Source:  News Release/Julie Cull

Canadian Para-Dressage Riders Competed at CPEDI3* NEDA Fall Festival

Ottawa, ON—With the goal of gaining exposure and team experience at the international level, Canada’s para-dressage riders competed at the 2011 NEDA Fall Festival of Dressage in Saugerties, NY, September 13–18.

With the top three combined scores from the Team test and Individual Championship test, Canadian team members Robyn Andrews, Madison Lawson, Stephanie Ross and Jody Schloss finished in second place, behind the Americans, who won the team competition.

RobynAndrews and Fancianna. Photo - Lindsay McCall

Robyn Andrews of St John, NL, finished in third place in the Grade 1a Team test, scoring 65.000% riding Santana Rooyakkers’ Ravallo Son, a 16-year-old Bavarian Warmblood gelding, and also placed fifth, 63.922%, with her own mare Fancianna, a 10-year-old Warmblood. With Fancianna, Andrews was also fourth in both the Individual Championship with 64.833% and the Freestyle with 62.333%. Riding Ravallo Son, she was seventh in the Individual Championship.

StephanieRoss and Wiesenblute. Photo - Lindsay McCall

Riding Wiesenblute, her 16-year-old Hanoverian mare, Stephanie Ross of Langley, BC, scored 61.914% in the Grade III Team test, 62.500% in the Individual Championship and 66.833% in the Freestyle, which showed that the new partnership is growing as all their scores were higher than CPEDI3* Del Mar that they attended earlier in the season.

JodySchloss and InspectorRebus. Photo - Lindsay McCall

Jody Schloss of Toronto, ON, rode her horse Inspector Rebus, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, to a fourth place in the Grade 1a Team test, scoring 64.902%. The pair won the Individual Championship test with 68.417% and received 64.417%, for third place, in the Freestyle.

MadisonLawson and McGuire. Photo - Lindsay McCall

Madison Lawson of Bonfield, ON, rode her 2010 World Equestrian Games partner McGuire, a 14-year-old Canadian Sport Horse gelding, to sixth place in the Grade IV Team test with 62.188%. The duo also finished seventh in the Individual Championship with 63.333% and sixth in the Freestyle with 63.167%.

LynnePoole and Frisbee. Photo - Lindsay McCall

Also competing in Grade IV was Lynne Poole of Schomberg, ON, and her 19-year-old Welsh gelding Frisbee. Poole and Frisbee earned a second place finish in the Team test with 64.271%, fourth in the Individual Championship scoring 64.462%, and third in the Freestyle with 68.000%.

“With an international judging panel, high ranked Irish and American riders and a competition ring that had some horses very nervous, the competition at Saugerties was a good test for some of our up and coming riders,” said Elizabeth Quigg-Robinson, chef d’équipe of the Canadian Para-Dressage Team.

Complete details for the CPEDI3* NEDA Fall Festival may be found at www.neda.org.

Canada’s Para-equestrian athletes have had tremendous international success over the past number of years, helping to propel the discipline into the spotlight. The Canadian Para-equestrian athletes are well positioned leading up to the 2012 Paralympic Games, where they will be striving for performance excellence.