Riders from fourteen countries to compete at the FEI dressage World Cup in Olomouc

The organisers of the international dressage event at the Equine Sport Center Olomouc see great interest in the event among riders. In the second week of May, representatives from fourteen countries, including several non-European countries, will compete in the Equine Sport Center in Olomouc.

The interest in the second edition of the international dressage competitions in Olomouc is great. “There will be thirty more horses than last year, so we had to invite another judge from abroad. The competition will also start earlier than originally planned,” said Kristýna Koutná, Director of the Equine Sport Center in Olomouc.

Fourteen countries will compete in ten categories. In addition to Czech riders, there will be riders and horses from Andorra, Israel, Canada, Lithuania, Hungary, Moldova, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Spain and Thailand. The CDI-W category is likely to attract most attention, as it is included in the FEI World Cup ranking. Fourteen riders from seven countries will be competing in this category. The largest number of riders, eight, will be from Poland, with the highest FEI dressage rider of them being Żaneta Skowrońska-Kozubik, who is currently ranked 178th with her horse Romantic P. Austria will be represented by Diana Porsche, Israel by Nicola Louise Ahorner and Lithuania by Justina Vanagaite. A last-minute entry came from the Moldovan rider Alisa Glinka, the Thai flag will be flying over the arena thanks to twenty-six-year-old Suphakamol Vuntanadit and Slovakia will be represented by Michael Bugan. Domestic dressage fans will have two Czech representatives to keep their fingers crossed for in the second highest category, the CDI3*. They will see Ema Kopuletá with Forrest Gump and Tereza van Malderen with her horse Quantum Leap van´t Genthof. They will be competing against riders from eight other countries, some of whom have horses ranked in the World Cup. One very experienced rider is the thirty-eight-year-old Hungarian representative, Csaba Szokola, who is ranked 182nd in the FEI World Ranking with his horse Enyingem. Another rider to watch out for is Canada’s Leonie Bramal, who took part in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games in Barcelona and Atlanta respectively. She will celebrate her 60th birthday in June. She will be riding Cricket BD in Olomouc.

The Czech Republic will be represented by Petra Miki Civišová with her gelding Europe-M in the two-star category and by Aneta Havlíčková with Fieneke, Michal Knofilíček with Dublin, Markéta Vášová with Lucky Lady and Jan Zamec with Dr. House in the H CDI1* category. There will be no Czech riders in the under-25 category, but Nikola Feherová and Eliška Skřivanová will be competing with their horses in the younger category. In the junior category the spectators can look forward to Rinata Denikejeva, Tereza Matoušková, Kateřina Sekaninová and Johana Vášáryová. Among the children, Alice Hubáčková, Anna Marie Křížová and Anna Šestáková will be the biggest contenders for the top positions. For the riders, the event will begin on Wednesday, 10th May with a veterinary inspection of their horses. On Thursday, the competitions will begin at 8a.m. and are expected to finish around 8.30p.m. On Friday, the programme will be about an hour and a half shorter, but the day will include two of the highest-level competitions, with the Grand Prix CDI3* starting at 3.30p.m. and the Grand Prix CDI-W at 4.50p.m. and expected to finish around 7p.m. The most attractive World Cup competition – the Grand Prix Freestyle to Music – will take place on Saturday at 5.30p.m, preceded by the Grand Prix Freestyle U25 for riders up to 25 years of age at 4.20p.m. The final competition in the CDI3* category will be the Grand Prix Special on Sunday at 11a.m. followed by the Kürs for children – pony riders and young riders and juniors. “It should be noted that all times in the schedule are provisional and subject to change. Visitors should check the current schedule on the website before coming,” said Kristýna Koutná, adding that admission is free on all days.

Participant lists, results and schedules will be available at www.horse-events.at. More information will be published by the organisers on www.escolomouc.cz and on social media. Riders and team members can follow the information service in a special WhatsApp group. The competitions will be broadcast live on ClipMyHorse.TV on all four days and the CDI-W and CDI3* competitions will also be available online on EquiTV.cz.

Photo: Jenda Andrash, ESC Olomouc