Last weekend dressage riders enjoyed some sweet success and great weather at Centerline Dressage Show held at H.I.T.S. Saugerties. Congratulations to local rider Sarah Casey in achieving the scores needed to attain her U.S.D.F. Silver Medal.
This Memorial Day weekend Dressage at Saratoga hosted by E.N.Y.D.C.T.A brings a wealth of talented riders together at the Yaddo Gardens by the racetrack where a host of vendors will also be offering horse lover delights under the big tent and competitors will compete for over $6000 in prizes. Sponsors of this event include Impressions of Saratoga, The Horse Studio, Beacon Hill Transportation, Marshall and Sterling, Cristo Demolition, Mrs. Pastures, Saratoga Horse Works, Trotting Park Designs, Thorobred Feed, Back on Track, Glen Geary Horse Watch, Pyranha, Eqyss, Yaddo Corporation, Rood and Riddle, GLC Direct, Satch Sales to name but a few. It is wonderful to see so much support for local shows. There are some super prizes that have been donated including bridles, saddle pads, horse bonnets.
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| Degas Dressage Bridles Donated by The Horse Studio |
" Chairwoman Regina Cristo is wonderful to work with at DAS ( Dressage at Saratoga). We like to give back to our customers by supporting well run events like this one. The Horse Studio is also proudly involved in sponsorship of the E.N.Y.D.C.T.A. L Program this season which is a learner judge program. We love to be part of the educational process in our small way. It is good to see the heavy support for those programs in the region and we wish everyone a sunny, successful show at Spa City!" said Sally Price, Sales Manager at The Horse Studio.
It is awesome to see this show will incorporate Para-Equestrian classes for physically disabled riders. These classes are practiced by equestrians with a wide variety of physical disabilities and these classes have been growing in numbers in recent years in order to create opportunities for all people with physical disabilities to compete and achieve their goals in equestrian sport. One of the riders competing will be Paralympian Donna Ponessa from NY, who competed for the USA at the Para-Olympic Games in London in 2012.
There will also be a lot of freestyle classes, which are a special spectator delight, and the show is fully booked with classes offered at every level through F.E.I.
Catskill Horse loves to catch up with local area equestrians. Riders competing from the Catskill Region include Scott Durkin, Meagan Davis and Nicholas and Isabel Ullman. And an extra special treat for this Editor, will be to see Willowview Hill Balou competing. I selected and imported this horse from the Elite Verden Hanoverian Auction in 1997 as a then green three year old. He is now an 'elderly statesman' in dressage having competed through Intermediare level and is school mastering Rachel Rosengart at 4th level, after having been competed through F.E.I. by Jeffrey Lindberg.
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| Willowview Hill Balou with Grand Prix Rider Paul Alvin-Smith of Willowview Hill Farm in 1997 |
I remember my husband participating in this show at F.E.I. back in the '80's and back then it was held in deep footing in front of the Grandstand actually on the racetrack. The new location at Yaddo Showgrounds (entrance off Union Ave), offers much better footing for the horses. It is a beautiful place.
Catskill Horse will be covering lots of dressage events this season including Dressage at Stockade, H.I.T.S.Saugerties Centerline Dressage and the NEDA Fall Festival. We also hope to be at Northfield Farm in Otego, NY to cover the Athelas Therapeutic Riding Program Open House on June 7th and at some of the H.I.T.S Saugerties show jumping shows this summer.
If you have an event you'd like us to cover feel free to email us at info@CatskillHorse.org - we'd love to hear from you.
