This weekend I had the privilege of watching in person the Sunshine Tour (http://www.sunshinetour.net/) Dressage competitions near Cadiz in Spain under guidance of the two trainers from my yard, who kindly challenged me to join them on this trip. (Huge thank you to G and R!)
We left Lisbon towards Spain at 5 am Saturday, and after a 6 hour drive, we arrived to the Dehesa Montenmedio Country Club where this 3 week event is taking place, under gorgeous spring weather.
It was the first time I attended an event with such a high level and is absolutely fantastic spending time among all those beautiful horses and high standard riders. Some of the riders are still trying to qualify to the Olympic Games and that added an extra excitement to this tour.
Most Portuguese and Spanish top Dressage riders were there, and there were also a Young riders championship, where the Portuguese junior riders, especially the girls, did extremely well.
Concerning the horse breeds, it was interesting to note strong presence of the two Iberic breeds, the Lusitano from Portugal and the PRE from Spain, competing at the same level with the Northern Europe Dressage popular breeds.
This weekend highlight was the Sunday morning GP Freestyle to Music won by the Spanish amazon Beatriz Ferrer-Salat with Fabergé, in which the Portuguese rider Miguel Ralão Duarte riding the Lusitano mare Oxalis da Meia Lua got the 4th place with a very good performance.
The event site is a huge equestrian centre in beautiful countryside close to the sea, with enough space to accommodate all the required equipments in a functional way creating a friendly and pleasant atmosphere, and all contests took place outdoors.
To my still uneducated eye the overall riding seemed quite and polite, even if some Spanish riders ride their PRE´s in a more expansive way, or should I say with more “Salero”!
I leave you with some pictures! Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them!
We left Lisbon towards Spain at 5 am Saturday, and after a 6 hour drive, we arrived to the Dehesa Montenmedio Country Club where this 3 week event is taking place, under gorgeous spring weather.
It was the first time I attended an event with such a high level and is absolutely fantastic spending time among all those beautiful horses and high standard riders. Some of the riders are still trying to qualify to the Olympic Games and that added an extra excitement to this tour.
Most Portuguese and Spanish top Dressage riders were there, and there were also a Young riders championship, where the Portuguese junior riders, especially the girls, did extremely well.
Concerning the horse breeds, it was interesting to note strong presence of the two Iberic breeds, the Lusitano from Portugal and the PRE from Spain, competing at the same level with the Northern Europe Dressage popular breeds.
This weekend highlight was the Sunday morning GP Freestyle to Music won by the Spanish amazon Beatriz Ferrer-Salat with Fabergé, in which the Portuguese rider Miguel Ralão Duarte riding the Lusitano mare Oxalis da Meia Lua got the 4th place with a very good performance.
The event site is a huge equestrian centre in beautiful countryside close to the sea, with enough space to accommodate all the required equipments in a functional way creating a friendly and pleasant atmosphere, and all contests took place outdoors.
To my still uneducated eye the overall riding seemed quite and polite, even if some Spanish riders ride their PRE´s in a more expansive way, or should I say with more “Salero”!
I leave you with some pictures! Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them!
Beatriz Ferrer-Salat (Spain) / Peter Pan
Beatriz Ferrer Salat (Spain) / Fabegerge
Miguel Ralão Duarte (Portugal) / Oxalis da Meia Lua
Miguel Ralão Duarte (Portugal) / Oxalis da Meia LuaResults here:
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4 comments:
Very good post with great photos as usual! It is good to hear of different breeds being used :) I will be at the Kentucky rolex soon and take some good photos there too!
Beatriz Ferrer-salat has her own blog where you can follow her during the Olympic preparation at the mommt in germany
I forgot to mention, Beatriz Ferrer Salat's Blog at www.beatrizferrersalat.es
Hi Joan!
Thank you for the link! I already gave it a look and it looks very interesting!
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