August 10, 2005 – East Dorset, Vermont – The final week of competition began on Wednesday at the Vermont Summer Festival Horse Show running July 13 to August 14 in East Dorset, VT.

The five-week equestrian competition, which is the largest sporting event based on prize money awarded in the State of Vermont, kicked off its final week with the $2,500 Open Jumper Challenge. Libby McKinney of Norwalk, CT, emerged victorious by posting the only double clear round in a time of 40.49 seconds riding Gun du Desfi. Olympic Bronze Medalist Norman Dello Joio of Wellington, FL, riding Giboux would have had McKinney beat with a time of 40.41 seconds, but a rail fell for four faults to leave him in second place.

Acting as course designer all week long in the Grand Prix ring is New York’s Conrad Homfeld, one of the most prominent names in American show jumping. Having claimed the Team Gold and Individual Silver Medals at the 1984 Olympic Games on home turf in Los Angeles, Homfeld is revered as one of the top course designers in the world today.

The Vermont Summer Festival culminates with a new event for 2005, the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix on Sunday, August 14. Some of the biggest names in show jumping have gathered for this event, including husband and wife show jumping couple, Jimmy and Danielle Torano, who dominated the first three weeks of competition at the Vermont Summer Festival. Norman Dello Joio has stopped in Vermont looking to pick up a share of the prize money, while Maryland’s Mary Lisa Leffler comes in with the strongest odds, having won the final Grand Prix event for the past five out of six years. Hot off a win in Week Three’s $30,000 Mt. Equinox Grand Prix, Connecticut’s Christine Tribble will demonstrate what she learned competing for the United States Equestrian Team in Europe last month while last week’s winner, Ian Silitch of Ocala, FL, will be looking to make it two in a row.

The American competitors will face stiff opposition from north of the border. Nova Scotia’s Angela Covert-Lawrence, winner of last year’s $35,000 Otter Creek Cup Grand Prix is back with her winning mount, Tomboy Major, while Laurie Bucci, who has been in the top three in every major Canadian Grand Prix over the past two months, is hoping her luck holds in Vermont. All in all, the $50,000 Vermont Summer Festival Grand Prix promises to be an exciting conclusion to the 2005 Vermont Summer Festival Horse Show.

The 2005 Vermont Summer Festival features five weeks of exciting equestrian competition running July 13 to August 14 at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, VT and is New England’s largest ‘AA’ rated hunter-jumper horse show. Each of competition has featured a $10,000 Friday Mini Prix while the highlight of the first four weeks has been a $30,000 Grand Prix each Sunday. New for 2005, the Vermont Summer Festival culminates with the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix on Sunday, August 14. For more information on the Vermont Summer Festival, please visit www.vt-summerfestival.com or call (802) 362-7548.