The moment we have all been waiting for has arrived- the World Singles Championships!  Sterling and Ulano traveled to Portugal from their training base in Germany over the weekend, and are now settled in to the competition grounds.  Yesterday evening featured the Nations Dinner where each participating country brought their favorite native dishes to share.  Today brought the initial vet inspection which all three US horses passed with flying colors.  Following the vet inspection came the official drawing for dressage and marathon times.  The team competes at the following times: Dressage Thursday: 9:40 (4:40 am EST) Graburn, 17:00 Crookston, Friday: 14.20 Berndl. Marathon Saturday: 12.00 Berndl, 13.40 (8:40 am EST) Graburn 16.15 Crookston.  Cones times will be set after all competitors complete the marathon on Saturday.  To follow live results visit: http://www.hoefnet.nl/en/home/site/uitslagen/b4d7e9c3c2fafd67faae77dfedcf3839.

Attached are a few pictures from today’s jog.  If you have any messages for Sterling, please either respond to this email or post to the facebook page.  A daily results email will be sent until the end of the competition.

Thank you again for all of your support along the way. GO USA!

Sincerely,
-Team Sterling

 

Sterling and Ulano have had a busy summer.  The pair left the country on July 15th, flying into Amsterdam and traveling to their first competition: Beekbergen July 19th – 22nd.  Sterling put in a solid performance in dressage, finished the marathon safely, and was ranked 8th in cones, driving a clear round with just some time penalties.   That put him in 16th out of 40 drivers for the weekend.  He was generally happy with how the show went, and it gave him good information about what he needed to do to improve for the next two competitions.

The second competition  was in Beesd, Holland August 2nd – 5th.  He started the competition with a strong dressage test ending up 2nd of 22 with a score of 41.39!  After completing cones the same day, Sterling sat in 6th going into marathon.  Saturday proved to be a good day for Sterling, finishing 4th in marathon (the top American for the day).  Michiel Kwinten navigated for him at this show, and Sterling felt much more confident than at Beekbergen with his new Glinkowski Falcon marathon vehicle.  Final results for the US competitors were: Sterling 3rd, Donna Crookston 13th, and Sarah Schmidt 16th.

Ulano and Sterling are now at team coach Michael Freund’s farm in Germany for final training prior to Portugal.  Sterling reported that training has been going well, even with Coach Freund’s tough cones courses set with only 15 cm clearance! On August 20th, the USEF officially announced that Sterling and Ulano, along with three other US drivers, have been entered for the World Championships.

 

Thank you all for your support.  Only three more weeks until the World Championships!

The following was released following the Southern Pines CDE last month:

GEORGETOWN, KY – APRIL 17, 2012 – Kentucky-based equestrian Sterling Graburn went wire-to-wire this weekend at the Southern Pines Combined Driving Event to claim his second USEF National Single Horse Championship title.

 

The National Championship ran concurrently with the Southern Pines CDE, which was held at the Carolina Horse Park April 13-15.

 

On Friday Graburn, driving the Larry Denny-owned Ulano, took the lead during the dressage phase of the championship CDE and continued to dominate the competition over the marathon and cones courses, which were contested over the remainder of the weekend. Graburn finished first overall with a final score 119.76, besting the second place finisher by more than 10 points.

 

The Southern Pines CDE also served as a United States Equestrian Federation Selection Trial that will determine team members for the 2012 Singles World Driving Championships, to be held in Lezirias, Portugal September 12-16.

 

The win puts Graburn, who is also the head trainer at the Gayla Driving Center in Georgetown, KY, that much closer to a coveted spot on the team, which is expected to be named in August.  Graburn is the only Kentucky-based driver eligible for a spot on the Single Horse team.

 

“Ulano has been steadily progressing,” said Graburn following the win. “I thought we would peak at this show and we did. We will keep on practicing and hopefully end up on the top of the world championships in Portugal.”

 

Graburn is a nationally recognized handler of sport horses. He has won championships at the prestigious Dressage at Devon, and Horse of the Year Awards from the United States Dressage Federation as well as USEF. He claimed his first USEF National Single Horse Championship in 2008.

 

In order to continue the quest for the gold in Portugal, Team Sterling has launched numerous fund-raising efforts to put the talented competitors on the road. For more information about sponsorships or to make a donation contact Team Sterling’s Kathy Gilbertson-Smock at kathy@teamsterlingdriving.com. < or click here to view sponsorship information >

 

Non-tax deductible donations may be made to:

Team Sterling

P.O. Box 11635

Lexington, KY 40576

 

Tax-deductible donations may be made to:

The American Horse Trials Foundation, Inc.

221 Grove Cove Road

Centreville, MD 21617,

Tele: (443) 262-9555

 

Media inquiries: contact Cynthia Grisolia (347) 423-7322 or cagrisolia@yahoo.com.