Lexington, Ky. – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and its High Performance Dressage Committee have awarded training grants to six participants of the 2014 USEF Developing Dressage Program. The grants have been made possible by a generous gift from Akiko Yamazaki and Red Husky Foundation through the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation and donations from the USET Dressage Solid Gold “Prancing with the Stars” Fundraiser. These grant recipients were chosen following review of their performances in 2014 observation and training sessions, and after a review of their training and competitions plans for 2014 and 2015.
USEF Developing Coach, Debbie McDonald, and USEF Developing Coach Advisors, Robert Dover, Scott Hassler and Jeremy Steinberg, have selected the following six combinations to receive training grants (in alphabetical order):
Christopher Hickey (Colora, M.D.) on her Cecelia Stewart’s Ronaldo
Ronaldo is a 2006 Danish Warmblood gelding
Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (Reston, Va.) on her own Rassing’s Lonoir
Rassing’s Lonoir is a 2004 Danish Warmblood gelding
Ari Lopez (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) on her own Corlander II
Corlander II is a 2001 Rheinlander gelding
Jamie Pestana (Livermore, Calif.) on her own Winzalot
Winzalot is a 2004 Hanoverian gelding
Mackinzie Pooley (Coto de Caza, Calif.) on Leslie Pooley’s Partous
Partous is a 1997 KWPN gelding
Sabine Schut-Kery (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Alice Womble’s Sanceo
Sanceo is a 2006 Hanoverian stallion
The 2014 USEF Developing Dressage Program would also like recognize the following participants who demonstrate great potential for the future of dressage in the United States:
Elizabeth Ball (Cardiff, California) and Cadence, LLC’s Avanti and Caravaggio
Endel Ots (Wellington, Fla.) and Everglades Dressage, LLC’s Donatus
Katie Riley (White House Station, N.J.) on her own Zanzibar
Mette Rosencrantz (Topanga, Calif) on Anne Solbraekke’s De Noir 3
Tanya Vik (Sonoma, Calif.) on her own Holy Wonder
Holger Bechtloff (Wellington, Florida) on Peggy Mills Clapton JP and Nongae Johnson’s Dutch Diva
To learn more about the USEF High Performance Dressage program, visit: https://www.usef.org/_IFrames/breedsdisciplines/discipline/alldressage/hpDressage.aspx.
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