FEI Creates New Milestone wth US$ 100000 World Reining Masters

REINING
FEI CREATES NEW MILESTONE WITH US$ 100 000 WORLD REINING MASTERS
Countries send their best Reiners - Ranking Update

On 15 November, the reiners who will compete at the FEI World Reining Masters in Oklahoma City, USA will be known. That day is the nomination deadline for the first US$ 100'000.- Masters in the history of Reining. For this mega show, riders must qualify at CRIs (Concours Reining International) in their own countries. The rider who earns the largest prize money will qualify for the FEI World Reining Masters, which will take place on 2 December, 2004 in Oklahoma City, USA. Those countries which qualified for the World Equestrian Games Final in 2002 (USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany and Italy) are entitled to send two riders to the Masters.

The presenting sponsor behind the project is NetJets, the world's leading company in the sale and management of fractional aircraft ownership. The company owns more than 500 aircrafts worldwide with experienced service and crew, guaranteeing top availability of latest-technique aircrafts. NetJets has now applied its motto 'Leave nothing to chance' to the reining industry. Along with NetJets as the presenting sponsor, AQHA, NRHA and Classic S Ranch have generously donated funds to make the World Reining Masters a premier event in December.

So far, eleven nations organised one or more CRIs: USA, Dominican Republic, Canada, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Israel and Great Britain.

There are ranking lists for Germany, Sweden, Italy and the USA that can be found on the FEI website (section consult/results). Volker Schmitt is leading the German rankings with EUR 1246 earned at CRI Bremen last February and in Dortmund one month later. Volker Schmitt was second best at the European Championship and the best German rider at the World Equestrian Games 2002, and has been riding very successfully in the USA for quite some time. He is followed by Steffen Breug with EUR 580. Steffen Breug belongs to the German National team. The next potential candidates are Grischa Ludwig (2000 German Champion) with EUR 495 and Oliver Stein (Team Gold Medal at the 2003European Championship) with EUR 455. The next German CRI will take place during the Super Slide at Kreuth (Oberpfalz) on 5 September.

In Italy, the leading riders are Marco Ricotta and Dario Carmignani. The second Italian CRI will take place at Egna on 30 July.

The Swedish rankings are led by Rick Lemay at the moment with another CRI right around the corner in Falsterbo on 11 July.

In the USA rankings, the first four riders are very close together: Todd Sommers ( USD 22'328), Todd Crawford (USD 21324), Tom McCutcheon (USD 21'223) and Craig Schmersal (USD 20'437). Two more CRIs will take place in the coming months, so the fight is still very open.

Austria will select its competitor at Lermoos on 7 August, Switzerland at Waengi on 28-29 August. There will be two CRIs in Great Britain on 31 July / 1 August, during the Garden of England in East Sussex and at Robertsbridge. One more CRI will be organised in Netherlands at Deume on 9-10 July. Israel will host a CRI on 16-18 September.

With the World Reining Masters, the FEI in close cooperation with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and the National Reining Horse Association USA (NRHA) created a new milestone for reining, a discipline which was officially recognised by the FEI in 2000. "With the FEI World Reining Masters we want to further promote and encourage the growth of Reining - hopefully to be a part of the Olympic Games in the future," says FEI Reining Committee Chairman Frank Costantini. The Masters will we organised every year from now on. They are already looking for a venue in Europe now for the FEI World Reining Masters 2005.