Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - August 5, 2003 - On the eve of the equestrian events, the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, are set to begin with competition in the sport of dressage.

Opening with competition on August 6, dressage will run until August 10. Teams from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States, Venezuela and the home country of Dominican Republic will do battle for the Team medals while an additional six nations will be in the hunt for individual medals. Held at the Intermediare level, results from the Prix St. Georges will determine the team medallists while the Intermediare I and Intermediare Musical Freestyle will decide the individual winners.

As the defending gold medallists, the United States will be looking for another win while Colombia, silver medallists in 1999, and Mexico, the bronze medal winners, will both be looking to improve on their placings from four years ago.

Officiating at the dressage events will be Mariette Whitages of Belgium who will act as head of the ground jury, Lissette Purcell of the Dominican Republic, Gotthilf Reixinger of Germany, Axel Steiner of the United States and Cara Whitham of Canada.

Once the dressage medals are determined, the show jumping events will take to the main arena from August 13-16. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States will comprise the nations competing. However, more than medals hang in the balance for these eight countries, as only three will earn their Olympic qualification in Santo Domingo. Under International Equestrian Federation (FEI) criteria, the gold and silver medal winning teams will earn their ticket to the 2004 Athens Olympics while a third country will qualify by totaling all four team members scores. While Brazil, the United States and Canada claimed the team medals in 1999, they will be hard-pressed to repeat those efforts this time around.

Mexico’s Javier Fernandez will act as course designer for the show jumping events while respected Colombian course designer and architect by trade, Juan Carlos Tafur, will design and construct the jumps. Sydney Olympic course designer Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela will be the Technical Delegate. Officiating over the show jumping events will be Francois Ferland of Canada, President of the Ground Jury, Colombia’s Yolanda Matallana and Bernardo Lopez Davidson of El Salvador.

The caliber of competition witnessed in the Dominican Republic will be matched by the high standards the organizers have put into the preparation of the equestrian site. Both the dressage and show jumping events will be held at a brand-new competition venue designed in partnership with Palacios. Footing expert Hugh Kincannon of the United States, renowned for his work at the Kentucky Horse Park, has been retained to ensure that the arena surfaces are truly of an international standard.

For further information on the equestrian events at the Pan American Games, please visit the Dominican Republic Equestrian Federation’s website at: www.ecuestrerd.com and the official 2003 Pan American Games website at www.santodomingo2003.com.