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USET Names Squads for FEI World Combined Driving Pony
Championships
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Gladstone,
NJ—June 30, 2003—The United States Equestrian Team (USET)
has named two squads to compete in the first-ever FEI World Combined
Driving Pony Championships, to be held this September in Karlstetten,
Austria.
In
accordance with the selection criteria, the following two teams
have been named, each consisting of a single, pair and four-in-hand
combination, and alternates in ranked order. The members of the
squad are:
Single Pair Four-in-Hand
Team
A Miranda Cadwell Tracey Morgan Katie Whaley
Team
B Sara Schmitt Allison Meyer Esther Wright (leased team)
Alternates
Jack Wetzel Allison Stroud (no alternate four-in-hand)
“We
are delighted to be able to send a U.S. squad to the inaugural
World Pony Championships,” said USET President Armand Leone,
Jr. “We look forward to the pony drivers building on U.S.
driving program’s tradition of excellence.”
This
marks the first time the FEI is holding a World Driving Championship
for ponies. The FEI has hosted driving World Championships for
horses since 1972 when it first held the World Four-In-Hand Championship.
It also hosts World Championships for Pairs and Singles. The USET
has won medals in all three disciplines since first competing
in a World Driving Championship in 1980. The U.S. won the team
Gold Medal in Pairs in 1991, the team Silver in Singles in 1998,
the individual Bronze in Singles in 2002 and the team Silver in
Four-In-Hand at the 2002 World Equestrian Games.
The
Driving Selectors gave consideration to placings at Selection
Trials, reviewing competitive records in head to head competitions
among long listed drivers (giving most emphasis to recent performances
and scores) and giving consideration of the previous international
experience of driver/horse combinations and the prospect that
the combinations will contribute to winning a team medal and/or
an individual medal.
All
decisions of the Selectors were approved by the executive committee-subcommittees
and officers of both the USET and USA Equestrian.
The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization
that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest
possible standard to represent our country in major international
competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships.
To accomplish this, the USET seeks out and nurtures the development
of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides
the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest
potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908)
234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org
.
