Steffen
Breug |
Countries
send their best reiners - Ranking Update |
On
November 15, we will know which reiners will compete at the FEI
World Reining Masters in Oklahoma City, USA. That day is the nomination
deadline for the first $ 100 000,-- Masters in the history of reining.
For this mega show, riders must qualify via CRIs (Concours Reining
International) in their own countries. It's the prize money that
counts then. The rider with the largest prize money will be sent
by his or her National Federation to the FEI World Reining Masters.
Those countries which qualified for the World Equestrian Games Final
2002 (U.S.A., Canada, Great Britain, Germany and Italy) are entitled
to send two riders to the Masters which will take place on December
2, 2004 in Oklahoma City, USA. The presenting sponsor behind this
remarkable reining project is equally remarkable: it's NetJets,
the world's leading offerer of fractional aircraft ownership. The
company owns more than 500 aircrafts worldwide with experienced
service and crew, guaranteeing top availability of latest-technique
aircrafts. NetJets has now applied its motto 'Leave nothing to chance'
to the reining industry. Along with NetJets as the presenting sponsor,
AQHA, NRHA and Classic S Ranch have Reining: FEI creates new milestone
with $ 100 000,-- World Reining Masters generously donated funds
to make the World Reining Masters a premier event in December. Through
these donations, $100,000 in prize money are able to be offered
for the event.
Volker
Schmitt
So
far, eleven nations organized CRIs: USA, Dominican Republic, Canada,
Austria, Swizzerland, the Netherland, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Israel
and Great Britain. There are ranking list for Germany, Sweden, Italy
and the USA. The two best candidates in German ranking at the moment
are Volker Schmitt (Rhede) and Steffen Breug (Reichsweiler). They
earnt their EUR 1246,-- resp. EUR 580,-- in the two first CRIs during
the Kampmann Pferdesport Festival in Bremen in February and during
the International Horseshow in Dortmund in March. Volker Schmitt
was secondbest European and best German at the WEG 2002 and has
been riding very successfully in the U.S.A. for quite some time
as well. Steffen Breug belongs to the German National team. The
next potential candidates are Grischa Ludwig (Bitz/ German Champion
2000) with EUR 495,-- and Oliver Stein (Coesfeld/ Team Gold Medal
European Championship 2003) with EUR 455,--. The next CRI will be
during the Super Slide at Kreuth (Oberpfalz) on September 5.
In
Italy, the leading riders are Marco Ricotta and Dario Carmignani.
The second Italian CRI will be at Egna on July 30. The Swedish ranking
is led by Rick Lemay at the moment with another CRI to go in Falsterbo
on July 11.
In U.S. ranking the first four riders are very close together: Todd
Sommers (22328,--), Todd Crawford (21324,--), Tom McCutcheon (21223,--)
and Craig Schmersal (20437,--). There will be two more CRIs in the
next months, so everything is still open… Austria selects its
competitor at Lermoos on August 7, Sizzerland at Waengi on August
28-29. There are two CRIs in Great Britain on July 31 / August 1
during the Garden of England in East Sussex and at Robertsbridge
and one CRI in the Netherlands at Deume on July 9-10. Israel will
host a CRI on September 16-18 .
With
the World Reining Masters, FEI in close cooperation with the American
Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and the National Reining Horse
Association USA (NRHA) created a new milestone for reining, which
was officially recognized by FEI in 2000. "With the FEI World
Reining Masters we want to further promote and encourage the growth
of reining - hopefully to be a part of the Olympic Games in the
future," says FEI Reining Committee Chairman Frank Constantini.
The Masters will we organized every year from now on. They are already
looking for a facility in Europe now for the FEI World Reining Masters
2005.
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