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Articles: Press Release
Jan Brons Celebrates Opening Day of Dressage at the National With
Victory
PHOTO CREDIT: Brons on Jourdan. The pair won the Grand Prix class in the
first day of Dressage at the National on Friday.
Contact:
Chrissy Lane for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at info@phelpsmediagroup.com
Held at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club during the National Horse
Show, Dressage at the National is in its 3rd year and grows with each
competition. There were more than 70 entries, which included classes for
Prix St. Georges, Grand Prix, FEI Test of Choice and a variety of lower
level divisions, ranging from USEF Fourth Level to Training Level.
Partnered with his own horse, a Dutch gelding named Jourdan, Brons said
he was "fantastic" in the Grand Prix, riding the "B" test and earning a
67.50 percent.
"Normally, you get them really right in the warm up and then lose a
bunch of that in the ring, but he was almost exactly the same. It felt
great, he was going around and there was some little stuff that we need
to work on, but he hasn't shown since April, so I was certainly very
pleased," Brons enthused.
In his second full year of Grand Prix competition with Jourdan, he said
the horse has relaxed in the ring, which allows Brons to ride him
through each movement instead of coaching him through the test. Brons
added that one of his favorite parts about his winning ride today was
the final movement sequence on center line, where the horse and rider
must transition between passage and piaffe several times before halting.
In addition, he said that he also enjoyed the various flying changes in
the test because "they were big and extravagant."
Brons said his future plans with Jourdan will be determined on a
show-by-show basis. Because he is a professional, other horses sometimes
take precedence over his own and horses like Jourdan can get put on the
back burner. However, the pair will compete again on Saturday in the
Grand Prix Special division, beginning at 1:40 p.m. in the Mogavero
Arena.
Earlier in the day in the FEI Prix St. Georges class, Lars Petersen was
victorious on Dacardo, an 8-year-old Swedish gelding owned by Melissa
Taylor. Earning a 69.00 percent, Petersen was more than a full
percentage point ahead of the other 15 competitors who rode the test.
Taylor followed on her own Schumacker through a competent and polished
test and tied for second with Patrick Burssens who piloted Dark Secret.
The second-place score was a 67.250 percent.
Dressage at the National will continue through Sunday afternoon in the
Mogavero Arena. Saturday's classes will include the following FEI-rated
divisions: Young Rider Prix St. Georges, Junior Individual,
Intermediaires I and II, Grand Prix Special and Test of Choice. USEF
classes include Fourth through Training level tests. On Sunday, the same
USEF classes will be offered, in addition to the following FEI
divisions: Intermediaire Freestyle, Young Rider Freestyle and Grand Prix
Freestyle.
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