Here is some great press!
Adequan® Global Dressage Festival Welcomes the 2015 Season
The Adequan® Global Dressage Festival kicked off the 2015 season with a panel for discussion of its highlights on Tuesday. Mark Bellissimo, Thomas Baur, Allyn Mann, Daniel Martin Dockx, and Devon Kane were there to talk about the circuit.
Bellissimo began, “This is a fantastic transitional year. We made a decision as a partnership to take it on and try to figure out a way to make it impactful and try to create a world center for dressage. I think AGDF has turned into one of the great dressage facilities in the world, and we are thrilled to have Adequan® be a part of it.”
“We had the luxury last year of having Thomas Baur enter in the ranks and he has been an amazing director of sport,” Bellissimo stated. “I think with the leadership of Michael Stone, Thomas Baur, and Lloyd Landkamer, we have been able to set a great agenda for dressage and it is booming. We expect there to be a massive influx this year, and I think it is a testament to the hard work that has gone into designing the Global Dressage Festival and then getting people behind it. I think collectively we have been able to put together something that has been very powerful, and I think we are just scratching the surface of what this is going to look like three years from now.”
Thomas Baur, Director of Sport for AGDF, spoke further of the increase in international competitors this year, explaining that the CDIO Nations Cup will bring several new countries.
“We have moved the CDIO Nations Cup to the last week of AGDF because we want to give the countries from Central and South America the possibility to participate in this last try out of the format of the Pan American Games, which will consist of small tour and large tour,” Baur explained. “That is unique. We only have this format for the Pan American Games. We will see some of the nations from Central and South America like Costa Rica, Venezuela, Colombia, and maybe some riders from Peru. We have one from Chile already. It shows that it is not only attractive to the European riders and the North American riders, but also for Central and South America.”
As the Director of Luitpold Animal Health, the makers of Adequan® i.m. (polysulfated glycosaminoglycan), Allyn Mann has been one of AGDF’s biggest supporters from the start and looks forward to another fantastic season.
“This has just been a remarkable journey and I am really thankful to Mark and the people behind him that have stepped up to support the dressage community,” Mann acknowledged. “Thomas and Lloyd (Landkamer) have done a wonderful job dealing with the day-to-day activities and have really made it a world-class event. From a corporate standpoint, the opportunity to attach your brand to this world-class type of competition, it doesn’t get any better. I am really looking forward to seeing a lot of new faces this year with the number of riders that are coming in and the quality of horses we will see this year. I expect it to be just a phenomenal year. I am really blessed to be part of it.”
One rider who will take part in the AGDF competition this year is Daniel Martin Dockx of Spain, who is currently the 27th ranked dressage rider in the world and rides for
Hampton Green Farm, owned by AGDF First Founding Sponsor Kimberly Boyer. Commenting on the experience of a European rider coming to Wellington, Dockx stated, “For me it is a great opportunity. Everybody knows now in Europe the winter is very hard. The weather here is lovely. We have a great opportunity to get the scores in the beginning of the year. In my country of Spain, in the very beginning of the year, we do not have international shows. For us it is a great opportunity to come here, have this weather, and compete at this facility. To do a CDI 5* in the beginning of the year with prize money so high is very interesting for us, and I am very happy to be here.”
Devon Kane is also a First Founding sponsor of AGDF through her family’s Diamante Farm and looks forward to the opportunity to develop some of her young horses throughout the circuit. She won the U.S. Dressage Finals Grand Prix Championship this summer on a horse named Destiny that she brought along in recent years competing in Wellington.
“I think for the exhibitors it is fantastic because you can come and watch the young horses. We have everything from the FEI four-year-old and three-year-old classes to the top level,” Kane noted. “You have the Europeans not only bringing their top quality horses, but there is enough going on that they can bring their young horses also, so you get to see a little bit of everything, what is up-and-coming and what is going on in the actual FEI and CDI arena. As a competitor, it is very easy because the facility is welcoming to any level of horse. You can have less developed younger horses there and they can feel safe and comfortable at the facility, but then you also have the international arena that you take your grand prix horse in, and it is a different ambience. It really brings that extra spectacular feeling to the event as well.”
With a full, exciting season at both facilities of the PBIEC, Equestrian Sport Productions looks forward to welcoming you to see the best in equestrian sport. The 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival kicks off on Wednesday, January 7, and the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival begins Thursday, January 8. For more information and for a full schedule of events, please visit www.equestriansport.com or www.adequandressagefestival.com.
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Jennifer Wood
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