For Immediate Release

Contact: RMSJ
Tel: (403) 256-8652

Calgary, Alberta - The management of Rocky Mountain Show Jumping is pleased at this time to announce a partnership with world renowned FEI Course Designer Werner Deeg of Germany for the 2011 RMSJ International Course Designing Symposium to be held during the Rocky Mountain Classics in August of next year.

RMSJ is committed to the continuing development of the sport of show jumping in Canada, and over the past number of years, the tournaments hosted at the Anderson Ranch venue have been especially dedicated to the up and coming athletes’ of the sport.  In these same years, RMSJ has noticed another need that could be addressed to help with the growth of our sport with the launch of this educational program. 

In the past year, a few trips have been made to numerous venues throughout the Country, and around North America to research the concept of the Symposium.  There seems to be a common theme around the competition venues in North America, but especially here in Canada, including the RMSJ venue.  Top and well known course designers are hired to design the main grand prix rings, while much lesser known or skilled course designers are hired to design the smaller, or grass roots, jumper rings. 

Developing our next generation of successful riders needs to start at the grass roots level, and knowledgeable course designers can help to shape and tune the riding skills of the sports’ up and coming future stars. 

Course designers do play an active role in the development of good young horses and riders, however, looking at Canada alone, there seems to be only a handful of course designers around.  Although the ones that are currently working are good, there seems to be no depth in the inventory of designers for tournament venues to choose from.  The idea behind the Symposium is to allow aspiring course designers the chance to work alongside some of the best in the world in order to fine tune their skills for their own future careers.

More details will follow, but the basic idea is to allow 3 Canadian and 3 foreign course designers the chance to design jumper courses in each of the three competition rings during the actual Rocky Mountain Classic tournaments.  Of course, Werner being the leader of the group will have to give his approval prior to any course being built or jumped.  Having these designers build during the actual competitions, will help them gain valuable experience.

An added perk to the group will be that all of them will be able to work along side Werner during his building of the FEI courses for the CSI 2* events that will be hosted.  (working alongside the experienced one!)

The added bonus to the designers in attendance, and to keep with the RMSJ motto that “this venue belongs to our exhibitors”, report cards will be handed out to all competitors who compete during the tournaments, and one course designer from the group will be asked to join us and design the Grand Prix Ring for one of the following years outdoor tournaments.

We look forward to giving you more information about the Course Designing Symposium in the near future.

Rocky Mountain Show Jumping hosts its tournaments at Anderson Ranch in Calgary’s south end, a world-class facility featuring permanent stabling for 300 horses with a main competition grass grand prix field complete with natural obstacles.

For more information on Rocky Mountain Show Jumping, visit www.rmshowjumping.com.