Latest Leaderboard ...

An updated BDC Leaderboard which includes the May competition has been posted on the Leaderboard page under Latest News.

From the President ... there's plenty of action to come

Although BDC  does not have a competition until August there is plenty still going on during June and July. 

Of great importance to all members is the AGM for the Bowral Dressage Club. It will be held on Wednesday, 29 July in the Centennial Vineyards restaurant upstairs Conference Room.  This AGM will see three Committee members departing after lengthy stints serving BDC. We are pleased to announce that Brett Parbery, a BDC member, will be the guest speaker.  Brett will speak on his European experience in 2008 and his quest for inclusion in the Australian team for the World Championships in Lexington 2010.

The Judges’ Seminar to be held at Centennial Winery on Sunday, June 28 is creating much interest.  Our judge educator, Carolyn Lieutenant, is very well known to the dressage fraternity and will give a very enlightening school.  The numbers are limited so if anyone is interested in attending either fill in the form on the web page, email me at glendale@acenet.com.au. or call on 4887 1350.  Participants are encouraged to bring a rule book and a chair if possible.  Rule books can be downloaded from the Equestrian Australia website www.equestrian.org.au.  The $15 fee includes morning tea and lunch.  More details below.

On Saturday, July 18 BDC is holding a training day at our grounds at Bong Bong.  This is a chance for members to ride the NEW TESTS that come into effect on July 1, 2009.  An entry form for this day has been emailed to members and there is one on the web site.

For Young Riders heading to the Young Rider Championships at SIEC at the end of July the training day will be a good opportunity to try out the new tests.  BDC is entering teams at the Championships so we wish them all the best and hope each competitors rides to his or her full potential. 

The Members' Championships on August 23 is the next competition and the new tests will be in operation.  It is hoped that members will get behind this competition and that all levels will be hotly contested.

Cheers  Mim

More on the Judges' Seminar with Carolyn Lieutenant

When the new national tests now available from Equestrian Australia come into force on July 1, they may come as a sharp learning curve/shock for riders who have believed they are fairly consolidated at their particular level. (How many riders have heard of "renvers"?)

It was with this in mind (and our bad record of weather in June), BDC decided to host the Judges' Seminar on June 28.

As mentioned above, it will be presented by Carolyn Lieutenant (pictured), a former head of the Dressage NSW Judges’ Sub-Committee, a Grand Prix rider/trainer and now breeder and owner of top Grand Prix horse, Victory Salute who is campaigned by Brett Parbery. The aim will be to acquaint attendees with the new tests, at the same time introducing the concepts of judging and offering an insight into what judges are looking for. Everyone is welcome to this event and all riders will find something of benefit. It is an accredited seminar for H to E level judges and for anyone wishing to become a judge. For riders, it will be a tremendous opportunity to increase knowledge and understanding of your sport.

The day will be held at Centennial Winery, which now boasts an indoor arena. The morning theory session will be held in the upstairs convention area (where we have held various BDC functions) and will include discussions on the Basic Training Scale, protocol for judges, relevant rules and the importance of familiarity with the rulebook. There will be time for discussion and questions before a light lunch is served.

In the afternoon, the practical session will be held in the indoor arena and include a variety of horses showing the basic paces. Once we have seen these, movements out of the new tests will be informally “judged” and discussed.

This cost of the seminar will be $15. For catering purposes, please advise me of your attendance on (02) 4887 1350 or glendale@acenet.com.au. Alternatively, a form is available on this website under Entry Forms & Draws and should be posted with your cheque to our Event Secretary, PO Box 628 Bowral NSW 2576.

May happenings

The month of May certainly showed us just how variable the Southern Highlands weather can be.  All equestrian gatherings are highly weather-dependent, and our two events last month were not blessed with favourable conditions.  Nevertheless, the May 16 training day (a fund-raiser for Sally Gillis) and the May 31 competition went ahead as planned.

Mark Dowling and Jan Chesterfield-Evans, the instructors for the training day, must be commended for their fortitude in working under such trying circumstances, as must all riders who braved the appalling conditions. Gale force winds and sand blew in the faces of instructors, horses and riders alike. Although there were quite a few withdrawals, the day was very successful and raised over $800 to help Sally. For those who rode and survived (ie, everyone), the fraternity was very evident over the sausage sizzle in the shed.

Wet and grey weather has been dogging the Highlands but we still managed to run a very successful competition on May 31.  We had a full program from Prep to Grand Prix. All classes were well supported and over 250 tests ridden, making it the biggest day the Club has yet held at Bong Bong.  It was great to see the higher levels so hotly contested, with many competitors travelling from well outside the Highlands, and this can only be positive for the standard of dressage at BDC and further afield.

July 18 Practice day entry form now on website ...

May 2009 competition results on website ...

Vale Erna Mairinger ...

As members will be aware our Club patron for many years,  Mrs Erna Mairinger, died in April, bringing to an end this aspect of the Mairinger era. As most members will be aware, the Club has been closely associated with the Mairinger name with one of our sand arenas named in honour of the late Franz Mairinger, the well known trainer of many Australian Olympic riders.

Three Olympians who were members of teams coached by Franz were present at her funeral.  In the eulogy delivered by Wyatt (Bunty) Thompson he paid tribute to Mrs Mairinger’s part in the development of the early Olympic teams. 

He described the long periods Erna was left with the children when Franz was away with the teams. Bearing in mind the lack of communication systems at the time, she certainly must have been lonely.  However, her devotion to her husband always meant that he had her support in all his coaching ventures. 

After Franz’s death it was at her instigation that a book of his teachings and philosophies were collated from his notes.  A loving wife, devoted mother, grandmother and great grandmother, she will be greatly missed.

While Franz was a master horseman in his own right, and much respected throughout the equestrian elite, Erna was his extremely supportive partner through bad and good times.

They married in Austria in August 1940 when Franz was working at the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. World War II saw them lose most of their possessions and decide to emigrate to Australia, which they did in the early 1950s. They went first to Adelaide and then to NSW when in 1954 Franz was appointed Equestrian Federation of Australia coach. He prepared the first Australian team to compete in the 1956 Olympic Games at Stockholm. The team finished fourth. In 1957 he became permanent EFA instructor, working from Retford Park in Bowral owned then by the prominent retailer, Samuel Hordern.

Franz coached the Australian equestrian team at six Olympics and was training a seventh team at the time of his death in 1978.

Under his coaching, the Australian team dominated the Badminton Horse Trials in England in 1960. The team provided his greatest triumph at the Olympic Games in Rome that year when in the three-day event they won not only the team gold medal, but also the individual gold and silver medals. The team gained bronze medals in Mexico City in 1968 and at Montreal, Canada, in 1976.

Franz's very popular book, Horses are Made to be Horses, a 1983 posthumous compilation of his lectures and demonstration notes, was edited by Erna with the assistance of Kay Irving.

ATTENTION YOUNG RIDERS

The qualifying criteria for this year's Dressage NSW and National YR Championships on July 23-26 has been revised to allow for a broader grouping of juniors and YRs.

Entries to Preliminary, Novice and Elementary tests require the rider to submit three qualifying test results of at least 60%. For Medium, Advanced and FEI, the requirement is 58% or above. As it is the National YR Championships, Official tests are counted for grading purposes and only one HC test may be included in the three tests submitted per level.

Interschools and Pony Club dressage tests will not be accepted.

The reduction in qualifying percentages applies to the Pony Dressage Championships being held concurrently with the YR Championships. The Pony Championships will have individual classes for the three lower levels. For Medium and above the ponies will be in the mix with the horses.

The "Boys Can Do Dressage" sponsorship from Positive Outcomes (a Canberra based company) will, once again, see a $1,0000 cash sweepstake on offer. Half of this will be awarded to the top three placed junior/YR male riders. The other $500 will be given away by a draw from the hat to all entrants with one ticket per class entered.

Entries close for this event on June 10.

Bowral Dressage Club is hoping to have a good representation of YRs and juniors at this year's Championships, were we must defend the Regional Teams Award the BDC YRs picked up last year.

Any Young Rider wanting to do the Scholarship Test at the Championships will need to start doing his or her volunteer work for the Committee or at our event days, which I will sign off on your card. Please feel free to contact me anytime.

Peter Rocca, Young Rider Co-ordinator

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The information and views expressed on this site are not necessarily those held by Bowral Dressage Club or it's members. Information and event dates are given as a guide and can be subject to change.

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