INCREASING OUR HORSE POWER

Partnerships work best when there’s a perfect “fit”, and perfect fits don’t come much better than Land Rover and the sport of equestrian, writes Deborah Sandford, National Communications and Events Manager for Land Rover North America.

This is why Land Rover North America has again enthusiastically signed up to be the Official Vehicle of the 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three‑Day Event that’s taking place this weekend (April 28‑May 1) at the landmark Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.

This is a huge event in the US equestrian world. We’re expecting up to 100,000 spectators to watch over 40 of the best riders and horses from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain and Australia compete.

Success here could help a rider in their bid to secure a coveted place in the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Yet this is just one element of the Land Rover brand's far‑reaching sponsorship of the sport of Eventing. We recently announced that we had signed‑on for two additional years as the official vehicle sponsor of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF); the sport’s governing body here in the U.S.

We’re also building on our support of the US Eventing Team by joining with the USEF to create an exciting new initiative called “The Land Rover Competition and Training Grant Program for Eventing Riders.” With this new grant, Land Rover will provide funding to enable the USEF to allocate vital grants to riders and their horses to help them compete oversees and gain valuable international experience as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics.
 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsoring NBC Sports’ TV live telecast of the Rolex Kentucky Three‑Day that will be aired this Sunday from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EST. It will bring the sport into the homes of literally millions of viewers worldwide.

For the tens of thousands of spectators heading to Lexington this weekend, we’ll also be offering the chance to get behind the wheel of our newest models, including the 2011 Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Land Rover LR4. We’ve created a challenging off‑road course full of water splashes, near‑vertical hill‑climbs, and of course, our famous “teeter‑totter.”

A cool new feature of this year’s Cross‑Country part of the Rolex Kentucky Three‑Day Event program is Tailgating. For the first time, spectators will be able to park their SUVs at the very edge of the course and picnic while watching the riders.

Naturally Land Rover will also have its own tailgate area set‑up, where our owners can stop by and share some Land Rover hospitality, watch the action and take a closer look at our newest vehicle line‑up.

Our continued sponsorship with the USEF will continue throughout 2011 with our support of two of the key competitions in the Eventing calendar – the USEA American Eventing Championships in Fairburn, Ga. on September 8 ‑ 11, and the Galway Downs International Three‑Day Event in Temecula, Calif. on November 3‑6.

For equestrian fans, Eventing is one of the world's greatest sports; a sport defined by power, style, control and capability – all traits Land Rover embodies in its vehicles. For the Land Rover brand, that’s about as perfect a fit as you can get.