Top Athletes Test Reining Skills at FEI World Cup

The world's top FEI dressage and jumping riders will try their equestrian prowess in the sport of Reining during the Rolex FEI World CupTM in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 18 at the Thomas & Mack Arena. Teams from around the globe will take a four-day crash course in the trademark sliding stops, mind-blurring spins and classical power-steering of the Reining horse before they hit the arena for a thrilling head-to-head competition. Dressage and Jumping riders Anky Van Grunsvan, Charlotte Bredahl-Baker, Rodrigo Pessoa and Will Simpson will be paired with National Reining Horse Association Professionals Rick Weaver and Ann Fonck in the first-ever International Reining Celebrity Challenge.

The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) and the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) are co-sponsors of the International Reining Celebrity Challenge and are supplying an abundance of Reining expertise in the form of coaches, riders and, of course, horses. Each team will consist of the following riders with one dressage, one jumping and one reining competitor assigned to each team.

Dressage Competitors: Anky Van Grunsvan - Nine-time FEI World Cup Dressage Champion and multiple Dressage Olympic Gold medalist; and Charlotte Bredahl - Baker Dressage Team Bronze Olympic Bronze medalist, USEF "S" judge and FEI "C" judge

Jumping Competitors: Rodrigo Pessoa - Jumping Olympic Gold medalist, three-time FEI World Cup Show Jumping Champion and the youngest FEI World Equestrian Games World Champion; and Will Simpson Jumping Olympic Team Gold medalist

Reining Coaches and Competitors: Rick Weaver - NRHA President, NRHA Professional, NRHA Futurity Open Division Champion and multiple NRHA World Champion; and Ann Fonck - NRHA Professional, NRHA Open World Champion and accomplished dressage competitor

A special thanks goes out to Tom and Kirstin Foran; David and Becky Hanson; Mike Boyle and a group of generous owners who will be supplying an experienced field of Reining horses for this event. More details will be released soon on the equine athletes featured in the International Reining Celebrity Challenge.

The Rolex FEI World Cup Finals will once again take place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, April 15-19. The World Cup Finals feature the two Olympic disciplines of show jumping and dressage in an international showdown of the best jumping and dressage horses and riders. Van Grunsven heads the list of 15 riders from eight countries set to compete in this year's Dressage World Cup Final.

Incorporated in 1966, the National Reining Horse Association is the governing body of the sport of Reining. NRHA, with their International Headquarters in Oklahoma City, is responsible for promoting the sport of Reining and working to ensure the highest standards of competition. The American Quarter Horse Association, founded in 1940, is the largest-single breed equine registry in the world with more than 330,000 members worldwide. Pending AQHA Executive Committee approval later this month, Dressage will become the newest event in AQHA competition. Learn more about these two associations at www.nrha.com and www.aqha.com.