January 7, 2004

FEI GANDINI WORLD JUMPING RIDERS RANKINGS FUCHS IN THE LEAD, MICHAEL WHITAKER BACK IN THE TOP TEN
 
With 3135 points, the Swiss rider Markus Fuchs is leading the FEI Gandini World Jumping Riders Rankings No. 36 despite having scored no points in December 2003.  Markus Fuchs was forced to retire in the opening competition of CSI-W Geneva early December due to strains in the adductors. He is expected to be back to competition for Zurich CSI 5* at the end of January.
 
Ludger Beerbaum (GER) keeps his second position with 2647 points and is followed by fellow countryman Marcus Ehning at 2339 pts. Otto Becker (GER), goes up from 6th to 4th place. He scored 85 points at CSI-W Geneva where he finished second in the World Cup, 140 points in La Coruna (ESP) and another 90 in Munich.
 
Michael Whitaker (GBR) is back in the Top Ten with 1750 points. He earned 85 points in London Olympia where he finished 4th of the World Cup competition and another 80 in La Coruna.
 
Also to be noted the excellent progression of Jan Tops (NED) who goes up from the 36th to the 21st spot, thanks to his excellent performance in December, mainly in London, Maastricht and Paris.
 
1 Markus Fuchs SUI 3135
2 Ludger Beerbaum GER 2647
3 Marcus Ehning GER 2339
4 Otto Becker GER 2206
5 Lars Nieberg GER 2109
6 Jos Lansink BEL 2069
7 Rodrigo Pessoa BRA 2049
8 Beezie Madden -Patton USA 1965
9 Michael Whitaker GBR 1750
10 Malin Baryard SWE 1696
 
FEI WORLD CUP JUMPING SWEDISH MAGIC IN MECHELEN.
 
Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson headed the line-up at the seventh leg of the FEI World Cup Jumping series in Mechelen, Belgium when scorching to victory with Mac Kinley in the Land Rover Grand Prix.
 
Course designer Lucien Somers set them a tough test over his 13-fence track and Rolf-Goran said "the oxers were big and wide with some tricky distances so it was quite difficult in the first round".
 
The tall planks at the third element of the treble combination at fence 10 hit the floor many times as the later part of the course took its toll, and many of the most likely contenders paid the price for a single error including Holland's Eric Van der Vleuten and Audi's Jikke, winners at the opening leg of the current series in Helsinki in October.
 
Unluckiest of all perhaps was Bruno Broucqault who left all the poles in place but picked up just a single time fault with Hooligan de Rosyl but, as it turned out, that was good enough to secure sixth place at the end of the day as only five riders went into the jump-off and the Frenchman now shares equal-ninth position on the World Cup standings leaderboard with Malin Baryard.
 
The World Cup standings are now headed by Jos Lansink whose runner-up placing in Mechelen has boosted his position. Eric Van der Vleuten lies second with Germany's Marco Kutscher in third and all three of these riders now look well-qualified for the final in Milan next April while Olympia winner Helena Weinberg (4th), Michael Whitaker (5th) and double-World Cup winner this season, Thomas Velin (6th), also look comfortably in touch with a qualifying place.
 
For further information on Mechelen visit website www.jumping-mechelen.com
 
The next leg of the FEI World Cup Jumping series takes place in Leipzig, Germany on 25 January. For all press-related enquiries about Leipzig please contact Kerstan Media Networking at Mobile: ++49 430 782 7970, Email: info@kerstan.de.. Website for Leipzig is: www.engarde.de.
 
BIOGRAPHIES on riders competing in the FEI World Cup series are available at http://bios.horsesport.org.
 
FEI BCM WORLD DRESSAGE RIDERS RANKINGS
Ulla Salzgeber's lead undisputed
 
In the middle of the World Cup season, Ulla Salzgeber's reign over the rankings is unquestionable. With a total of 80.615, she is almost 4 points ahead her runner-up Lisa Wilcox (USA).
 
With a total of 76.436, Heike Kemmer (GER) is stealing the 3rd place from Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, thanks to her good results in Maastricht, where she won the Grand Prix and the Kür in a close fight against local heroine Anky van Grunsven. She was riding Bonaparte, a now nine-year-old Hannoverian gelding found by her father Joachim as a foal. After 4 events, Heike Kemmer is the leader of the World Cup Dressage standings of the Western European League.
 
The Top 20 of the rankings sees the remarkable progression of Edward Gal (NED) which goes up from 26th to 19th place. For Edward Gal and Gestion Lingh, trained by Anky's van Grunsven partner and trainer Sjef Janssen, second place in the World Cup of Mechelen last 29 December 2003 rewarded a new level of concentration and partnership for this comparatively inexperienced but talented couple.
 
1 Ulla Salzgeber GER 80.615
2 Lisa Wilcox USA 76.824
3 Heike Kemmer GER 76.736
4 Beatriz Ferrer - Salat ESP 76.715
5 Debbie McDonald USA 76.305
6 Jan Brink SWE 75.669
7 Klaus Husenbeth GER 75.530
8 Isabell Werth GER 75.384
9 Nadine Capellmann GER 74.759
10 Lone Jörgensen DEN 74.621
 
FEI DRESSAGE WORLD CUP
Mechelen, Belgium, 29 December 2003
 
Spirit of Song accompanies Salinero to victory
 
Anky van Grunsven showed she is back on top form with a resounding victory in the FEI World Cup Dressage Qualifier in Mechelen last December. The Dutch ace rode her young talent Gestion Salinero to victory here in 2002, but disaster was to befall her weeks later when injuries sustained in a fall at home put paid to her competitive hopes for much of the year. In Mechelen,the nine-year-old Salinero exhibited a new level of accomplishment and
surety in a breathtaking performance to a new freestyle programme L'Esprit Chanson designed by Cees Slings and Viktor Kerkoff. The whole package could only be described as brilliant.
 
Van Grunsven, the reigning Olympic champion who won the World Cup a record five times on her wonderful partner Gestion Bonfire, has now risen to third place in the season's standings, and is on course for a place at the final in Dusseldorf (April 1-4 2004).
 
Edward Gal and Gestion Lingh, took the second position. With Antoinette Falandt in third place on Jarwo, followed by Sven Rothenberger and Marlies van Baalen, Mechelen proved the place where the tide of Dutch fortune turned. The team failed to come home with a European medal, but as the New Year dawns with Athens on the horizon, prospects for a strong Dutch contribution to the World Cup Final on the way to Olympic heights are
looking very rosy, given good fortune.
 
For the home crowd too there was hope for the future as Belgium's Jeroen Devroe turned in a promising performance for seventh place behind top Swiss rider Christian Plaege.
 
The next FEI World Cup Dressage qualifier takes place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands  29 January to 1 February 2004).
 
Full results:
http://www.jumping-mechelen.com
 
World Cup Standings:
1. Heike Kemmer (GER) 72 points
2. Emma Hindle (GBR) 50 pts
3. Anky van Grunsven (NED) 37 pts
 
FEI WORLD CUP DRIVING
Schrijvers wins FEI World Cup Driving at home soil
 
Gert Schrijvers won the FEI World Cup Driving competition of Mechelen, Belgium. Encouraged by the enthusiastic crowd in the sold out Nekkerhal, Schrijvers drove his team of Arabo Friesian sport horses fluently through the course, designed by German course designer Falk Böhnisch.
 
Since the Series was created three years ago, it is the first time that Schrijvers wins the World Cup. By winning in Mechelen, Schrijvers has climbed to the second place in the standings, which is led by Michael Freund. Germany's Rainer Duen, driving his first World Cup event of this season, made up for his elimination in the warm up competition by driving
the only clear round of the evening, and came second. The Swiss driver Werner Ulrich, winner of the warm up competition, took the third place, driving his team of Swiss horses. Ulrich now owes the third place of the standings and has, like Schrijvers and Freund, two more competitions to go.
Tomas Eriksson from Sweden passed the finish line two seconds faster than the winner of the World Cup, but the double World Champion knocked three cones down and dropped to the fourth place.
 
The next World Cup competition will place in Leipzig, Germany, on 25 January 2004.
 
Created in 2001, the Driving World Cup has provided an innovative new style of competition for indoor events, with courses combining marathon and cone driving obstacles. The 2003/2004 season of the World Cup includes seven events with eight competitions: Stuttgart (GER), Stockholm (SWE), Mechelen (BEL) in 2003; Leipzig (GER), two competitions in Vigo (ESP), 's-Hertogenbosch (NED) and Göteborg (SWE) in 2004.
 
The winner of the first two editions of the World Cup was Michael Freund (GER).
Complete standings available at www.worldcupdriving.com or www.horsesport.org
 
JONQUIL SOLT TO RECEIVE THE ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
 
The Order of the British Empire (OBE) is a long established recognition, which is given to persons in all walks of life - sport, arts, industry, and medicine - for outstanding work.
 
The work of Mrs Jonquil Solt, President of the International Paralympic Equestrian Committee (I.P.E.C has been recognised by her inclusion for an OBE in the 2004 Honours list. She will be invited to Buckingham Palace during the next few months to receive this Honour from Her Majesty the Queen.
 
Jonquil Solt is involved in riding for people with disabilities since 1965.
In 1991, the International Paralympic Equestrian Committee (I.P.E.C.) was set up to govern and develop equestrian sport for disabled people world-wide;   and Jonquil Solt was elected to it as Founder Vice-Chairman. At the same time she undertook to organise the 1994 World Dressage Championship for Disabled Riders, which was held at Hartpury College in
England.
 
Jonquil Solt took on the chairmanship of I.P.E.C. in 1995.   Before long she was faced with the requirement to raise the number of nations taking part, from 16 to at least 24, for Equestrian to remain a Paralympic Sport.  With a small but devoted team of experts, she began to travel the world and provide a lead to great numbers of local organisers, who were happy to support the sport in their own countries. The result was beyond expectations, and there are now over 40 nations where Equestrian Sport is practiced under the
Paralympic umbrella. Over 120 competitors participated at the recent World Dressage Championships in Belgium, from countries as far apart as Russia and New Zealand, Brazil and Japan.
 
Jonquil Solt was awarded the 1999 Woman of Achievement Award (Humanitarian Section).

LE GOFF WINS USA EQUESTRIAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
 
Jack Le Goff, 72, has been named as the winner of the 2003 USA Equestrian Lifetime Achievement Award for the Jimmy A. Williams Trophy. This prestigious award is bestowed annually by the USA Equestrian Executive Committee to an outstanding equestrian or equestrians whose "lifetime experience and accomplishments exemplify uncommon devotion to the sport of horse showing and whose equestrian career and horsemanship has continually
elevated the sport's excellence."
 
Le Goff, a veteran of the French bronze medal team of the Rome Olympics in 1960 and the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, was a member and Riding Master of the French Army's famed Cadre Noir.  Le Goff coached the 1964 and 1968 French Olympic Team, including the individual gold medallist, Jean-Jacques Guyon and Pitou.   Under his leadership the United States Eventing Team won the Olympic, World Championship and Pan-American Championship in Eventing.  In 1983, Le Goff was chosen as the AHSA (USA NF) Horseman of the Year.  The
following year, he retired as Coach of the United States Eventing Team and served for five years as the Director of the USET (us Equestrian Team) Training Center in Hamilton, MA. 
 
FEI retired judge and member of the Eventing Committee from 1999 to 2003, Jack Le Goff chaired the Working Group, which developed the Eventing World Cup concept, which was successfully launched in 2003.
 
The award will be formally presented at the Pegasus Dinner held as part of the U.S. Equestrian Annual Meeting, on 16 January 2004, in Los Angeles (USA).