News
International Judges line up for Equine Bridge
- Written By: British Dressage
- Published: Fri, 27 Sep 2019 11:25
British Breeding is delighted to announce a world leading line-up of trainers and evaluators for the re-launched British Breeding Equine Bridge 14 – 15 October 2019 at Addington EC.
The newly enhanced British Breeding Equine Bridge programme is organised in association with British Showjumping, British Dressage and British Eventing. The aim of the Bridge is to facilitate the development of talented young horses which have been identified through the Futurity series and to provide a transition for them into the sport. To achieve this, the programme is designed to bring together breeders, trainers, riders and owners. The ultimate goal behind the initiative is to see more British riders on British horses representing their country at international level.
The first new Equine Bridge event will take place on 14 - 15 October this year at Addington EC in Buckinghamshire, and is for horses and ponies aged four to six years that have qualified via the British Breeding Baileys Horse Feeds Futurity Evaluations.
British Breeding Director and Interim CEO of the British Equestrian Federation Iain Graham commented; “The British Breeding Equine Bridge is of central strategic importance in encouraging the breeding and development of our team horses for the future. It sits at that crucial point of transition from a young horse to the full grown equine athlete.”
All entries will undergo an intensive two-day programme of training and evaluation to provide useful and meaningful feedback and to identify future talent.
On the first day, all Bridge candidates will experience a 45 minute session under their own riders with one of three industry expert trainers.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome our world leading team of trainers, who will be working with small groups of horses and ponies at a time.
Our dressage candidates will be trained by none other than the great Peter Storr, known to us all from his achievements as British team rider and international judge, as well as for his contributions to the sport through his involvement with British Dressage.
"The showjumpers will enjoy 45 minutes with Corinne Bracken whose success as the British Junior and Young rider Team Coach has been outstanding and who brings a wealth of experience in the training of riders and horses.
"For the eventers, we are very excited to welcome Yogi Breisner, again someone who requires no further introduction, and whose career in the sport as World Class Performance Manager and Chef d’Equipe of the British Eventing team has been outstanding.
"Observing the Bridge horses and ponies during 45 minute training sessions forms a vital part of the Bridge assessment and will give our evaluators excellent information about the trainability of our equine candidates, as well as providing a wonderful opportunity to our participants,” explained British Breeding Director Dr Eva-Maria Broomer.
Throughout the entire programme, the horses and ponies will be observed by a panel of international evaluators and industry experts.
British Breeding Director Rachael Holdsworth explains, “We are excited to welcome our team of international experts to come and evaluate some of the very best of British bred youngsters.
Rik van Miert has been a special friend to the Futurity in recent years, and it is a privilege to benefit from his vast experience. Not only has he been instrumental in the development of the World Breeding Federation as one of its long standing Vice Presidents, he has also overseen and been instrumental in the rise of the BWP in the world rankings.
Rik will be working with Mikael Nolin who joins us from Sweden where he is responsible for the assessment of young horses and stallion gradings for the Swedish warmbloods. His experience in riding and evaluating show jumpers has taken him all over the world.
"From Holland, we welcome Frank de Kok whose name has long been associated with the ability to source potential international horses for some of the world’s top competition homes. As a result, Frank enjoys an excellent reputation across the globe, as a trainer as well as a talent spotter.
From closer to home, our team of evaluators is joined by the international eventer and BE Youth Performance Manager Darrell Scaife, whose experience as a rider as well as a trainer will be invaluable!”
The two day event at Addington will be open to the public, so that those interested in riding, training or owning young horses can come along to watch all the sessions and meet our trainers, riders and breeders, as well as perhaps finding their next future Olympic horse.
To enter, horses and ponies must be aged four, five or six and must have qualified through the Futurity evaluation series. The entry system will be open soon!
All horses and ponies qualified through the Futurity series are welcome. Anybody who presented a three year old youngster in 2016, 2017 or 2018 and who obtained a score of 8.5 or above is able to enter. The same goes for anybody who presented a four or five year old this year and obtained a gold score. If you are unsure whether you qualify or not, please do not hesitate to contact the British Breeding team who are very happy to advise you.
