All posts by Associate Editor

Atlanta Spring – Summer – Charleston Summer

Just some updates… Atlanta Spring (March 23 – April 3) – I know so many of you are in the middle of your winter circuits but if you are planning to attend, we need to hear from you about stall reservations.   843 768 5503

Atlanta Summer (June 15-26) – Lots of new classes and much more prize money this summer.   We will have a $25,000 USHJA Hunter Derby this summer again in the Grand Prix ring. We will also have two $35,000 Grand Prix classes.  We will have several clinics including a Water Jumper Clinic, a Pony Model Clinic, and an Ask the Judge Clinic.  This will be along with the 2nd Annual Freestyle Class in the Grand Prix.  Lots planned for the Summer Show in Conyers.  The prize list will be out around the 1st of April.

Charleston Summer Classic (July 13-23) – The new schedule is on the web and the prize list will be out around the 1st of April.  This will be another fun filled two weeks on the coast.  Remember, it’s time to get your condos reserved.

We are now on Facebook: www.facebook.com/classiccompanyltd.

See you at the rings,

Bob Bell
The Classic Company, Ltd.
www.ClassicCompany.com
Phone/FAX:  (843) 768-5503
Post Office Box 1311  Johns Island  SC 29457

Ladies Reign in Devoucoux Hunter Prix at HITS Thermal, Ocala, and Arizona as Winter Show Season Heads into Final Weeks

© Flying Horse Photography. Hope Glynn and Sabrina Hellman's Woodstock in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix at HITS Thermal.

SAUGERTIES, NY (March 2, 2011) — The Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final is the talk of the town this season and its key to qualifying, the Devoucoux Hunter Prix, continues to be one of the most popular offerings at the HITS Winter Circuits in Ocala, Florida, Thermal, California, and Tucson, Arizona. Never before has a purse of this magnitude been offered for hunters, and never before have so many talented riders at all levels of their careers had the opportunity to aspire to such a lofty goal.

United States Chef d’Equipe George Morris was on-site at the HITS Desert Horse Park in Thermal, California this past weekend and got to witness first-hand the excitement and energy of the Devoucoux Hunter Prix.

During his visit, Morris shared in the enthusiasm that’s sweeping the sport. “Doing the Hunter Prix series at 3’3” was genius. It really crosses over to so many different riders and is sure to continue to be overwhelmingly popular. I look forward to being back in Europe and asking my European horse colleagues ‘what sort of prize money is Europe offering now?’ We are jumping for a half a million in the Hunters in the States. I can’t wait to see their faces,” Morris said with an approving smile.

Continue reading Ladies Reign in Devoucoux Hunter Prix at HITS Thermal, Ocala, and Arizona as Winter Show Season Heads into Final Weeks

Tenth Annual Challenge of the Americas Competition and Gala

Steiner and Hoag. Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle Photography

Wellington, FL – March 3, 2011 – The Tenth Annual Challenge of the Americas competition and gala is set to take place on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, FL. Beginning at 5:15 pm at the Nespresso Pavilion the 2011 Challenge of the Americas (COTA) will be presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC) and will benefit Play for P.I.N.K., a partner of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

This equestrian evening features musical team quadrilles performed by the “who’s who” of top riders in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe. COTA will be an exciting evening to benefit an incredible cause. In addition to the team quadrille dressage challenge the evening’s events will feature a special polo match.

COTA Chairmen Mary Ross, along with Georgette Escobar and the Challenge Committee are proud to present an International Musical Grand Prix Dressage Quadrille Team Challenge and Polo Extravaganza. The Challenge Gala, an elegant evening of dinner and dancing, will get underway immediately following the “The Challenge of the Americas” competition. An awards presentation will be featured and guests will have the chance to meet and socialize with riders and judges.

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Pre-Screening of Sundance Award Winning Film BUCK to Support Emerging Athletes Program

Wellington, FL – March 3, 2011 – Support the USHJA’s Emerging Athletes program by purchasing tickets to see the Sundance Award Winning film Pre-Release Screening of BUCK on Sunday, March 6 at 7:00 PM in the Special Events Tent by the Grand Prix Arena on the WEF Showground in Wellington, Florida.

You must put the name of the person for the ticket and each ticket is $100.00, which includes a big Event night filled with the spirit of the Horse Whisperer himself.  Food and drink and a very worthy cause: our young riders of the USA who need sponsorship and help to fulfill their dreams of a chance to be one of America’s best in the saddle.  Come on folks! Support these kids! If you can’t make it, you can still support and donate.  Almost every other country in the world has a support for young equestrians to get training and consideration.  It’s time for us to do MORE! SUPPORT THE SPORT!

For more information or to purchase tickets please visit https://www.ushja.org/sa/foundation/movieTickets.aspx.

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Hunter Champion Scott Stewart and Blessed Win The Sanctuary High Performance Working Hunter Division At WEF

Scott Stewart and Blessed won the Sanctuary High Performance Working Hunter Division during the seventh week of the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. (Photo courtesy of Sportfot)

Wellington, FL (March 2, 2011) – Scott Stewart is a well-known winner on the hunter circuit, and the veteran hunter rider proved he could take a new horse and ride it into the winner’s circle when he piloted Blessed to The Sanctuary High Performance Working Hunter Division during the seventh week of the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. The division is sponsored by The Sanctuary at PBIEC, a new world-class full horse therapy and conditioning center located on the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) show grounds.

Stewart, of Flemington, New Jersey, purchased Blessed about a month ago from Derek Braun. The six-year-old gray Holsteiner mare not only took home the championship in the High Performance Working Hunters, but also proved she could handle the International Ring when she navigated the big ring to win a hunter stake class with a score of 90.

Stewart, who is a four-time World Champion Hunter Rider Professional Champion, said he thought the mare might need to stay in the pre-green division for a while, but added that after a few times it the ring he knew she was up for the challenge of competing in the high performance working hunters and the big leagues of WEF. The Sanctuary High Performance Working Hunter Division is a new division at WEF this year and is open to all riders and horses and includes fences ranging in height from 4’ to 4’6”.

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NO SECRET SO CLOSE excerpt #8, by Claire Dorotik

NO SECRET SO CLOSE is the story of a the most unthinkable betrayal humanly possible — at only 24 years old, Claire Dorotik’s father has been murdered, her mother arrested, and now, in a sinister twist of fate, Claire’s mother points the finger at Claire, accusing her of killing her own father. Battling the feelings of loss, abandonment, terror, and dissociation, and also learning about them, Claire struggles to stay in her master’s program for psychotherapy. However, when Claire’s brothers also betray her and side with her mother, Claire is left all alone to care for the 18 horses she and her mother owned. As the story unfolds, what is revealed is the horses’ amazing capacity for empathy in the face of human trauma, and the almost psychic ability to provide the author with what had been taken from her. Arising from these horrifying circumstances, the most unthinkable heroes — the horses — show Claire that life is still worth living.

Excerpt #8 from NO SECRET SO CLOSE:

“OK, well find out and get back to me. I’ll have Lewis bring the papers over.”

I hung up the phone and rested my forehead against my hands. I knew we’d have to sell the house — my mother’s severance wouldn’t last more than six months, and I had no income, my attempts at selling horses not proving  profitable — but I didn’t want to have anything to do with it. I especially didn’t want to become my mother’s power of attorney. The thought of it made me feel more like a criminal than I already did. I’d already been using her accounts at the feed stores to buy hay for the horses. I was already paying her bills. I was already driving her car, having sold mine for money. I was already living in her house. I was already accused of her crime.

Continue reading NO SECRET SO CLOSE excerpt #8, by Claire Dorotik

Can Equine Therapy Replace Traditional Therapy? by Claire Dorotik M.A.

While equine therapy has been employed as a more inviting modality for those who are otherwise treatment resistant, can it really be a replacement for traditional talk therapy? Certainly, with substance abuse cases, and with adolescents, practitioners have often relied on the addition of horses to elicit responses that would otherwise not be possible in human encounters. Horses are much less threatening than people, and simply being in their presence can result in a physiological calm, that can then pave the way to effective communication with a therapist. But is equine therapy enough to tackle some of the weighty therapeutic issues people face, or is talking things through with a licensed professional necessary?

Avid equine enthusiasts have long attested to the healing power of horses, and swore by their time with them, yet these people are also familiar with horses, and more than likely not entirely mystified by their responses. In almost an instinct, when a loved horse behaves in particular way, his owner will adjust her behavior accordingly, thereby providing the response that the horse is searching for. As an example, a typically bold horse may suddenly become quite tentative, and require more strength and leadership from his rider. Should the rider not respond with this, the situation would escalate, and perhaps become dangerous. And while this scenario involves some understanding for those not accustomed to horses, it happens in a matter of seconds.

Continue reading Can Equine Therapy Replace Traditional Therapy? by Claire Dorotik M.A.

A Night in Provence at World Dressage Masters Palm Beach

No stranger to dressage, IPC has hosted the highly popular Challenge of the Americas for a number of years. Photo by: Susan J. Stickle, Phelps Media Group.

Wellington, FL – February 28, 2011 – As they watch top class competition at the World Dressage Masters Palm Beach CDI5*, spectators will be treated to a complete Provençal experience. A five course meal inspired by the food and wine of Southern France will be served at tables around the edge of the competition arena where 18 of the globe’s most highly trained horses perform the Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle to Music on the evening of March 11th, the grand finale of the 2011 World Dressage Masters presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach. Among the riders to appear at the WDM Palm Beach are a number of Olympic and World Equestrian Games veterans, including the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Freestyle bronze medalist, Steffen Peters of the USA.

Preparations are under way to transform the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm Beach into a scene straight out of Provence, while the chefs at International Polo Club Catering finalize the dishes and wine pairings for this extravagant gala evening. “This is more than a dressage competition,” says WDM Palm Beach producer Wellington Classic Dressage’s Noreen O’Sullivan. “It is an experience. The venue is going to look outrageous. For those who know the Jim Brandon Center, they won’t recognize it.”

When the WDM Palm Beach was in danger of being cancelled for 2011, the Goodman Family, International Polo Club Palm Beach and its members stepped in to save the American leg of the world’s most prestigious dressage competition. In the kind of style that has become expected of any IPC event, no expense has been spared in making the WDM Palm Beach a unique and memorable experience for both participants and spectators.

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Kihikihi Kicks Off FEI World Cup Eventing 2011 Series

Germany’s Michael Jung, winner of the HSBC FEI World Cup Eventing 2009 and 2010, could make it a series hat-trick in 2011. (Leszek Wójcik/FEI)

The FEI World Cup Eventing 2011 series kicks off at Kihikihi in New Zealand on 7-10 April, when John Nicholson’s imaginative cross-country course will test the mettle of some of the world’s most talented horse and rider combinations.

This year’s series – which takes place at eight venues across Australasia, Europe and the UK – will once again run in similar fashion to the Meydan FEI Nations Cup in Jumping, with the rider topping the points table at the end of the season claiming the prestigious title of FEI World Cup Eventing champion 2011.

The points based system has proved extremely popular with riders as it opens up the series to those not able to travel long distances with their horses. Riders will gain points based on their performance and final placings at each venue. They will have to obtain a minimum of three FEI World Cup Eventing results during the series to be eligible for the title.

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Houston Dressage Rider Buys “The Love of Her Life” at 2011 Lusitano Collection International Horse Auction

Nancy Kempe and her new Isabel stallion Cupido Interagro accept a custom made saddle from Cary Wallace of Custom Saddlery and his daughter Eva Wallace. (Photos courtesy of Darcy Scott)

Wellington, FL (February 28, 2011) – Almost 300 guests were in attendance at the 2011 Lusitano Collection International Horse Auction when dressage rider Nancy Kempe purchased her dream horse, a beautiful Lusitano Isabel stallion named Cupido Interagro, that she described as “the love of her life.” The four-year-old stallion with a sterling pedigree was the highest selling horse at the glamorous auction, and Kempe’s story touched the audience and rounded out an evening filled with festivities and splendor set amidst the backdrop of the beautiful Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in Wellington, Florida.

The audience applauded for Kempe, who lives in Houston, Texas, when she hugged her horse during a touching awards presentation following the auction. Kempe was the highest bidder of the evening and won a beautiful brand new dressage saddle from Custom Saddlery as a result. Kempe was also thrilled to learn that she had won a complimentary weekend getaway from the Ritz Carlton Residences of Singer Island for being the highest bidder, and that she would get the chance to be pampered in a luxurious setting right on the ocean.

Kempe was given the opportunity to address the audience and explained in her heartwarming tale that she has a lung condition which made it difficult for her to sit the trot on the warmblood she already owns. Her trainer recommended Kempe buy a Lusitano and Kempe flew to Florida three weekends in a row to view and ride the horses available in the Lusitano auction.

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