Dressage With the Stars was a concept by Sicca Djikstra of the AEA and from its humble beginnings at Glenbrae Equestrian Centre in Wandin many years ago, this event has grown into the most prestigious Dressage event in Australia - an event which compares with any in Europe!

In 2002, after many years of begging and torturing Sicca and her committee by myself (Jan Heine) and Maggs Jacob, they finally allowed the birth of Jumping With the Stars and now is as good a time as any to thank those who supported that first Jumping With the Stars. It interesting that the very first Champion of Champions - Showjumping was a seven year old stallion bred, owned and ridden by Melissa Froesch is now jumping the Australian World Cups and has a solid lead under the saddle of Gavin Chester!

Most of the hiccups seem to have been ironed out now and the showjumping is going from strength to strength - and with more of Franke Sloothaak style honesty and generosity in sharing stories of the European circuit, Australia comes closer to improving.

This weekend saw such a number of international stars gracing the National Equestrian Centre in Werribee, Victoria, Australia that we could have been anywhere in the world!

Just 4 hours after stepping off the plane from Germany, Franke - pictured left - after having already done one clinic session, found time to autograph posters for clinic participants.

Franke caught up with German Olympic and Championships eventer, Bettina Hoy for a drink and a chat - pictured below
Bettina also spent time with Australian Team Vet, Dr Denis Golding - pictured left - who of course has much to do with mainstay Australian multiple gold medal team member, Andrew Hoy.
Franke Sloothaak was also able to fulfill a dream of one of Australia's best dressage riders, Victoria Rebecca Fenner. Rebecca - pictured right with Franke - , recovering well from spine surgery has long held a great deal of respect for Franke and his

riding and was delighted to be able to meet and chat with him at Dressage With the Stars.

Franke entertained the large audiences at his clinics and masterclass with his wicked sense of humour and perhaps the photo below could be captioned "first we will get the stance right!"

Dressage enthusiasts were privileged to see the brilliance of the number one Professional rider in the world, Hubertus Schmidt from Germany.

Hubertus is an exceptional rider who also has the ability to give information to the most highly trained and advanced rider whilst not losing the interest of those not so well educated in the sport - making his master classes incredibly interesting to all who took the time to attend - those who did not attend missed a wonderful evening.

Hubertus was introduced to his audience by one of Australian Dressage's best spokespersons, Heath Ryan. Heath's - pictured below left - enthusiasm and delight in his sport (both Dressage and Eventing) is infectious and his delight in being in the presence of such a superstar was obvious in his introduction.

Ulf Moller - pictured below - represented PSI who are major sponsors of Dressage With the Stars and are also the agents responsible for many of the imported horses currently in Australia. Australia has become prolific in the importing of Dressage horses and many come from PSI who check that all is going well for their clients when Ulf visits Australia for this spectacular show.

During his visit to Australia Ulf presents the Mini Masterclass using one of the PSI imports and this also keeps his audience enthralled.

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