertainment, on top of the excitement of such a new a novel idea will probably never be the same. 

Peter Horobin Saddlery are always part of our top Dressage competitions. Peter sponsors many of our leading riders.

Jim McFayden from Mitavite takes the opportunity discuss the feeding of dressage horses to an interested horsewoman.

The 202 format is quite different with no dinner and no entertainment and the feeling of other short cuts - the organisers are now relying on the event itself to act as the drawcard and without being privy to the attendance numbers,  I am not too sure if this is working as well as they would like.  Last year there were many empty seats - this year they cut down the seating numbers which would indicate that there is not a lot more growth in the level of interest. 

Notwithstanding, the competition has grown from an entry viewpoint and I feel sure that the quality of the young dressage horses that we see now has improved greatly through the focus that this competition has provided to breeders, trainers and riders alike.  I am sure that many more people are now interested in Dressage as their preferred equestrian pursuit since the first Dressage with the Stars.

This year we saw the three year old classes dropped from the program.  In the past the 3 and 4 years old were in together.  I felt that to have these youngsters in with the 4 year olds was a very odd thing to do, as the three year old would have only been going under saddle for a couple of months and the four year olds would have one more year's education.  This would make a huge difference to their way of going and acceptance of such a big event.

Having said that ... I must add that some of the three years olds that took part in past events, did a truly wonderful job and coped exceptionally well.

30 4 year old horses started on Friday the 13th December, and they were assessed in the first round in groups of three.   Merrilyn Hamilton-Smith called the test and the horses were expected to stay in their order.  This does cause some problems for big moving horses who are perhaps slotted in behind a more modest mover.  Many riders felt that they were disadvantaged in this way.

Fairbanks Pavarotti by Brian Silvia's imported stallion Gullit was the eventual winner of the 4 years old class.  Gullit was campaigned in Australia for many years and eventually sold to the UK where Carl Hester took over the ride and competing at the 2000 Olympic Games. 

Fairbanks Pavarotti was bred by Russell and Helga Davidson and ridden by their son Shane.  I saw Pavarotti compete earlier in the year at the Queensland Young Dressage Horse Championships and was impressed with his on that occasion.

When he was assessed by Ulf Möller, he was given 8.00 for rideability. 

Congratulations to the Davidsons on breeding and presenting such a lovely young horse - we hope to see more of him in the future.

127 Fairbanks Pavarotti      Shane Davidson   77.6  1     76.0  1      80.0  3     153.6  1    233.6   1st

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