Triple Olympic champion Anky Van Grunsven of The Netherlands finished a long way ahead of the rest of the field when securing her second consecutive victory with Salinero in the 2009 FEI World CupTM

Photo courtesy FEI World Cup Dressage

Congratulations to Robert Dover and to the Canadian Dressage Team on their new coach (Robert, of course). An already competitive squad can only get better with Robert keeping an eye on them! Want to know what's happenin'? Check out Robert's blog doverswold.com for all kinds of scoops.

The Dutch stable Exquis, owned by Anthony M.Kies (who founded World Dressage Masters) has top horses in the three Olympic disciplines of dressage, jumping and eventing. That sound like anyone else we know . . . whose initials are JD?

Shawna Harding has been rather busy this fall. She had a birthday, got engaged to Brian Quackenbush, bought a house in Aiken that they are refurbishing and in her spare time, swept the Region 1 Championships on all three of her horses. Contreau First Level Champion, Rigo Fourth Level Champion and undefeated for the year and is Fourth Level Horse of the Year, Come On won both the Intermediare 2 and Grand Prix Championships. Shawna also won the best seat award from Trylogy saddles and the Hasslers.

Gonna be in Pictures! Director and dressage enthusiast Lauren Burris, is now in the post-production phase creating a Musical Kur through editing and music composition. Lauren found a perfect trio with the P.R.E stallion Tamaro, owned by Linda Cramer, dressage rider Mary Ann Grant, and the beautiful Michigan countryside at Equistride International Dressage. She hopes to have the finished product ready to send out as a non-narrative short film to national and international film festivals for the spring of 2010.

The Dressage Foundation has established the Trip Harting Fund that will provide grants up to $500 for a current or graduate rider with a Pony Club Rating of B or A to assist in attending the USDF "L" Education Program or USDF Instructor Certification Program. For more information about the United States Pony Club, visit www.ponyclub.org. To apply for a grant or for more information about The Dressage Foundation, please visit The Dressage Foundation website at www.dressagefoundation.org, or call (402) 434- 8585.

Triple Olympic champion Anky Van Grunsven of The Netherlands finished a long way ahead of the rest of the field when securing her second consecutive victory with Salinero in the 2009 FEI World Cup99 Dressage series at Lyon, France.

The absence of her fellow-countryman, Edward Gal, after an unfortunate accident with Sisther de Jeu left her clear favorite to top the scoreboard and she won with a comfortable margin of more than five percentage points over runner-up Monica Theodorescu from Germany riding Whisper. Third place went to Denmark's Nathalie Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Rigoletto whose indoor season debut on her home turf at Odense two weeks ago was spoiled by the gelding's nervousness, which led to their retirement during the Grand Prix.

Congratulations to Chuck Smith the 2009 USDF Volunteer of the Year, and Kariel Swanfeldt the 2009 USDF Youth Volunteer of the Year As winners, Chuck and Kariel were presented with a perpetual trophy, which is permanently on display in the Roemer Foundation/USDF Hall of Fame, and will be featured in the yearbook issue of USDF Connection. Both received a "keeper" trophy and $500 gift certificate from The Paddock Saddlery.

And kudos to Rebecca and Jerome Broussard and Cassandra and Carl Segal, who were selected as recipients of PRO's 2009 As You Like It Owners Award. Their names are well known in the world of eventing, and the Professional Riders Organization honored these two couples for exceptional contributions to the careers of individual riders through their ownership of horses and personal investment in the sport.

Showtime: The 2010 schedule of confirmed competitions of the Exquis World Dressage Masters is: * Feb. 4-6 - Palm Beach, Florida * May 13-16 - Munich, Germany * July 29-Aug. 1, Hickstead, England. Each competition consists of a Grand Prix with prize money of 8010,000 (US$14,980) and up to 20 riders from the top of the FEI Rider Rankings List, qualifying through a CDI3* or by special invitation.

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