Erin Josey to Represent Canada at the 2010 Sydney CDI3* Invitational in Australia

Ottawa, Ontario—Erin Josey of Dartmouth, NS, will represent Canada at the Sydney CDI3*/CDI–Y International Dressage Derby being held in Sydney, Australia, April 28–May 1, 2010. The event, hosted at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre at Horsley Park, site of the 2000 Olympic Games, is the only CDI3* held in Australia each year.

Josey, who has recently taken over all the riding and training at Oxford Ridge Stable in Oxford Mills, ON, moved to Ontario six years ago to work and train with Equine Canada Level 3 Dressage coach Ruth Koch. Under Koch’s tutelage, Josey competed up to the Grand Prix level riding Danish Warmblood Handsome Iz.

Riding Leslie Wood’s Regala, a 10-year-old Westphalian mare, Josey rode at the Prix St. Georges level at the Equine Gold-rated competitions Blainville International Classic and Beaulieu International Dressage Classic in 2009. With Fabian JS, an 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Steve Philips, Josey competed at the Intermediaire I level in 2009 and the duo will start the 2010 show season in Intermediaire II and finish the season in Grand Prix.

Since the semi-retirement of Koch, Josey started training with Canadian Olympian Gina Smith in order to continue to pursue her goals of representing Canada in international competition at the Grand Prix level.

“This has been a great year for me,” said Josey, who has become the head trainer and rider for Francesca Willson, the owner of Oxford Ridge Stables. “I am really looking forward to representing Canada in Sydney.”

The international judging panel at the Sydney CDI 3* will include Maribel Alonso Quinzanos (MEX), Cara Whitham (CAN), Midori Furukawa (JPN), Alison King (HKG), Jan Bird (NZL), Mary Seefried (AUS), Susan Hoevenaars (AUS), Jill Cobcroft (AUS), Virginia Creed (AUS), Maria Schwennesen (AUS), Dr. Ricky MacMillan (AUS), Gisela Nilsson-Harding (AUS).

Due to Australian’s strict quarantine requirements and the high cost of air transportation, the organizing committee invited owners to loan their Prix St Georges/Intermediaire I level horses to the visiting international riders. The International Dressage Derby is the most exciting event of the competition. All riders will start on equal terms, drawing the name of the horse they will compete on out of a hat.

Canada has had great results in the past at the Derby where many up-and-coming elite athletes can get a taste of international competition abroad while showing their versatility riding unfamiliar horses. In 2008, Canadian Dressage riders Karen Pavicic of Richmond, BC, and Pia Fortmuller of DeWinton, AB, claimed the team gold medal in the Derby, and Pavicic won the title of best foreign rider. Rochelle Kilberg of Surrey, BC, and Simone Williams of Navan, ON, won the team bronze medal in 2009.