Dwyer had two wins in Ontario WEG Qualifier

  • 3 June 2010, 10:14

TIPPERARY’S James Dwyer and his horse ‘Orlando’ were the Grade 1V champions at Canada’s Windreach International Para-Dressage Event at the weekend, winning on two days and posting a second place in the Individual class.

The largest FEI Para-Equestrian event ever held in North America, Windreach was an official qualifier for the 2010 World Equestrian Games and hosted 39 international riders from Australia, Bermuda, Chinese Taipei, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, the United States and Canada, including Paralympic gold and silver medallist Lauren Barwick.

Speaking from his home in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, James commented.: “Ben (Orlando’s stable name) was truly fantastic, very balanced and uphill in all the tests. His medium work in all three paces was where he really gained the marks as 8s were consistently achieved.

“I still have to work on my half pirouettes though, as an average mark of 6 is not nearly good enough! “.

The three-day competition came to an end on May 30th with riders performing their Freestyle Tests – always a crowd favourite – which incorporates music and technical skill.

A superb score of over 76 per cent in the Freestyle was the highlight of the weekend for James and Ben and the judges were highly impressed with the choreography, inventiveness and musicality of the performance.

“Of course when we delivered a set of clean three tempi changes, that went down very well,” James said.

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