Source:  Various

U.S. Dressage Rider Catherine Haddad Finishes Fifth in World Cup Western European League

At the last qualifier for the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ final this weekend, Catherine Haddad and Winyamaro scored a strong 74.10% in the Grand Prix Freestyle which was good for an eighth place finish.  The score also helped them finish in the top five of the Western European Qualifying League.

The final will be held in April in Leipzig, along with the show jumping and driving finals.

The pair has been very consistent throughout the qualifying season with high placings in Lyon, Stuttgart, and London in the fall as well as at Gothenburg this winter. She also won a U.S. qualifier at Devon.

Their scores were in the high sixties in the Grand Prix and generally in the seventies in the Freestyle which usually assured a top five finish in each of the big indoor shows.

They were competing head to head with the finest riders and horses in the world: Adelinde Cornelissen who won five of the qualifiers with Jerich Parzival; Ulla Salzegeber and Herzruf’s Erbe in second place; in the third slot are Isabelle Werth with her two veterans, Satchmo and Warum Nicht,  and her upcoming youngster, El Santo NRW; and Hans-Peter Minderhoud in fourth with his veteran Exquis Nadine.

At one point in the season, Haddad topped the leaderboard.

According to Dressage-News.com, Haddad has been offered a place at the finals in Leipzig because of her fifth place finish in the toughest qualifying league.