Exactly a year to the day of winning the Grand Prix at CSI-A Eindhoven (NED), Clare Bronfman won the Grand Prix in Rome (ITA) on Sunday, May 26th aboard Charlton (Cavalier - Kilkenny Diamond, King of Diamonds), a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding. "It still hasn't sunk in, it was great, he was jumping incredibly" said the 23-year-old Dutch based rider who had jumped three double clear rounds. Bronfman was followed by compatriot Laura Kraut, who had the fastest time on the 11-year-old Dutch bred gelding Anthem (Dutchboy - Ecvalan, Triton), however a rail in the jump off cost them the class. The two American women, in a competition dominated by men, were the only riders who went into the jump off with double clear rounds.

"We were jumping strong," commented Kraut, referring to the Nations Cup class on Friday where the team was in third position going into the second round, "so it wasn't too surprising that we had some really good results after this class." However a ripped shoe forced one of the riders to retire before completing the second round of the Nations Cup class placing the team, which finished 6th, at a disadvantage.

"This victory is especially sweet," said Cindy Stys, Director of Athlete Services, "since Clare, who missed the cut for the team, was called in at the last minute to replace one of the original team members who had to withdraw due to an injured horse." Bronfman and Kraut are heading towards CSIO Lucerne (SUI), which starts Thursday, in high spirits along with California based team members Francie Steinwedell, also on the Rome team, and Ray Texel who finished 10th in the Grand Prix at CSI-A Aach (GER) this past weekend.

For more information, please contact Sarah Holt, Public Relations on (859) 225 6974 or via email at sholt@equestrian.org. USA Equestrian press releases are available on our web site - http://www.equestrian.org/ .

USA Equestrian Inc., as the National Equestrian Federation of the U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show jumping, and vaulting, as well as 19 other breeds and disciplines of equestrian competition. As the country's largest multi-breed organization, the Federation has over 80,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including educating and licensing all judges, stewards, and technical delegates who officiate at these shows.

VISION STATEMENT
The vision of USA Equestrian is to provide leadership for equestrian sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of excellence from the grass roots 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.