Highlights from the fifth week of the Winter Equestrian Festival 2018

A new week of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, will kick off with a session dedicated to training. This week the Lunch&Learn Series will focus on the bureaucratic aspects of the equestrian sector with which horse have to contend.
An interesting initiative dedicated to grooms is scheduled for Friday, with the bravest grooms showing off their skills in the Groom’s Class.
The first sporting event of the week will be the Friday Night Stars, part of the Global Dressage Festival, with many international famous pairings competing. The first show jumping event will be the CSI5* Grand Prix of the Saturday Night Lights, with 384 thousand dollars going to the winner.
Moving on, let’s take a look at the protagonists from last week’s competitions in Wellington. Daniel Bluman, riding Sancha LS, took the top spot in the CSI4* Grand Prix.
The Israeli rider claimed a beautiful victory with his companion of 8 years. Bluman’s goal is to make it to the World Equestrian Games 2018 with his top horse Lariiano, representing Israel this time around, after having represented Colombia at the London Olympics in 2012 and the WEG in 2014. Bluman changed nationality in 2017.
Israel recently added another important component to their team, Alberto Michàn, who switched allegiances from Mexico to Israel at the end of 2017. The two acquisitions are intended to reinforce the nation’s squad ahead of the Tokyo Olympic games in 2020.
Daniel Bluman is well on his way to his next objective, although he will compete as an individual at the WEG because Israel will not be sending a team. With his win in Wellington Bluman out shown American legends like Beezie Madden, who finished second on Con Taggio (Contagio), and Margie Engle, on Unbelievable (Darco) who finished third.
The full rankings are available here: http://pbiec.coth.com/article/daniel-bluman-and-sancha-ls-fly-to-205000-…
In the 1.50m test, Petronella Andersson took the top spot in the Hollow Creek Farm Classic, on KWPN Eclatant (Berlin), ahead of Irish rider Shane Swetname, on Don’t Touche Du Bois (Kashrmir van T Schuttershof) and American rider Laura Kant, on Curious George (Codex One).
The full rankings are available here: http://pbiec.coth.com/article/swedens-petronella-andersson-and-eclatant-…
Press release WEF 2018
photo: Daniel-Bluman-and-Sancha-LS-GPpres-298_9018-Sportfoto