Ottawa, Ontario—Canada’s Simone Williams and Wunder Ein finished in sixth place in the Grand Prix Freestyle during the CDI-W/Y Palm Beach Dressage Derby, held February 27 to March 1, in Loxahatchee, FL.
Williams, a current resident of Navan, ON, earned a score of 67.450% with Wunder Ein (Wolkenstein II x Maat), Williams’ 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding she co-owns with her parents Margaret and Robert Williams.
“I was really happy with my horse this weekend,” remarked Williams, who is planning on competing in the Canadian and the Northern United States CDI circuit this summer with Wunder Ein. “This is our second competition in Florida this winter, and he is really starting to settle in. We are really looking forward to the last CDI here in Florida.”
Canadian riders who also competed in the Grand Prix division included Tina Irwin of Lakefield, ON, with Amicelli (Amigo x Calypso III), a 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Ute Busse and Wendy Beresford; Denielle Gallagher-Legriffon of Lakeside, NB, and Gallaway’s Abrikos, her 18-year-old Russian-bred stallion; and Tina’s husband, Jaimey Irwin, also of Lakefield, ON, and his horse Dover, a 12-year-old Hanoverian sired by De Niro.
Canadians could also be found competing in the Advanced division. In the Prix St. Georges class, former Young Rider Krystalann Shingler of Toronto, ON, and her horse Tividor, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding sired by Obelisk, earned a score of 67.368% for sixth place. Triple Canadian Olympian Ashley Holzer of Toronto, ON, and Daddy Cool, Diana Rose’s 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding sired by Don Primero, scored 65.439%. Shingler and Tividor went on to score 65.175% in Intermediaire I.
In the FEI Young Rider Team test, Brittany Fraser of NEW GLASGOW, NS, and her horse Furio, 13-year-old Danish Warmblood sired by Elmegardens Fight, earned a second place finish with a score of 64.053%. The pair followed up with a 66.600%, for fifth place, in the FEI Young Rider Freestyle.
The international judging panel at the CDI-W/Y Palm Beach Dressage Derby included Axel Steiner (FEI O—USA), Katrina Wuest (FEI O—GER), Wim Ernes (FEI O— NED), Anne Gribbons (FEI O—USA), Linda Zang (FEI O—USA), Jennie Loriston-Clarke (FEI I— GBR), Gustaf Svalling (FEI I— SWE), Lisette Vega De Purcell (FEI I— DOM) and Charlotte Bredahl (FEI C— USA).
A week earlier, February 19–22, at the CDI-W/Y Mid Winter Dressage Fair held at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, CA, Canadian Crystal Kroetch of Calgary, AB, and her eight-year-old Hanoverian gelding, Lymrix, finished in fourth place, with 66.754%, in the Prix St. Georges class. The pair then placed third in the Intermediaire I with a score of 65.351%.
“We are very happy with Lymrix and how he went in Burbank,” said Kroetch. “I believe that there is a lot more left in this horse.”
Joni Lynn Peters of Armstrong, BC, and her nine-year-old Canadian Warmblood gelding Travolta sired by Olympic Ferro, finished in sixth place in the Prix St. Georges class with a score of 64.912%.
The international judging panel at the CDI-W/Y Mid Winter Dressage Fair were Janet Foy (FEI I—USA), Andrew Gardner (FEI I—GBR), Jeanne McDonald (FEI I—USA), Volker Moritz (FEI O—GER), and Canada’s Lorraine Macdonald (FEI I).
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