2021 Adequan Global Dressage Festival Ready To Welcome Top Competitors From Around The World

2021 Adequan Global Dressage Festival Ready To Welcome Top Competitors From Around The World

The Adequan Global Dressage Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2021, and while things will look different at Equestrian Village at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, hundreds of the best dressage horses in the world will still come to Wellington to compete from Jan. 13 through April 4.

AGDF is the largest and longest-running dressage circuit in the world. There are 10 weeks of competition, with seven of those weeks offering international, FEI-level classes. While current health guidelines will not allow for spectators this season (as of late October), fans of dressage can watch the best of the best on the livestream.

“With all the changes that have happened in the past year, Equestrian Sport Productions has been working very hard to produce an event that will strive to keep everyone safe while still offering the same high level of competition and quality experience,” AGDF Director of Sport Thomas Baur said.

Two of the anticipated divisions at AGDF will feature young horses ready to make their names on the world stage. The $15,000 Lövsta Future Challenge/Young Horse Grand Prix series and the $10,000 Future Challenge/Young Horse Prix St. Georges series will return for another successful year. Due to last year’s cancellation of the final week of AGDF, both series will hold their 2020 finals during the 2021 circuit.

The $15,000 Lövsta Future Challenge/Young Horse Grand Prix series idea, originally set up by seven-time Swedish Olympic dressage rider Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén and Louise Nathorst in Sweden as a talent development program, is for horses age eight to ten years old at the Grand Prix level.

“We want to give them a platform to develop, and with this series, help them take the step toward the highest Grand Prix level,” Vilhelmson Silfvén said. “We hope that the interest for educating and producing young Grand Prix horses will grow. Our goal is that this series will be successful so we can take it to an international level in the future.”

The $10,000 Summit Farm Future Challenge/Young Horse Prix St. Georges series has been popular for horses seven to nine years old.

“Trainers and riders can enter a horse in this series and get notoriety. In Europe, young horses get a lot of praise and press, with financial gain by showing young horses and developing them,” said U.S. Pan American Games gold medalist Sarah Lockman of Summit Farm. “To support that idea in the U.S. and give that incentive and reward meant a lot to us at Summit Farm.”

The 2021 AGDF lineup features three CDI-Ws, two CDI 4* weeks, a CDI 5*, as well as a CDIO 3* and CPEDI competition.

With the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games until the summer of 2021, AGDF will once again serve as preparation for horses and riders vying to represent their country in Tokyo next August.

One of those riders is Sabine Schut-Kery. Originally from Germany, Schut-Kery moved to the United States in 1998. She helped the U.S. team win the team gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.

“I am continuing my quest to earn a spot on the team for the Tokyo Olympic Games,” she said. “To be in one place for an extended period of time [at AGDF] with so many team members, coaches, [everyone] looking out for you, helping you, cheering you on, is an important part of that journey.”

Competing at the AGDF is a crucial part of her schedule.

“It makes me a better rider to be competing with the best in the country in one place, and AGDF is it,” Schut-Kery said. “For me, the next step would be Europe. I do look at Florida as the focal point of dressage here in the United States, and I believe that it’s important to ride at that caliber. It makes me a better competitor, it makes my horses better and it makes the discipline better here in America. On top of that, it is a wonderful way to get more recognition for our sport. AGDF does a great job of bringing horses from all over the world into the public light.”

Schut-Kery appreciates the opportunity and all of the work that goes into a 12-week horse show circuit like AGDF.

“It’s very amazing to accomplish it all so successfully,” she said. “I go because it is so professional, the setup is wonderful and the show grounds are lovely. There are so many blood, sweat and tears moments in this sport. It’s important to me to be able to go somewhere where I don’t have to worry about injury because of footing or poor setup. I am extremely lucky that I have the opportunity to spend time learning and competing in Florida.”

The AGDF season begins on Jan. 13-17 with CDI-W competition. It is followed by the first CDI4* on Jan. 27-31 that runs concurrently with CPEDI classes, which is competition for para-dressage riders. AGDF 5 will once again offer CDI-W classes on Feb. 10-14. The highest caliber of international competition, CDI5*, will be at AGDF 7 on Feb. 24-28. The schedule is tentative and venue guidelines are subject to change. Be sure to check www.globaldressagefestival.com for the most recent venue updates and schedules.

The Palm Beach Dressage Derby features CDI-W classes during AGDF 9 on March 3-7. In AGDF 10, nations go head to head in the CDIO3* Nations Cup competition and the Florida International Youth Dressage Championships (FIYDC) will be featured.

FIYDC competition is for riders in the under-25, young rider, junior, children’s and pony divisions, offering them a chance to compete on a larger scale, with events throughout the week to increase camaraderie and sportsmanship. Young riders wishing to compete internationally are provided with an opportunity to showcase their talent at one of the largest dressage shows in the world.

Wrapping up the 2021 AGDF will be the final week of competition, a CDI4* on March 31 – April 4.

For more information about the 2020 Adequan Global Dressage Festival, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.

 

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