JSC Belagroprombank raises champions

The World Cup stage and the international dressage competitions were held on April, 13-17 in Ratomka (Minsk region) at the premises of the Republican Center of Olympic training for Equestrian Sports and Horse Breeding.

The international dressage competitions are held annually in Belarus and are highly appreciated by international experts and titled sportsmen. On April, 13-17 another World Cup stage and the international dressage competitions were held at the premises of the Republican Center of Olympic training for Equestrian Sports and Horse Breeding, sponsored by JSC Belagroprombank for the fifth time. The competitions were held by the Belarusian Equestrian Federation together with the National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus.

Dressage is one of the most difficult and spectacular kind of equestrian sport. It is a real art representing a “horse dance to the music”.

The best Belarusian female rider Anna Karaseva and her horse Zodiak are performing rhythmic transitions from one gait to another

The World Cup stage has become an eliminatory qualifying round for the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and the European Championship 2017 that will take place in Goteborg (Sweden). The chief jury will be represented by international judges from Belarus, Canada, Finland, Russia, Germany, and Estonia.

The best riders from Belarus, Lithuania, the Ukraine and Russia took part in the final stage of the World Cup. In total 36 sportsmen competed for the prizes. The famous female riders Inessa Merkulova and her Avance, Marina Aframeeva and her Vosk, Ekaterina Harchenko and her Gulliver represented Russia in the final stage of the World Cup. Belarus was represented by Ekaterina Efremova and her Latino, Alla Nikanorova and her Vatican, Anna Karaseva and her Zodiak, who became leaders of the competitions at the Grand Prix level based on the results of the first six months of the year.

During four days sport couples competed in the freestyle musical kur, which is an art composition consisting of complex elements of high school riding. It includes the following elements: passage, piaffe, pirouettes on gallop, change of legs during gallop in one and two paces and other expressive elements while piaffe and gallop. Besides, a horse should be able to demonstrate increased and collected paces.

The best results in the final stage of the World Cup were achieved by the representatives of Russia and Belarus.

The winners of the World Cup stage and the international dressage competitions (from left to right):

Marina Aframeeva (Russia, III place), Inessa Merkulova (Russia, I place), Anna Karaseva (Belarus, II place)

The final program of kurs in Ratomka