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NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2007

Gladstone, NJ - It was a busy day at the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions on June 16th, the Freestyle - the third and final part of the Grand Prix, the second part of the Intermediaire I Pan American Games Selection Trial and the finale of the Young Riders Championship made for plenty of spectating in unsettled weather at the USET Foundation Headquarters.

The finale of the Grand Prix closed out the third day of competition and the Freestyle and the perfect weather attracted large crowds and provided plenty of entertainment. The weather had been beautiful all day until a storm began to roll through as Steffen Peters began his test. The storm held until just before Kristina Harrison-Naness was set to start her test and the competition was then delayed for 60 minutes.

The first pair in the ring, Tami Crawford and Markant, went to the lead with a score of 68.15% which held until the winner of the first two Grand Prix classes, Steffen Peters - the first rider of the final rotation - marched into the ring with Lombardi and served notice that his lead was not going to be wrested easily.

His test started with passage and piaffe and the Celtic music matched the horse's animated action beautifully. A unique canter - piaffe - walk combination showed the 12-year-old Holsteiner's versatility.

"I was at the ultimate today with this horse," said Peters. "After the last two days he felt more honest and more reliable in the changes. I thought the pirouettes were even better - that was the ultimate for Lombardi. This was his third Freestyle. Certainly the girls gave me a run for my money especially today. Because I didn't know if he would make a Grand Prix horse it's just a really big thrill."

Idocus and Courtney King had other ideas than to let Lombardi and Peters sweep the division. Idocus, the 17-year-old KWPN stallion had not felt like himself over the first two days of the competition but showed his return to form in the Freestyle for King. Moving to the music from the Wizard of Oz the pair showed off lots of beautiful flying changes and very good pirouettes. Extremely expressive trot work scored well throughout the test.

"I was needless to say thrilled," said King. "I thought Idocus was a little bit better than yesterday. He had a good motor, he was expressive. During the Grand Prix I thought I wouldn't make it through the end of the competition. But I'm getting more comfortable riding him with more risk and that was our highest score yet in the Freestyle."

Harrison-Naness put on a game face after the storm with Rociero, the 12-year-old Andalusian stallion, and despite looking a little flat footed after warming up twice put forth a stellar effort and finished third with 71.9%.

Good changes, and Rociero's typical workmanlike approach to his test picked up scores for the hard trying duo. The classical music suited the pair who looked very composed and confident throughout the entire test.

"I started listening to rap music to get myself psyched up," said Harrison-Naness. "He was a little tired, I had to warm up twice. He usually has a little bit more engine. In the passage the footing felt so flat it was hard to gauge how much suspension I had. It was definitely a little tricky to ride but. He handled it great."

When it was all over, Peters won his sixth Festival Championship and Lombardi still reigned supreme finishing with three day total of 72.084% to win the Grand Prix Championship in convincing style. King and Idocus rocketed up the rankings on the strength of their Freestyle test to end up second on 70.172% and Harrison-Naness achieved her goal of consistency and ended up third with 69.527%.

Sammis Turns Tables on Hickey in Pan Am Selection Trial

Two little horses got big scores in the Intermediaire I test, serving as the second leg of the Pan American Games Selection Trials. Hyperion Farm's 16.1 hand Sagacious HF, ridden by Lauren Sammis, tried as hard as he could and was rewarded with a score of 72.3%. A local New Jersey rider, Sammis was greeted with plenty of praise upon completing her test. 27-year-old Katherine Poulin-Neff and the even more diminutive Brilliant Too grew in stature when they cruised down the centerline and into third place. The winners on Thursday - Christopher Hickey and Regent split the pair of smaller horses for second.

In second after the first day of competition, the 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Sagacious HF, demonstrated very strong half pass and pirouettes. Marred by two small mistakes, he and Sammis received 8s and 9s in their collective marks which more than made up for the bobbles.

"I knew after I messed up that change that I had to get 9s on my pirouettes," said Sammis who has a very active sales business in New Jersey. "He just tries so hard. The whole horse has changed so dramatically. He just feels really, really great. He learned how to passage and that's a big thing for a horse going from Prix St George to Grand Prix. That's when your horse is really learning to collect. Its this new button that has just appeared. It gives a horse a lot more expression."

Hickey put in another animated effort with Regent to switch places with Sammis and end up second on a score of 71.4%. Lots of animation from the flashy 9-year-old Dutch gelding held the judges' attention for the second time The pair received very good marks on some of their canter work and pirouettes. Lower marks on the half-pass in the trot and a couple of mistakes in the extended canter allowed Sammis the lead.

"I added a little more power to my horse today," said Hickey. "Thursday I did a fairly quiet conservative test and today I felt like we were in a good enough spot to add a little more power and add a little more risk. There were a few places that I did a little too much risk. Too much risk in the extended canter, too much risk in the two-tempis, they got a little big for my own good. You need more risk to bring your scores up in this sport but it needs to be smartly channeled. But I'm very pleased with my horse."

Hickey, who is the resident trainer at Hilltop Farm in Colora, MD rode Brenna Kucinski's gelding to another very solid performance. Hickey was gracious in expressing his gratitude to all of his supporters.

Standing at only 15.2 hands, Brilliant Two, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood/Thoroughbred Cross, is by Brilliant out of the Thoroughbred mare, Brigetta. He and Poulin-Neff stepped up their performance from the opening day and were rewarded with their score of 70.7%.

"I took a little more risk today," Poulin-Neff explained. "In the Prix St. George I was nervous and I made a mistake and I typically do better in the Intermediaire than I do in the Prix St. George. Overall I was really happy with him. He had no mistakes, he was very fluid. He listened to me. I was really happy with my ride."

The number of entries for the final leg of the tomorrow's Pan American Selection Trial, the Intermediaire Freestyle has changed. Carol Lavell's horse Much Ado has fallen ill and Susan Halasz felt her horse, Paradiso B, was not up to his normal performance today. Upon the advice of the veterinarians both have been withdrawn. Ten horses will now compete in tomorrow's Intermediaire Freesyle.

Barteau Best of the Young Riders

The Young Riders completed their championship to lead off the third day of competition. Kasandra Barteau, of Gilberts, IL, the winner of the first test on Thursday stood out again and was much the best with Gabriella - finishing the second day of competition with a score of 68.55%.

Gabriella, a 15-year-old Hanoverian mare moved happily through the test, and although they lacked a little of the accuracy demonstrated on Thursday, both horse and rider seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Gabriella was rewarded with a huge hug at the end of her test. Their two-day score of 69.3% left them the clear winners of the Young Riders Championships.

"I'm very, very happy and excited and pleased with my horse," said Barteau. "She worked really well. It's definitely exciting, I'm really excited, even more so now, for young rider's next month. My goal is to keep being here and hopefully do the Brentina Cup and then it would be amazing if I could eventually do the small tour. I really know my mare and I think that's a real benefit."

Overall, Ashley Schempp and the 13-year-old KWPN gelding Mowgli from Encinitas, CA were fifth in Saturday's competition but were able to hang on to their second place finish overall with their score of 65.6%.

"Today was not as up to par as it was on Thursday," said Schemmp. "He got a little long which makes it a little harder to get the changes. It's definitely a little hard for me. Overall I can't believe it was a possibility to rank that high. They really make you work for it. It's a great group of girls."

Schempp was impressed with the camaraderie and professionalism on the East Coast and with the Festival in general.

"It's top notch," she said. "I'm very gracious just to be here, coming from California, I've heard the names and it was great to get a chance to meet some of the riders,"

Third overall in the Young Riders Championship was Hannah Shook and Capetown, Like Schemmp, they didn't quite match their performance of the previous day but it was good enough for third.

Runner-up on the day with a score of 66.6% was Jocelyn Weise from Keene, NH. With her 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood Lamborghini she executed very good trot work and lots of 7s for her flying changes. In third was Caroline Roffman and Rigaudon. They put in a very workmanlike performance and improved their score by three points from the first day. On a final mark of 66.35% they slipped into third.

For more information, please contact Joanie Morris, High Performance Communications Manager by email at jmorris@usef.org. USEF press releases and full results from this event are posted at www.usef.org .

END

As the National Governing Body (NGB) of Equestrian Sport, the United States Equestrian Federation(r), Inc. (USEF) is the regulatory body for 28 breeds and disciplines, including our country's international teams competing in the disciplines of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, para-equestrian, reining, show jumping and vaulting. With over 87,000 members, it is the country's largest multi-breed organization and annually license more than 2,800 competitions nationwide. The USEF governs all aspects of competition, including education and licensing of all judges, stewards, and technical delegates who officiate shows.

Vision Statement: The vision of United States Equestrian Federation(r) is to provide leadership for equestrian sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of excellence from the grassroots to the Olympic Games, based on a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its horses, and embracing this vision, to be the best national equestrian federation in the world.