Wellington, FL (December 28, 2012) – The second annual Robert Dover Horsemastership Week (RDHW) will be presented January 2-6, 2013 in the Van Kampen Arena of the Global Dressage Festival show grounds and at Tuny Page’s Stillpoint Farm. The week will shine a spotlight on what its U.S. Olympic namesake, Robert Dover, calls the dressage world’s ‘stars of tomorrow,’ coinciding with a George Morris Horsemastership Clinic for top junior jumping riders.
“I am very excited to once again be holding the Robert Dover Horsemastership Week at the beautiful Global Dressage Festival venue. The Emerging Dressage Athlete Program has become enormously important in identifying and nurturing our talented juniors and young riders,” said the six-time Olympian and USDF Hall of Famer. Dover began riding at age 13, starting dressage at 19 and, nine years later, competed in his first (1984) Olympics, going on to qualify for every squad thereafter through 2004.
RDHW riders were chosen from Lendon Gray Dressage4Kids (D4K) Emerging Dressage Athlete clinics, North American Junior Young Rider Championships, U.S. Equestrian Federation Festival of Champions, and the Dressage Seat Medal Finals. Among the dozen riders representing hometowns in Texas, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arizona, Connecticut, Washington, California, and Louisiana is one Florida rider: Rebecca Cohen.
Cohen, 17, debuted at Prix St. Georges with Two Swans Farm’s 17.2 Westphalian gelding, Downtown (aka, ‘Daddy’) at the New England Dressage Association (NEDA) Fall Festival, placing eighth in a field of more than two dozen seasoned professionals, and being invited to participate shortly thereafter in the Elite Young Riders Clinic with Jeremy Steinberg. Daddy overcame being hospitalized for two weeks with lymphangitis and colon ulcers last season to finish as reserve champion in the junior division of the 2012 USEF Dressage National Championships, and in 2010, Cohen was on the 2010 bronze medal-winning Region 3 Junior Team.
“During this year’s event, we have assembled many of our top Olympic trainers, vets, farriers, sports psychologists and others, to make it a week the kids will never forget. And all of this is donated! So, please, if you are in the area, come out and support the Emerging Dressage Athlete Program and our stars of tomorrow,” Dover said.
Among those supporters is Custom Saddlery, which has donated embroidered saddle pads for Horsemastership Week, kicking off their 2013 CYA contest saluting outstanding young dressage riders. One of Custom Saddlery’s top sponsored young talents, Brandi Roenick of Arizona, is also riding. Roenick, who uses a Wolfgang Solo saddle from Custom Saddlery, led her USDF Region 5 Young Rider team to a third consecutive Gold medal at the 2012 Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Riders Championships and will debut in CDI Grand Prix in 2013 as the first step towards trying out for the 2014 World Equestrian Games, 2015 Dressage World Cup and 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“Custom saddles benefit my riding because I have never had a horse with a sore back since I switched over to Custom,” says the rising talent, who works her own horse, Pretty Lady, a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by Igleaseas.
The other participants in the clinic include a host of up-and-coming young riders: Anna Campbell and Cassie Schmidt of Texas, Jackie Cartesio of New York, Nicole Chiapetti and Rosie Julian Simoes of Illinois, Katie Foster of Wisconsin, Ayden Uhlir of Washington, Genay Vaughn of California, Mattie Zepernick of Louisiana, and Lilly Simons of Connecticut. Simons is currently in training with Grand Prix rider and trainer Bethany Peslar of Wellington, who was a decorated young rider.
Supporting tomorrow’s rising dressage stars today has united a community effort behind the instructional event. Kim and Frederic Boyer will be hosting a dinner to honor the event and its participants on January 5th at their Hampton Green Farm in Wellington. They are requesting a $10 donation for attendance, and all of the proceeds will benefit the Dressage4Kids 501c3. Some of the world’s top dressage names will be attending, and an auction during the evening will feature some sought after items including clinics and lessons with the attending trainers. The party at Hampton Green is not to be missed and is an excellent way to show support for the riders and sport of dressage. Two Swans Farm will be providing refreshments at the party, and will also be providing shirts during the event. Many other organizations have also come forward to show support for the week, including Premier Equestrian, which will be providing dressage arenas and complementary visors; ShowChic, which will be presenting $25 gift certificates to each participant; Horse of Course, providing each rider with a new polo shirt; Everglades Dressage will provide embroidered baseball caps; 2KGrey, which will be providing t-shirts; and World Equestrian Brands, supplying each rider with a trio of tack cleaning tools — a bucket, tack cleaner, and sponge.
Robert Dover Horsemastership Week instructors include Robert Dover, Olympians Jan Ebeling, Tina Konyot, Lendon Gray, and Courtney King-Dye; international riders Katherine Bateson Chandler, Tuny Page and Michael Barisone; and international judges Natalie Lamping and Anne Gribbons. This Emerging Dressage Athlete Program (EDAP) was started two years ago by D4K founder and president, Lendon Gray, based on the USHJA Emerging Athlete Program (EAP), and is designed for dressage competitors under the age of 21 as a stepping-stone to senior competition and a professional career. See www.dressage4kids.com to learn more.
To learn more about the Wolfgang Solo and other Custom Saddlery designs preferred by dressage superstars including Steffen Peters, Tina Konyot, Heather Blitz, and Kathleen Raine, visit www.mysaddle.com. To join dressage’s best dressed, visit www.showchicdressage.com; follow the sport’s cutting edge with www.thehorseofcourse.com; and find unsurpassed quality in all your horse show needs at www.worldequestrianbrands.com.
For more information contact
Emerging Dressage Athlete Program
Lendon Gray
graydressage@optonline.net
914 234 4158
www.dressage4kids.com