Brad Cutshall and Pointjack Victorious in FEI Grand Prix de Dressage at Zada Enterprises, LLC Dressage by the Bay

Photo Credit: Brad Cutshall and Pointjack Winners of the FEI Grand Prix de Dressage at Dressage by the Bay. Photo (C) 2008 Lauren Fisher.

Contact:
Lauren Fisher for Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com

Traverse City, MI - August 2, 2008 - Horse Shows by the Bay will come to an end tomorrow, but today the Zada Enterprises LLC Dressage by the Bay competition continued on in the Robert D. Van Kampen arena. Sponsored by Hampton Green Farm of Wellington, FL and Fruitport, MI, the FEI Prix St. Georges and the FEI Grand Prix de Dressage were both held in the ring this morning.

The FEI Prix St. Georges was the first of the two classes to go in the Van Kampen ring. The class was won in the open division by Colleen Haveman on her 14 year-old Hanoverian, Warello. Carolyn Kotila and Leonardo were first place in the class in the Adult Amateur division.

Haveman and her handsome chestnut performed their test skillfully and made their way to the top of the class with a score of 66.000.

Haveman has been doing dressage for just over 15 years and has a farm just 20 minutes from the show in Traverse City. She was previously in the North American Young Rider Program and received a USDF bronze and silver medal. She is also a recent graduate of the USDF "L" Program of distinction.

Haveman just purchased Warello about 3 months ago and today was their first Prix St. Georges, so she was very happy with how well it went. "We had one small mistake, but other than that it was really good," the rider said. "He is a really fun horse and I have just really enjoyed him."

Haveman has been competing at Horse Shows by the Bay every year since it first started. She really enjoys how many spectators come to the show. "It is very spectator oriented where people can learn about dressage and it gets people excited about it," Haveman stated. "That is going to help make the sport grow."

Just behind Haveman and Warello and Kotila and Leonardo were Brad Cutshall and Pedro with a score of 65.250 in the open division and Barbara J. Butman and Falkland Dragonfly with a score of 61.750 in the Adult Amateur division.

The FEI Grand Prix de Dressage followed shortly after the Prix St. Georges with just 3 entries in the class. After beautifully executing the test, open rider Brad Cutshall and Pointjack were the class winners with a score of 67.084.

Second place was Tonya Grant-Barber on Kevekko with a score of 57.50 and third place went to Dorothy Mueller on her horse Prinz Mero with a 49.792.

Brad Cutshall, from Kalamazoo, MI, started riding when he was 14 years old. The horse that Cutshall won on today, Pointjack is a 13 year-old Swedish stallion.

"He is a little bit different this year than he has been in the last few years because we have been doing some breeding with him this year," Cutshall said of the horse. "The other day when I worked him he was kind of preoccupied and was calling out in the test. I showed him early this year and he did okay, but I was really happy with his test today because he stayed focused with me and I really felt connected with him for one of the first times this season."

What Cutshall loves about dressage is the detail that it entails. "I am a really detail oriented person by nature, so I really like the precision and the technique and the fact that you are always learning," he stated. "I always tell my students that this is a sport of precision and technique and not power, so that is what I really like about it."

"I think that a lot of people think how great it would be to be a horse because they are so beautiful," Cutshall continued. "And when everything really clicks, you are as close to being a horse as you could possibly be. It is just a great feeling to connect and have that bond where you feel as one with the horse."

Horse Shows by the Bay will wrap up tomorrow with its final day of competition in beautiful Traverse City, MI. Be sure to check in for the concluding coverage of the hunter and jumper events. For more information on Horse Shows by the Bay, please go to www.horsesportsbythebay.com.