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BY JENNIFER ROBERTS
Dressage news « Bethany Peslar and Endel Ots and their horses at Everglades Dressage.
passed away on November 30, 2013, peacefully in her sleep, at the age of 83. In addition to being a well respected member of the dressage community, she was one of the founding members of NEDA, a longtime board member, U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF) R Judge, instructor, and trainer. She will be missed by many.
PHOTO: (TOP) COURTESY OF SUSANJSTICKLE.COM; (BOTTOM) COURTESY OF LAURA SOLOD
Everglades Dressage, located in Wellington, FL, and home to Grand Prix rider and trainer, Bethany Peslar, is proud to announce that Endel Ots Dressage has joined their prestigious and award winning business. Peslar is especially excited to welcome Ots as a great addition to her barn. “I’m very pleased to have Endel at Everglades,” Peslar stated. “It’s great that we can now collaborate and combine our experience and focus on the horses—especially the young ones. It’s a big plus to have a trainer here of equal caliber so that we can be the eyes on the ground for each other,” she added.
CLINIC AT CUTLER The recent Mary Wanless Clinic at Cutler Farm Dressage did not fail to impress. The worldrenowned clinician, who is a favorite at Cutler, worked with riders during the three-day event to share her knowledge and experience. “This was very much Mary’s clinic. She really worked the magic,” praised Donna Cameron about the clinic, which took place on November 8-10 at her facility in Medfield, MA. Nearly 150 people attended the event, which also included a long rider waiting list. Among the participants were
Cutler Farm’s head trainer and 2011 Pan American Games Team Gold and Individual Silver medalist, Heather Blitz, who bases her own instructional format on Wanless’ biomechanics tenets. Heather wowed the crowd with her rides on Olympic mount Paragon and Oak Hill Ranch’s Ripline. She also stayed and watched every lesson ridden in the clinic by her regular students, often interacting with Mary to discuss each rider’s particular strengths as well as areas of improvement.
CONDOLENCES Renate Lansburgh, a New England Dressage Association (NEDA) member for over 40 years,
Great job by the riders chosen for the Emerging Dressage Athlete Clinic with Lendon Gray that was held at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, ME. Selected riders were: Matthew Baillargeon, Allyssia Bryant, Elise Lesko, Hannah McCabe, Kristen Nowak, Nicole Nowak, Emily Smith, Emma Szegvari, and Emily Woods. Thank you Jennifer Dillon and Katelyn Kok for all your help organizing.
DAVIS DOES IT
TRIPLE THREAT
Congratulations to the Ullman Family; Meagan Davis riding Oficial RMC-1 has won the U.S. Pure Spanish Horse Association (USPRE)/U.S. Dressage Federation (USDF) Year-End Award for the Second Level Open division.
Leatherdale Farm’s licensed Trakehner stallion Herzensdieb (2003, sired by Tambour, TRAK) was honored by the Trakehner Verband at the 51st International Trakehner Hengstmarkt in Neumünster, Germany. Doug and Louise Leatherdale received the Elite title from Prince Donatus Von Hessen, Herzensdieb’s breeder, and Lars Gehrmann, breeding director of the Trakehner Verband. This is the third honorary title received by Leatherdale Farms
Thank you to Francine Walker on the donation of Ferragamo, a wonderful Westphalian FEI gelding to Dressage4kids. Fargo is being leased by Courtney Dye and will be ridden by her student Koryn Staehling. We will be looking for this partnership in the show ring next year!
YOUNG TALENT
WAY TO GO!
Heather Blitz, aboard Ripline, and Mary Wanless during the clinic at Cutler Farm Dressage.
GRANTING ACCESS USDF is pleased to announce a new grant program, Ravel Education Grants, supported through proceeds generated by sales of licensed jewelry designs of Ravel by Jane Heart Jewelry. Ravel is America’s most decorated Grand Prix dressage horse and a 2012 USDF Hall of Fame inductee. Developed by the USDF Youth Programs Committee in partnership with Akiko Yamazaki, Ravel’s owner, as part of the current USDF Shining Star Award program, this new grant is designed to recognize the most outstanding displays of sportsmanship among USDF youth. The Shining Star Award program recognizes acts of sportsmanship that show the individual has gone above and beyond what is expected of all USDF youth members. All USDF Shining Star Award recipients will be eligible for these grants, which will be used to cover expenses associated with attending an educational dressage event of their choice. Up to four $500 Ravel Education Grants will be awarded each year.
GREAT OPPORTUNITY ENDEL AT EVERGLADES
by Ravel) finished third in the First Level Open Championships. She and Eskandar (a four-year-old KWPN gelding by Zhivago) finished fifth in the Training Level Open Championships.
It was a job well done by Gwyneth McPherson of Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, ME, at the 2013 National Dressage Championships. Gwyneth and Chopard (a six-year-old gelding
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