WELLINGTON, FL -- February 1, 2003 -- Bent Jensen and Anne Kursinski won the $25,000 Windsome Dressage-Show Jumping Spectacular today, besting a field of 13 pairs. Teamed together for the fifth consecutive year, Jensen, a Grand Prix dressage rider and Olympian for his native country, Denmark, and Kursinski, a Grand Prix show jumper and US Olympian, have logged four wins out of five starts since 1999 (they were second in 2000).

In the two-phase class, the jumpers rode a Third Level dressage test, and the dressage riders jumped a Hit ’N’ Hurry course with heights up to 3’9”. The combined scores determined the final placings. Jensen and Kursinski, who also topped their phases individually, earned $8,000 for the victory. Jules Nyssen and Chris Kappler were second; and Kelly Corrigan and Melissa Canton placed third. Prize money was distributed to sixth place.

Kursinski, riding Jensen’s stallion Columbo, finished first in dressage, earning 65.65% from FEI judges Janet Brown, Natalie Lamping, and Jessica Ransehousen. Kappler placed second with 64.889% aboard Nyssen’s Kilian; Todd Minikus was third with 64.815% riding partner Mimi Block’s Asharhaddon; and Melissa Canton placed fourth with 64.148% on Corrigan’s Marsaelis.

“I never rode him before today. I just got on and did the test,” said Kursinski of her high-score ride on Columbo. “Bent and I have done it like that for many years. Bent and I just wing it. He’s courageous. We have good horses so it works.” She credits her dressage expertise to the years she spent in California training and showing with Olympian Hilda Gurney after the 1976 Olympics.

Going in reverse order of the dressage scores, in the jumper phase riders earned two points for jumps cleared and one for a knockdown. The last rider on course, Jensen, scored 26 points in 66.65 seconds for first place, which clinched the overall win. “It feels great. It’s more and more pressure every time,” said Jensen. “Anne did such a great job with the dressage, so I had to ride last and I was nervous that I might fall off or go off course and then we’d lose.” Jensen rode Beudelair, the same horse he competed on last year. Individually in the jumping phase, Heidi Degele on El Costo d’ Banei scored 25 points for second. Nyssen on Grannenfeld also scored 25 points though in a slower time, which edged him into third; and Corrigan on Simply the Best earned 24 points for fourth.

“It’s a wonderful, wonderful event because so many people from both disciplines come to cheer and have a good time. I think it’s marvelous to mix the disciplines,” said Kursinski. She has already made a date with Jensen to compete in the event next year.

Tickets to the Winter Equestrian Festival are available by phone at 793-JUMP or at the gate. Admission is free on Wednesdays. Children 12 & under are free all days. Senior admission is $5 every day. Adult admission is $5 on Thursday and Friday, $10 on Saturday, and $15 on Sunday. Parking is free.