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| USET First International Reining Nations Cup Competition |
Gladstone, NJ The United States Equestrian Team (USET) will host the first international reining Nations Cup competition during the 10th annual Bayer/USET Festival of Champions, June 21-25 at the USET Olympic Training Center in Gladstone, New Jersey. Invitations have been issued to Italy, Argentina, Germany, Great Britain, and Canada for this first ever international reining competition at the USET. The U.S. team has been selected from the top riders who competed at the 1999 Bayer/USET Festival of Champions. Team USA will consist of Dell Hendricks on Hangten Peppy, Bill Horn on Trashadeous, Craig Johnson on Sailing Smart, and Scott McCutcheon on Martha Mega Jac. The competition will be conducted as closely as possible under FEI General Regulations (including drug testing) as well as AHSA and NRHA rules and will include a $10,000 purse for team competition. The individuals with the highest combined scores over the two rounds in the Nations Cup will receive gold, silver, and bronze medals. Nations Cup classes will be held on Friday and Saturday. Since its acceptance of Reining as the Team's sixth discipline in 1998, the USET has worked to promote Reining with the first classes premiering at the 1999 Bayer/USET Festival of Champions. Carla Wennberg, Director of Reining Activities for the USET, stated, "Reining is one of the most popular western equestrian sports and the USET has made a commitment to continue to expand its Reining programs. Last year we hosted the first open competition and this year we've stepped up our efforts and are now, two years into our reining program, hosting an international reining competition." Reining is a judged event designed to show the athletic ability of a ranch type horse in the confines of a show arena. In reining competitions, contestants are required to run one of several approved patterns. Each pattern includes small slow circles, large fast circles, flying lead changes, roll backs over the hocks, 360 degree spins done in place, and exciting sliding stops that are the hallmark of the reining horse. In addition to the Nations Cup, the Festival will again host the $100,000 Cosequin/USET Open Reining Championship presented by Bayer and the USET Invitational Freestyle competition, as well as the first Sooner Trailer/USET Pro/Non-Pro Reining Team Championship. Since January, Reining competitors throughout America have been competing in the Professional's Choice Qualifying classes seeking to qualify for the $100,000 Cosequin/USET Open Reining Championship. There are seven qualifying classes for the Cosequin/USET Open Reining Championship and the Sooner Trailer/USET Pro/Non-Pro Reining Team Classic:
National Western Stock Show, Denver, Co, January 20, 2000 The top six finishers plus ties at each of the selection trials qualify for the Professional's Choice Semi-Finals at the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby in Oklahoma City. The top 20 riders plus ties for 20th place from the Derby will then be invited to compete at the Cosequin/USET Open Reining Championship at the Bayer/USET Festival of Champions. Those riders placing 21st through 36th and their ties are invited to compete at the Sooner Trailer/USET Pro/Non-Pro Reining Team Classic at the Festival. The Bayer/USET Festival of Champions will again host the Invitational Freestyle class. A Freestyle Reining class consists of reining maneuvers set to music in a format designed by each competitor. The music and patterns are at the discretion of each individual competitor. The class requires that each competitor include a minimum of 4 consecutive spins to the right, a minimum of 4 consecutive spins to the left, a minimum of 3 stops, a minimum of 1 change of lead at the canter from right to left and a minimum of 1 change of lead at the canter from left to right. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Bayer/USET Festival of Champions and will feature, in addition to the Reining classes, Olympic Show Jumping Selection Trials for the 2000 Sydney Games and the Final Selection Trials for both the Four-In-Hand Driving World Championship to be held in Wolfsburg, Germany in August and the 2000 World Singles Championship to take place at Gladstone, NJ in October. The Festival's driving division is sponsored by the Gladstone Equestrian Association. The Festival Fleet Show Jumping Division will also host $100,000 Rolex/USET Show Jumping division, The Merrill Lynch Futures Division and the Cosequin/USET Junior and Amateur/Owner Show Jumping Talent Derbies presented by BET On Jazz. These classes were developed to recognize and foster promising young riders while affording them an opportunity to compete at the USET Headquarters. The State Line Tack/USET Intermediaire I Dressage Championship will be presented by Rio Suite Hotel and Casino. Dressage, equestrian gymnastics, is a beautiful display of rider and horse in unison. It is one of the most elegant displays of the athletic prowess of both man and animal working together. The Festival will host the Sooner Trailer/USET 50 mile Endurance Championship which is sanctioned by the American Endurance Ride Conference and the East Coast Trail Riders Association. The ride will take place in and around Hamilton Farm. Top Endurance riders are expected to compete again this year. For the third year, truly inspiring riders with disabilities have agreed to compete in the "Bradshaw Challenge of Champions." This year the riders selected to be the Paralympic Team at the Paralympic Games in Sydney will participate. The disabled riders and their experiences have so enriched the Festival's program. Capping off the Festival will be an appropriately entitled Gala event on Saturday night, "Go For the Gold", held at the Skylands in Randolph to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the USET as well as the Olympic quest for Gold. The attire for the evening is Gold or Silver while the menu will feature Australian cuisine. The evening will host a silent auction which will include among other items offered for bid - exciting luxury gifts, travel and entertainment packages as well as various specialty items. The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest possible standard to represent our country in major international competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships. To accomplish this the USET seeks out and nurtures the development of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908) 234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org.
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