Vanessa Creech-Terauds and Rob Roy competing at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. PHOTO BY MARY ADELAIDE BRAKENRIDGE
Time In Wellington Helps Leatherdale Farms’ Vanessa Creech-Terauds Gain Experience
By Emma Miller
Each winter, Vanessa Creech-Terauds, an FEI Young Rider, packs up and leaves her frigid base in Caistor Centre, Ontario, with her mother, Diane Creech, to join the ever-growing group of dressage athletes in the winter equestrian capital of the world — Wellington. The 17-year-old Canadian dressage rider began riding at a young age with the help of her mother, an international Grand Prix competitor who won a silver medal at the 2007 Pan American Games. Just like her mother, as CreechTerauds grew into an adolescent, her passion for the sport of dressage continued to grow. “When I was 12, I decided I wanted to train in dressage more seriously, and ever since then it has been dressage every day,” Creech-Terauds explained. She is inspired by her mother’s dressage experience and success. “Many people believe that I have a lot of pressure to live up to my mom’s
expectations, but it just gives me more drive and helps me believe in myself,” Creech-Terauds said. With the support of the Minnesotabased Leatherdale Farms, Creech-Terauds has achieved great success in the dressage world. She competed Leatherdale Farms’ 8-year-old Hanoverian mare Fleur de Lis L to individual and freestyle silver medals at the 2016 North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) in Colorado. It was their first year competing together as a pair, and they earned impressive scores of 70.184 percent in the FEI Junior Individual test and a 70.55 percent in the FEI Junior Freestyle.
“Fleur is one of Louise Leatherdale’s talented youngsters by their Hanoverian stallion First Dance,” Creech-Terauds said. “I am so grateful to Louise for giving me the opportunity to compete her up through the levels.” Having had the opportunity to experience competing at prestigious international competitions, such as NAJYRC and in multiple CDIs, CreechTerauds has developed her skills at a rapid pace. “NAJYRC is such a great experience to get in the ring and learn what big competition is like,” Creech-Terauds explained. “It has helped me learn about traveling long distances with horses and riding in high-pressure situations where your team is counting on you. I’ve learned how to keep my cool in the ring and step up my game, which has progressed my riding.” wellington the magazine | april 2017
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