Savvy Equestrian - Equestrian News

Cazenovia, NY — With the awards from her stellar 2006 season still rolling in, Cazenovia's Beezie Madden has her eye on some new goals for the upcoming year.

Madden finished the first week of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida with wins in two Open Jumper competitions aboard Conquest II. Just weeks prior, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) honored her with the Equestrian of the Year Award.

After finalists from each equestrian discipline are nominated, the USEF membership votes for the overall winner. This was the second year in a row that Madden was nominated as a finalist for the discipline of show jumping, otherwise known as the William Steinkraus Award. Not only did Madden take home the Equestrian of the Year honors for 2006, her Olympic and World Equestrian Games partner, Authentic, was named overall Horse of the Year by the USEF.

In what was perhaps her most successful year to date, 2006 was highlighted by both team and individual world championship silver medals. Madden also won the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Spruce Meadows in Canada, and Syracuse show jumping fans will remember that she finished off 2006 by winning her first Animal Planet Sporthorse Cup at the Syracuse Invitational.

Looking ahead to her 2007 campaign, Madden is first focused on securing her position to qualify for the World Cup Final in April which will be held this year in Las Vegas. Currently ranked in second on the East Coast with eight riders usually qualifying, she is in good shape to qualify, with only three of the 12 World Cup Qualifiers (all in Florida) still to come. Madden has never won a World Cup Final; if she and Authentic are successful, she would be the first American to win the title since 1987.

After the World Cup Final, Madden will set her sights on representing the US in the Samsung Super League series of Nations Cup team competitions held in the spring and summer each year in Europe.

Although 2007 is not an Olympic or world championship year, it does boast continental championships, the Pan American Games, which will be held in July in Rio de Janeiro. Madden and Conquest II were part of the US Gold medal team at the last Pan American Games, and she hopes to represent the US at the Games again this year.

In a twist to the show jumping schedule in 2007, there is expected to be a new million-Euro competition offered by Athina Onassis de Miranda (the only surviving descendant of the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis) and her husband, Brazilian Olympic rider Alvaro Alfonso de Miranda Neto. The competition is expected to take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil shortly after the Pan American Games conclude. With a million Euros in prize money on offer, Madden hopes to include this competition in her 2007 season.

Rounding out the upcoming summer, Madden's sights will set on the CN International at the Spruce Meadows Masters Tournament in Canada. With $1 million in prize money, the CN International has historically been the world's largest show jumping purse.

The fall of 2007 will bring Madden full circle to competing for a spot at the 2008 World Cup Final. She plans to end her season at the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament and looks forward to competing to win her first Budweiser World Cup Qualifier of Syracuse and to defending her Animal Planet Sporthorse Cup title in front of her Central New York fans.

While competing in 2007 toward a variety of important goals, Madden's husband and co-trainer, John Madden, explains that the 2008 Olympics are on their minds, even at this early date. "This year is a year to build up more of our horses to the very highest level through the Pan American games and other big events, and to prepare for the 2008 Olympics at the same time. Like always, we'll be careful not to rely on Authentic at all of these important events," John Madden explains. "There isn't a day that goes by that we're not already thinking of the Olympics," he added. "It's over a year and a half away, but it's already a countdown for us. At this point, the Olympics are always at the front of our minds."

Each fall the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament welcomes the top-ranked equestrians from across the US and the world to downtown Syracuse to compete at the War Memorial Arena in the Oncenter Complex. Beginning October 31 and running through November 4, the 2007 event will feature a full slate of high-level competition, entertainment, shopping and exhibitions. A 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, the Syracuse Invitational benefits Cornell University Equine Hospital and Vera House.

Related Links: [ Syracuse Invitational Sport Horse Tournament ] [ Beezie Madden Bio ] [ 2nd USET Whitney Stone Award ]