January 2018 YourDressage

YourDressage

January 2018

A United States Dressage Federation Publication

Erin Zimmerman switches to dressage and finds her way to the US Dressage Finals

Welcome to Your Wonderful World of Dressage YourDressage is compiled by the United States Dressage Federation, written by participants from throughout the dressage community. The articles in this publication are submitted by people like you to share and be shared by all. Experience their stories as they navigate through the wonderful world of dressage and become friends with your dressage community.

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What to See Inside Departments Horse Tales: Henry's Story Mary Hankey tells the ups and downs of her horse Henry and how their bond got them both through hard times.

Young & Inspired: My Dressage Regime Jackson LaTorre takes his dressage very seriously. He takes us through how he prepares for it.

MY TIME TO RIDE: Comfort Zone, Shmomfort Zone Sally Richards takes part in a clinic and finds that being asked to do more than she thinks she can do makes her riding better.

Heard ARound the Arena: The Holidays The dressage community got into the festive spirit over the holidays and shared it on social media.

USDF flashback: Colonel Hiram Tuttle An army colonel Tuttle became one of the most successful American dressage competitiors in history, as well as the coach of another sucessful competitor who also acheived a US dressage first.

GMO SPOTLIGHT: Southern Eventing and Dressage Association (SEDA) Take a look at this group member organization.

Cover story The Switch to Dressage

Erin Zimmerman originally thought dressage was boring and that she would never buy a gray horse because they were to hard to clean.

But as she grew older and wiser she started a new love affair with dressage and bought a gray horse named Aeris.

January 2018 Z YOURDRESSAGE

Horse tales

Henry's Story

By Mary Hankey

I

n November 2013, I wanted to look for a horse to buy and have trained so that when I turn 70, in 2021, I would have a horse with a good head, nice gaits, and a comfortable ride. Good breeding has never been one of my requirements, primarily because I am not very knowledgeable on the subject, and secondly, because Michael Jordan’s parents were not extraordinary athletes, so why do my horse’s parents have to be? A good brain was the number one quality I was looking for.

Over the years I had purchased two other horses from a couple of breeder/trainers in Denmark, so I went straight to them.

Vangens Starlight, aka Henry, was the fifth horse I tried on this trip.

He was four years old and a little strong, but when he cantered and walked out into a frosty wind, he was quite calm and so much Henry and Carlos take their victory lap at 2017 Great American Insurance Group/ USDF Region Region 9 Championships

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Horse tales

fun to ride. I knew nothing of his breeding, but Henry, a horse with a giraffe- neck and limousine body, had my vote and my heart.

A young professional from Houston met me there the next day and agreed that he was nice, but tried over the next five days to not-so-subtly dissuade me from the purchase. I wouldn’t be able to show him for years, he said. We went on to Germany, and I tried seventeen very nice pre-culled horses. Finally, after the last possibility reared when given a little leg, my companion said that we could vet Henry.

Since I had done business with the two sellers before and one had actually visited Houston, staying in my home, I trusted them and used their vet for the pre-sale exam. Several days after returning home, we received the okay call and soon, Henry was on the truck headed for Houston.

Words cannot explain the thrill of a new horse walking Henry in 2013

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Horse tales

down the ramp of a semi. It is exciting and scary, filled with hope of a lasting relationship and the reality of an enormous challenge.

The initial time spent with Henry incorporated all of these feelings.

Then, in January, his hind end started to buckle. My vet suggested we have the pre-sale x-rays sent digitally from Denmark. After he studied them, he emailed me asking if I had ordered the undated x-ray showing a rather serious case of kissing spines.

No, I replied. There had been no mention of kissing spines. Why would I purchase a horse with such a serious condition?

Fast forward a fretful month - I had Dr. Cliff Honnas, an equine surgeon, examine Henry (“You don’t want a horse like this, Mary”) and researched what recourse I had against the sellers. Starting with the Danish Breeding Society, I called many people who led me to find Bertha Lund, a very sharp, no-nonsense attorney in Odense, Denmark, and a dressage rider and dres-

sage judge as well. She knew all of the players. People have often asked me about the language barrier between us, but with the combination of Bertha’s working knowledge of English and Google Translate, we were able to communicate effortlessly and effectively. I cannot say, however, that I was not anxious about the situation. I was a nervous wreck, actually, and tried hard not to bond with Henry because I didn’t know what the outcome would be. No eye contact, no hugs, no carrots…my heart was aching.

I learned that there is a law in the European Union that allows an amateur to reclaim any and all expenses associated with a defective horse purchase when the problem was pre-existing, undisclosed, and documented at the time of sale. The undated x-ray was our assurance that the case complied with all three stipulations... and I am an amateur!

Bertha filed a lawsuit against the seller, and I had to weather statements to the effect that I was

not telling the truth, the horse would be put down, and the court date would be postponed.

On the morning of the final, immutable court date, the seller’s attorney asked Bertha what her client wanted, and Bertha gave him the total amount of expenses I had incurred. We settled.

Fast forward again—Dr. Honnas performed the surgery in September 2014, and the waiting began. Six months of stall rest, small paddock time, walking, and lunge line. Enter Carlos Salguero, from Spain. His extraordinary talent, horsemanship, and most importantly, humility, took Henry along the path to rehabilitation, fitness, and training.

Unfortunately, 2015 had an additional downfall. My very kind husband died May 28, 2015, after nine months of a brutal fight with cancer. The bond I had with Henry got me through some very dark days and hugely emotional times, during my husband’s illness. I remember thinking that if I could just get away from the house, or

hospital, for a couple of hours, to watch Carlos work Henry, I would be able to handle all of the pain and suffering I witnessed.

Carlos and Henry started training, basically from scratch, in February 2015. Henry blossomed.

His spine healed, he gained weight and muscle, and he seemingly thrived under Carlos’ care. Competition began later that year, with First Level, and continued until his most recent success as the 2017 Great American Insurance Group/ USDF Region Region 9 Intermediate I Champion.

I don’t think I will ever forget how much that horse has done for me. Now I am looking forward to turning 70, so that I can ride him more than the 15 minute warm up I do every morning. eTRAK Extra

Read "What is Causing My Horse's Back Pain?" from the USDF Connection magazine, May 2016 issue

January 2018 Z YOURDRESSAGE

YOUNG & INSPIRED

My Dressage Regime

By Jackson LaTorre

I

t’s 5:59 and I stare at the clock, hold my breath, and wait. Just five more seconds. Wait for it.

Wait…5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Bzzzzzz…I slam my right hand down on the buzzer, use the other to throw off the covers, grab my Bible and journal, and begin. Rain or shine, sleep or not, ready or not,I start furiously journaling my activities in my planner – riding, exercise, school, baking. Altogether, these pieces are vital to my success in, and outside of, that horse ring.

The three hours in the morning committed to the barn, countless hours of school in the day, two hours at night for exercise, Wednesday night youth group at my church, and hours of studying, makes for a long night; but people do the impossible for things they’re passionate about.

Horseback riding in every discipline is difficult. I began my riding career seven years ago at Jackson with Benson

the ripe old age of nine. I started out in a hunter/jumper barn, learning my basics on a variety of lesson horses. I spent a year there until I changed barns, and I met my first horse, Big Heart, a spunky, 14-hand Paint. I leased him for a year before convincing my parents, with a PowerPoint presentation and research of the horse market, that we should buy him. Big Heart was the horse who really taught me the basics of dressage. I spent the next two years riding him five days a week, and showing every few months, thankful for my homeschooler schedule!

I showed Big Heart through First Level, but his arthritis made it difficult to progress further.

From there, the hunt for my new horse was on. Over the next several months of horse hunting, we narrowed our search down to over a dozen horses in Wellington, Florida. After a weekend of trying horses, we found my newest partner in crime, Benson.

I knew he was the perfect match

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YOUNG & INSPIRED

for me, and I still cannot believe that I get to ride him daily. I’ve shown Benson countless times over the past year. Due to his tendency towards stifle issues, I have learned how to properly condition and train a horse with a physical limitation. Benson has also helped me earn my USDF Bronze Medal, and we were champion, at both Second and Third Level, at the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 9 Championships. Fortunately, my parents have been very supportive of my equestrian

pursuits, and are allowing me to spend this winter participating in Lendon Gray’s Winter Intensive Training program. I am very thankful for this opportunity, and I am hoping that I can master Prix St. Georges and qualify for the 2018 North American Junior and Young Rider Championships.

I have been able to successfully show Benson through Fourth Level, in one year of owning him.

I enjoy the competitive opportunities provided through dressage because it pushes me out of my comfort zone. Dressage is one of

the more difficult disciplines to master for a teenager, due to its high expectation of emotional self-control, and we aren’t well known for that! However, teens do have the uncanny confidence and boldness to take on the revved up power a dressage horse can offer. My favorite part of riding is participating in clinics, where I can learn to ride more effectively and quietly. I have had the pleasure and opportunity to ride with Volker Brommann, Jeremy Steinberg, and Charlotte Bredahl-Baker this year. I watch

videos of my clinics every morning before I ride, so that I can apply what I learned in them to my lessons and personal rides.

At my last clinic with Charlotte, I received the wonderful offer to come to her home this fall and ride her Grand Prix horses, so that I may understand the more complex frame of an upper level horse.

Even though I was in excellent shape, a forty-minute ride with Jeremy Steinberg, doing nostirrup work, taught me that to be a truly superb rider I needed

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YOUNG & INSPIRED

to push myself to do more. This became obvious when by the twenty-minute mark in my lesson, I was out of breath. Minute thirty was an embarrassment, and let’s not discuss minute forty.

For the sake of my horse and future career in dressage, I decided to make a much needed change in my daily regimen, and took on the study of fitness, from the perspective of what can aid me as a rider. I began to do jump rope sets and long-distance running to improve my cardiovascular system. I exercise specific muscle groups that will benefit me as a rider. Aside from strength training and cardio, I have also picked up the practice of yoga to gain flexibility, balance, and to calm my body so that I can exert calmness onto my horse as I ride. I am a big believer that if you are going to ask your horse to physically push itself to the limit, you must also push yourself to your physical limit.

Despite the immense pressure that can be found in dressage,

I do my best to remain lighthearted and playful with Benson.

He trusts me to do what is best for him, and he isn’t happy if I am strong or demanding when I ride, so it’s my responsibility to be as light and playful as possible for him. When I’m playful, we get that beautiful feeling of harmony between a horse and rider, which is the feeling every rider strives for. The sport of dressage is my absolute passion because of the partnership and humility it provides.

eTRAK Extra

Listen to Jen Verharen speak on Strategic Planning for Riders.

January 2018 Z YOURDRESSAGE

my time to ride

Comfort Zone, Shmomfort Zone

By Sally Richards Editor's Note: This article was an honorable mention for the GMO Newsletter First Person Experience Award for GMOs with 75-174 members. It appeared in Bleeps the Southern Eventing and Dressage Association newsletter, February 10, 2017.

I

t goes without saying that we all want to improve as riders. We also know how easy it is to purr along in our precious comfort zones. Well, I got cannonballed out of my serene state during a clinic with Will Faudree, organized by SEDA. On Saturday, during the stadium phase, did we warm up with a little cross rail? As Amy Winehouse put it so well, NO NO NO! It was a low, slightly wide oxer with cavelettis placed three strides before and after. Oh, and did we warm up trotting in?

Again, take it away Amy, NO NO Sally by a large event obstacle

NO, we had to canter in. So now you know what my warm-up comfort zone is. All went well, we didn’t’ die.

The next challenge was gentle “S” shaped exercise with three fences, beginning and ending with a vertical and an oxer in the middle. The intention was to produce a mirror image, four strides from vertical to oxer and the same from the oxer to the second vertical. We all know what is said about best intentions. Started rough, ended fine. We didn’t die.

The last exercise was a combination; oxer, four strides to a vertical and one stride to another vertical. The four strides were a piece of cake. Then, thinking my horse could be an accordion, Will requested five strides. We got it in four, then in six because we trotted a little. Will refused to take the average (did I mention yet how demanding he can be?) and call it a day. We finally did an kind of icky five. We didn’t die.

Day two….a near death experience (only in my head). Any

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my time to ride

of you who know me are aware of my cross-country issues with Twister. Yes, we did get past the chickens and this time the cows as well. All was going pretty well until we got to the section of the course with the new banks….they were not the issue. I saw Will eye-

ing the training table on the hill and knew what he was thinking.

I told him in no uncertain terms “NO WAY”. His reply, with an evil grin, was “you can do this.”

Me: “No (expletive deleted) way”.

Needless to say I folded like a tent and did it, not the first attempt as

I was scared to death and Twister knew it, but did fine on the second attempt. We didn’t die.

The take away, as Friedrich Nietzsche put it so well is, “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” So thank you Will for recognizing something I didn’t….

that we could do it! I highly recommend you eventers to attend his clinic next time he is here….and he wants to come back. He is quick to analyze problems and offer solutions in an engaging and clear manner. Plus, he is a hoot!

January 2018 Z YOURDRESSAGE

The Switch to D ressage

by Erin Zimmerman

Erin and Aeris compete at a show at Majestic Farm in Batavia, OH

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W

hen I was twelve years old, I had two simple goals; I was going to become an engineer, and I would use the money from that job to buy a horse. Before you start imagining that I had thoroughly planned my entire future, though, this was also about the same time I told my mother that dressage was “for old ladies who couldn’t jump anymore,” and that I would never buy a gray horse because they’re just too hard to keep clean. So, as I paraded through the victory lap at US Dressage Finals presented

by Adequan® on my lovely, gray, draft-cross mare, Aeris, I thought about how long I had worked to reach this point, and how wonderfully improbable our journey so far has been.

As a kid, I was the barn wild child. Every barn has at least one Erin and Aeris show off some of their winnings

January 2018 Z YOURDRESSAGE

scrappy kid that enjoys nothing more than tangling with the naughtiest, feistiest ponies and, for my little barn in Wilmington, Delaware, that was me. The head trainer once told my mom that Charlotte, my favorite pony, and I were improving because “they don’t scare me half as much as they used to”. I took it as a mark of pride. Like most crazy kids, I took to eventing and saw dressage as a boring appetizer before the cross-country feast. However, my antics led to a good deal of falls, scrapes, and a broken bone.

By the end of college, I had lost my nerve. In my head, I still wanted to jump, but my body language told a different story.

My trainer at the time suggested I switch to dressage, but I brushed it aside. Remember, I told myself, “Dressage is for old ladies who can’t jump anymore”.

After taking a three year break from riding, to work and Erin and Aeris at Region 4 Great American/USDF Championships

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complete my Master’s in Mechanical Engineering, I returned to riding with a new sense of honesty. Maybe it was time to retire my jumping saddle and give real dressage a try. I found a schoolmaster to lease and started my new love affair with the discipline. Much like my studies in Systems Engineering, dressage makes you think about how each portion of the body must work together to create balance, ease, and harmony. Also, while quite precise and contained, it still requires the power and energy I had once found so exciting on the cross-country course. Embracing my new love, I decided to take my meager budget and buy my first horse.

I bought Aeris in 2013. She was about three or four years old and pretty green, but I loved her movement and low-key attitude. Originally a family trail horse, she was brave and quiet, but knew little past walk and trot.

Aeris grazes outside the Alltech arena

Her breeding was also a mystery (initially thought to be an Andalusian cross, DNA tests suggest she is mostly Percheron and Hackney), but I didn’t care. Watching her in the arena, I knew she had the clever, curious personality that I loved. After bringing her home to Ohio, she proved herself to be a fast learner and an old soul. She can be in an arena with a horse running wild on the lunge line and not bat an eyelash. I can count only twice where she has actually spooked, and one of those instances involved fire. She has quietly packed my mom and many of my friends around the ring, always carefully carrying any new rider.

Despite all of this, however, she is not a dead-head. She is brave and confident, often snorting in spite of herself when she knows she has performed well. Her favorite gait is extended canter and she has plenty of motor to gallop across an open field. While her other favorite ring activity is ‘stop and chat’, when asked, she is a flexible, capable powerhouse.

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Our journey toward the 2017 US Dressage Finals was a bit more challenging than previous years. My boyfriend (now fiancé!) and I decided this was a good year to renovate our entire house.

On one notable Friday, I worked a mostly full day, rode Aeris, then came home and built IKEA kitchen cabinets for about eight hours.

Aeris, meanwhile, was going through some awkward growth spurts, often resembling a Great Dane puppy with her strange, jutting shoulder angles and large features. All of this made training an extra challenge. I do most of the riding on her under the careful guidance of my trainer, Nicole Harrington, and my lack of time combined with her growing body made learning new movements, particularly flying changes, quite difficult. One week we would be smooth as glass, the next week her chest would pop and she wouldn’t know what to do with Aeris explores the Alltech arena during Finals

her front legs. Like many things in horses and in life, it was comical and frustrating all at once.

Despite the challenging year, we were able to qualify for Finals in the 3rd Level Adult Amateur Musical Freestyle, although even that was close. At the Great American/USDF Region 4 Championships, I came within two strides of elimination before a kind bystander yelled for me to drop my whip. So, as Aeris and I entered the Alltech Arena to do our first warm up, I felt grateful.

It was our third trip to Finals, but it felt extra special with all that we had faced and with the added bonus of graduating to the huge, indoor arena. As we walked around the outside of the ring and I stared up at the flags overhead, I could hear Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” playing over the loudspeaker. “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” I laughed; a perfect song to fit the moment.

Being a repeat competitor at Finals is not unlike attending

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summer camp. You see some familiar faces and old friends, get stable “bunk” mates, and drool over the eye candy of the top horses in the United States. With our championship class not until Sunday of that week, I divided my time between watching and helping my trainer with her three horses, and watching various tests around the horse park. As I watched, it was impossible not to strike up conversations with other riders or spectators. The joy and excitement each person felt mirrored my own, and it was inspiring to hear about their journeys to the competition. To me, that is what sets Finals apart from any other competition: each person knows how hard it is to just earn the chance to compete.

Finally, it was Sunday. I felt reasonably confident. Aeris had schooled well in the Alltech, even when other horses nearby had spooked or reacted. I did our Kim and Aeris with their fifth place ribbon at this year's Finals.

normal morning routine, plaiting running braids into both sides of Aeris’s neck while listening to pop music. Once complete, I plugged in my headphones, closed my eyes and listened to my freestyle music, picturing every step of my choreography.

In a perfect world, each step in my performance would have gone exactly as I had envisioned it in my head: laterals would flow seamlessly, extensions would be expressively powerful, and I would win the coveted cooler.

However, to answer Freddie Mercury, this is real life, not fantasy.

In real life, riding a seven-yearold horse into the Alltech Arena to compete is much trickier than I had previously thought. At most horse shows, my class warm up consists of lateral work, practicing some changes and then, right before going in, schooling some extensions to get her blood up.

As I moved Aeris up into the extended canter, I could feel her nervous excitement let loose and she charged down the long side.

January 2018 Z YOURDRESSAGE

Always good on brakes, I was able to bring her back, but she was now snorting as she marched around in an excited power-walk.

I gave her a pat and took a deep breath. I shook off the creeping self doubt. No matter what happened out there, I was proud and happy to get the experience of riding in that famed arena.

We passed under the entry gate and I could feel Aeris’s whole body grow. She loves an audience at shows and lives to perform, but this was different. Suddenly, that ring that had seemed so inviting in the prior days’ schooling looked huge and ominous with the hum of activity hanging in the background. We marched forward, but I could see Aeris’s ears flipping in every direction,

trying to catch the sounds of activity all around her. The bell rang and I raised my hand to start the music. No matter what happened from here on out, we had made it. The test started out a bit rocky.

Both extended trots face away from the judges’ booths and Aeris took those opportunities to break into a few strides of canter to escape the scary platforms. She was nervous, but still working hard to stay focused on me. As our music transitioned to the walk, I felt her loosen and relax a bit. The music was quiet and peaceful; I could see her ear radar settle down and focus on the familiar sound.

I thought, maybe we can pull it together.

While the canter had some bobbles, I could feel her get-

ting more confident. By the final strides, she was moving forward boldly and confidently. Thundering down the last centerline and coming to a halt, I took a glance at the jumbotron screen above and Aeris’s name lit up in big letters. In four years, she had made her way into the big ring, and in five minutes she had matured into a star.

We had faced our biggest show together and proven we deserved to be there.

We earned fifth place, which I was really proud of for our first year at Third Level and first time in the Alltech Arena. Facing our fears, staying bold and forward, I would like to think that I am not “an old lady who can’t jump anymore”. I am, proudly, a dressage rider.

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Heard around the arena

What interesting or fun thing have you heard lately? Send it to us using #aroundthearena

The dressage community got into the festive spirit over the holidays and shared on social media.

January 2018 Z YOURDRESSAGE

Heard around the arena

What interesting or fun thing have you heard lately? Send it to us using #aroundthearena

The dressage community got into the festive spirit over the holidays and shared it on social media.

January 2018 Z YOURDRESSAGE

USDF FLASHBACK

Colonel Hiram Tuttle Reprinted from the October 2015 USDF Connection magazine.

By Jennifer O. Bryant

T

he practice of dressage in the United States traces back to exactly one man.

Yes, there were other cavalry officers doing dressage in the early years of the twentieth century— they had to, as part of the Military test we now call the sport of eventing—but among them, only one chose to specialize in dressage.

That pioneering soul not only embraced the then littleknown equestrian discipline; he also managed to become one of the most successful American dressage competitors in history, as well as the coach of another Podcast Alert

PODCAST

Check out our podcast 96 about Col. Hiram Tuttle at usdf.podbean.com.

successful competitor who also achieved a US dressage first.

That trailblazer was US Army Col. Hiram Tuttle (1883-1956), who was inducted into the Roemer Foundation/USDF Hall of Fame in 2002.

Tuttle was one of “the Army’s Fab Four” equestrians spotlighted in my book Olympic Equestrian: A Century of International Horse Sport. Read on for a look at this remarkable man and his career, which I’ve adapted from the book.

Hiram Tuttle: Ahead of His Time The Army’s lone dressage enthusiast didn’t fit the cavalry mold. Older than his Olympic teammates, fated never to rise to the top of the officer corps, Captain Hiram Tuttle developed a passion for dressage when almost no one in the United States had ever heard the word. Despite the Tuttle with Olympic

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USDF FLASHBACK

lack of qualified dressage instructors, he somehow managed to teach himself the fine points of classical horsemanship and went on to become this country’s foremost dressage rider. He played a major role in the Army team’s winning the team dressage bronze medal in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles—America’s first medal in Olympic dressage— and also claimed the individual bronze medal aboard his horse, appropriately named Olympic, in the highest-ever individual placing in American Olympic dressage history.

“Tuttle did so much with so little and was so little appreciated,” said military historian and professor Louis A. DiMarco, Lt. Col, USA (Ret.), author of War Horse: A History of the Military Horse and Rider. “He was the only officer to focus strictly on dressage. Everybody else in the Army world—which in those Tuttle aboard Si Murray, one of his two mounts at the 1936 Olympics

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USDF FLASHBACK

days meant in America—who did dressage learned what to do and how to do it from him.”

They also learned from Tuttle’s horses, which he owned privately so that he could school them as he pleased and use them strictly for dressage, without the all-around demands that were placed on the cavalry-owned mounts. (Two of Tuttle’s horses, Olympic and Si Murray, competed on the 1936 dressage team.)

In some ways Tuttle was the Rodney Dangerfield character among the cavalry officers: He didn’t get much respect. Part of the reason was that most Army riders had little use for dressage’s discipline, formality, and lack of excitement. Another part, DiMarco surmises, is that Tuttle was a quartermaster (supply) officer.

“They’re in charge of supplies and filling out forms,” he explained. “They’re just not the swashbuckling types, as most of the other cavalrymen were.”

Tuttle’s age also set him apart from his colleagues and Olympic team-

In an era when most officers’ mounts belonged to the Army, Hiram Tuttle preferred to own his horses. He’s pictured with Vast, Olympic, and Si Murray.

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USDF Online Store

CLEARANCE

Col. Tuttle at Madison Square Garden on Olympic

mates: Tuttle was at least ten years older, and his equestrian interests, military field, and academic and professional background—he didn’t attend the US Military Academy at West Point, and he had been a practicing attorney when he joined the Army as part of its emergency expansion before World War I—set him somewhat apart from the others. (Tuttle did have one protégé, the late Major Robert Borg, who led the US dressage teams in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. Borg, whose 1948 Olympic team is the only US team

ever to win an Olympic silver medal in dressage, was inducted into the Roemer Foundation/ USDF Hall of Fame in 2006, four years after his mentor.)

Tuttle continued to ride and care for his horses after he retired from the military, and he never sold any of his mounts. He died in 1956 at the age of 73 and was buried in the cemetery at Fort Riley, KS, home of the Army’s Cavalry School until 1947. Fort Riley is also the final resting place of Tuttle’s horses Vast, Si Murray, and Olympic.

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www.usdf.org/store January 2018 Z YOURDRESSAGE

GMO SPOTLIGHT

Tell us about your GMO. #GMOSpotlight

Southern Eventing and Dressage Association (SEDA) Group Member Organizations (GMOs) are the foundation of USDF and integral in bringing dressage and dressage education to the masses.

Stay connected with your local dressage community and support dressage at the local level by joining a GMO in your area today!

USDF GMO Established: 2003 Locality: Region 9, Louisiana Website: www.sedariders.org How many members does your GMO have annually, on average?

150 members Tell us about your GMO. The Southern Eventing and Dressage Association (SEDA) has a long history of serving the Gulf South - since 1975! Many of our original founding members are still with us and continue to guide the club to a new future. Hurricanes, economic downturns, and assorted natural disasters have made for some challenging times in our club's history, but we have managed to maintain a faithful membership base and provide entertainment and education for our local horse community. We offer a recognized dressage show, Le Bon Temps, in the spring and a recognized horse trials, Fleur de Leap, in the fall. In between, there are a variety of schooling shows to allow for more opportunities to compete and stay sharp. In conjunction with several of the local stables and show facilities, we endeavor to offer educational opportunities in the form of clinics and speakers. We're looking to expand our offerings in the future, and the newly elected board is brainstorming ideas to encourage member engagement at all levels.

We have some very dynamic members, who have been instrumental in getting high school letter programs for the local equestrian

teams and promoting both our club and involvement with horses to high school students. A few of our members are deeply involved in The Retired Racehorse Project, trying to give off-the-track thoroughbreds (OTTB’s) new careers. We were thrilled that one of our members received the USDF Region 9 GMO Volunteer of the Year award in 2017!

We are fortunate to have access to some fantastic local breeders, veterinarians, and professional trainers who offer some great opportunities for education! The breadth of knowledge and talent in our membership is truly astounding, and they are all generous with their time and expertise.

A huge achievement was developing our cross country course and improving it to the point of being able to offer a recognized horse trials after many years!

Does your GMO offer unique classes or activities that cater to youth, adult amateurs, or professionals? If so, please provide a brief description.

Each year we offer the SEDA Junior Classic, a schooling show targeted toward our juniors and young riders. This has been a popular show since its inception. It has included: equitation classes, games, demonstrations by upper level riders and pas de deux or quadrille teams, driven dressage, hunter classes to January 2018 Z YOURDRESSAGE

GMO SPOTLIGHT

provide exposure to some other disciplines and appeal to nonmember juniors in the area, and a potluck luncheon that everyone loves. We provide a light-hearted atmosphere and, typically, some fun awards that are handed out throughout the day. Our intent is to make sure the kids have fun, as well as showing them ways to ride that they may not be familiar with. We've also offered an 'Adults Only' show in the past which was a lot of fun, but not something we do every year (it depends on demand). Additionally, we've developed our own Prix Caprilli tests up to First Level and have created a Doodlebug test for our youngest riders (lead line). We try hard to address the diversity in our membership with a variety of opportunities.

What type of educational events does your GMO offer?

Typically, we have clinicians come in. These may have a dressage or eventing focus. In the recent past, we've had Sally O'Connor, Jimmy Wofford, Will Faudree, and Loma Fowler, and

soon will have Jeremy Steinberg.

We are also very fortunate that many of the local stables and facilities bring in some fantastic talent, which our members can utilize, but which the club does not need to fund: Charlie Hutton, Linda Strine, Mary Wanless, Heather Blitz, Leif Sorensen, Aaron Nobbs, Jonathan Allinson, and many more. We've also offered Volunteering 101 to help educate our volunteers, RideA-Test clinics, and Pilates for Riders. We are also exploring the value of some of the new educational materials USDF has prepared, to see how we can incorporate that into our schedule.

What type of “fun” events does your GMO offer?

We have an annual awards banquet, which is typically a good time. Its theme and presentation vary year to year, as we try new things to keep it interesting.

This year, we are attempting our first evening banquet, with a DJ and dancing! We have also offered post-show potluck tailgate parties, a breakfast sponsored by

local breeders, and picnics. We've found that best attendance is usually in conjunction with another event (like a show or popular clinic), and we've also discovered that our members like to just get together and visit - without their horses!

Additional Comments: SEDA has been very fortunate to have been the recipient of many USDF GMO Awards over the years: Best Newsletter, Best Website, Photography, Articles ... and we are very proud of these achievements! We endeavor to provide quality materials and experiences for our membership, to keep them engaged, informed, and involved.

The majority of our membership comes from Louisiana, but we have members from Mississippi, Florida, and Texas (and occasionally Arkansas). Our location means that we have fairly easy access to the Houston and Florida shows, so the limited number of recognized shows in our locale isn't as huge of a handicap as it could be.

Unfortunately, our location also means we are in the crosshairs of hurricanes. Devastation from Hurricane Katrina and others affected our membership in countless ways - yet we survived and have thrived despite the setbacks. These experiences have made us very sensitive to the needs of other victims of natural disasters, and I'm proud to say that our club members have offered a lot of support to others in need from floods, fires, droughts, and storms.

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