Tag Archives: equestrian community

*Featured/Spotlights, Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Equine Assisted Therapy, FEI, Para-Equestrian

FEI Award Win Continues to Motivate Haitian Para-Equestrian

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Darlene Milord and FEI President HRH Princess Haya at the 2009 FEI Awards ceremony (photo: FEI)

19 August 2010 – As the nomination deadline approaches for the annual awards organised by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the Haitian Para-Equestrian winner of last year’s FEI Against All Odds Award is calling on the equestrian community to nominate individuals whose efforts deserve acknowledgement.

The Against All Odds Award is given to an individual who has overcome personal setbacks or physical disabilities to pursue equestrian sport. It is one of five FEI Awards that reward outstanding dedication to horse sport.

Orphan Darlene Milord, who was born with the medical condition hemiplegia, has represented her country at the Special Olympics. Her passion for horses evolved from the riding therapy she received as part of a special needs programme at the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos orphanage in Haiti.

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Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Equestrian Assistance, JRPR, Products/Services

Lauren Sammis and Charles Owen Team Up at the USEF Dressage Festival of Champions to Raise Funds and Helmet Awareness

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Crystal Gaskell (left) was awarded her Charles Owen Helmet by (from left to right) Lauren Sammis, Danielle Santos, and Al Guden. (Photo courtesy of JRPR)

Gladstone, NJ (August 19, 2010) – Dressage rider Lauren Sammis, who earned a Gold Medal at the Pan American Games, awarded fellow dressage rider Crystal Gaskell with a brand new Charles Owen helmet during the 2010 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions. Gaskell, of Cazenovia, New York, won the helmet through a Charles Owen Helmet raffle, in support of the Riders4Helmets campaign started by SUCCEED, with all the proceeds from the raffle going to the USET Foundation.

“I always ride in a helmet and I was looking for a new helmet so this works out great,” said Gaskell, adding that she was extremely excited about winning the raffle. “I have a 23-year-old Dutch horse that I ride named Figaro. He did his first grand prix with my daughter when he was 21.”

Sammis, who competed at the Dressage Festival of Champions on Sagacious HF, an 11-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Al Guden of Hyperion Farm, was pleased to award Gaskell with her new helmet. A strong supporter of all riders wearing helmets, Sammis wore a helmet during the Dressage Festival of Champions, as did competitor Sue Blinks.

Continue reading Lauren Sammis and Charles Owen Team Up at the USEF Dressage Festival of Champions to Raise Funds and Helmet Awareness →

*Featured/Spotlights, Breeds, Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Events, JRPR

Youth Wins Shetland Pony in American Shetland Pony Congress Essay Contest

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Jada Wright was the lucky winner of the ASPC's Youth Essay Contest at the Annual Shetland Pony Congress Show in Oklahoma. (Photo by Washburn Photography)

Ardmore, OK (August 19, 2010) – The annual Shetland Pony Congress Show, a competition highlighting the best small equines in the country, turned out to be a big event for one young member. Jada Wright, of Byars, Oklahoma, wrote the winning essay for the American Shetland Pony Club’s (ASPC) Youth Essay Contest, and took her own American Shetland Pony home from the show.

Jackie Tyler, of Emerald Glenn Farm in Woodville, Wisconsin, donated a two-year-old gelding named Naughty By Nature EGF to the youth essay contest and was pleased that Jada won the contest. “She was really happy about winning,” Tyler said.

Tyler, who also donated the winning pony to last year’s youth essay contest, said she decided to donate Naughty By Nature because he is a good prospect for a youth, has great brains and attitude and also has lots of color. “I enjoy giving a pony to a child who wants to really and truly work with it and show it. I think it makes children turn into better adults,” Tyler said. “A child learns to take the good with the bad when looking after a pony or horse. The pony can give you a bad time but you still have to keep going, no matter the weather or if you don’t feel good. You still have to get out there and take care of your pony.”

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Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Driving, JRPR, Products/Services

Chester Weber Awards Silent Auction Winner with a Charles Owen Helmet at Iron Horse CDE

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Combined Driver Chester Weber presents Mary Sheerin with a certificate for a new Charles Owen helmet. (Photo courtesy of Laurie Excell)

Caledonia, IL (August 13, 2010) – USEF National Four-In-Hand Champion Chester Weber is a strong proponent of wearing helmets, and during the recent Iron Horse CDE he and his team not only wore their Charles Owen helmets, but Weber stepped into the spotlight as a presenter during the silent auction. Weber presented Mary Sheerin, of Lexington, Kentucky, with a certificate for a Charles Owen helmet after Sheerin won the bid for the helmet during a silent auction to benefit Habitat for Humanity.

During the Iron Horse CDE, in which Weber won the Four-In-Hand division, Weber joined forces with two of his sponsors, Charles Owen and SUCCEED, to auction off a Charles Owen helmet certificate during the competitor’s party silent auction. Weber is encouraging all drivers to wear helmets in a Drivers4Helmets campaign, a spin on SUCCEED’s Riders4Helmets campaign.

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Contributors/Press, JRPR, Products/Services

TailRx Featured on NBC’s Today Show during Kathie Lee and Hoda’s “Favorite Things” Segment

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Mary Brunetti, founder of TailRx, said the product works equally well on horses and humans. (Photo courtesy of Mary Brunetti)

New York, NY (August 13, 2010) – Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb added a little horse sense to NBC’s Today show recently, when Kotb announced that her newest favorite thing is the horse product TailRx. Developed by hairstylist and dressage rider Mary Brunetti, TailRx is a mane and tail restoration system for horses that can also be used on humans.

During the show’s “Favorite Things” segment, Kotb explained that she has always had hair issues but thanks to TailRx she now has a smooth and flowing mane. Kotb pulled out a bottle of the magic mane serum and demonstrated to the audience that it only takes a drop to produce a head of hair as sleek as a filly’s.

“I did Hoda’s hair out in the Hamptons over the weekend and used TailRx on it and Hoda loved it. When her show aired on Monday she was very excited about it and gave TailRx a big shout out,” Brunetti said. “Hoda knew that I developed the product for horses but that it works great on humans also, and she mentioned that on the air.”

Brunetti has since heard from staff at NBC who said Kotb is still raving about TailRx. “Hoda has talked about your product non-stop! It must be a miracle potion. Congrats, her hair looks amazing,” one staff member wrote to Brunetti.

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=11749

Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Eventing/H.T., FEI, Show Jumping

Death of Canadian Olympian Walter Pady

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12 August 2010 – The FEI deeply regrets the death this week of 1952 Helsinki Olympian and former Chair of the Canadian Equestrian Team, 77-year-old Walter Pady, following a car accident in Ontario.

Initially identified as an Eventing talent and a member of Canada’s first Olympic equestrian team in the three-day event competition in Helsinki (FIN), Mr Pady switched to Jumping and scored a number of top placings during Canada’s first European show jumping tour in 1954.

At the end of his competitive career, Mr Pady dedicated himself to Canadian equestrianism. Chairman of the Canadian Jumping team for 10 years, he was then chair of the Canadian Equestrian Team in the 1980s, contributing hugely to the development of Canadian horse sport.

The FEI expresses its condolences to Mr Pady’s family and friends.

Media Contact:

Grania Willis
FEI Director Press Relations
Tel: +41 787 506 142
Email: grania.willis@fei.org

Community/Charity, Conferences, Contributors/Press, Events, Products/Services, WHIN

The Black Stallion Literacy Foundation to Participate at Women’s Horse Industry Conference

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The Women’s Horse Industry Association is pleased to announce that The Black Stallion Literacy Foundation will participate at the 2nd Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky September 22-23, 2010.

The Black Stallion Literacy Foundation program is available for children in the lower elementary grades and the upper elementary grades.  Books are given to children to keep forever; in the lower elementary program, usually first grade, they are given Little Black a Pony and Little Black Goes to the Circus. After receiving their first book, the children are taken to a farm and learn how to care for a horse.  They meet the characters in the book and then read to a horse!

Upper elementary students, usually fourth and fifth graders, are given the hardback book, The Black Stallion.  Schools, a copy of the movie, The Black Stallion, and a complete curriculum that teachers truly admire and utilize.  As a reward for reading their book, these children are treated to an amazing equestrian show, the Black Stallion Show featuring performers from Arabian Nights, from Kissimmee, Florida. The show is the professional horse show that encourages children to read, brings the book to life and encourages children to read more of the books by Walter Farley.

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Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Training/Clinics

Very Exciting News from Team Poulsen!

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I have VERY exciting news for you! I have purchased a farm in Wellington, Florida to be able to continue to give my clients and horses the best possible training facility and “home away from home” as possible. I’ve been working on this special project since last April, and it’s finally done.

I am going to be offering a special rate for the first season of operation at our new facility, as well as offering month to month full care and training for those who can not afford the full season.  After talking to numerous people about their needs and budgets, I have found over the years that a lot of you would love to take the opportunity to come to Fl for training. But due to the traditional billing of seasonal stalls, it’s just not feasible.

Of course, stall priority will be given to those horses who would like a stall for the entire season. But I am determined to offer training and full care at an affordable price for those who would like only 2 or 3 months instead of the entire season. I feel that this is a service that has been overlooked in Wellington.

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Breeds, Community/Charity, Events

‘Foals from the Heart’ Auction Benefits JustWorld Initiatives

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The ‘Foals from the Heart’ auction, run by Vincent Desmarez and his family, raised €11,140 for JustWorld International. Photo credit: Sportfot

August 9, 2010 – Laventie, France – Equestrians across the world are joining the movement to help those less fortunate, as evidenced by a breeding auction held in France that raised €11,140 to benefit JustWorld International initiatives.  JustWorld International is a not-for-profit, humanitarian organization working as a catalyst for positive change in the developing world by helping underprivileged children.

The ‘Foals from the Heart’ auction is run each year by Vincent Desmarez, father of JustWorld Amateur Ambassador Tiphaine Desmarez of France.  Vincent presented JustWorld with a check for €11,140 in a special presentation held prior to the start of the Global Champions Tour Grand Prix at CSI5* Chantilly, France, on Saturday, July 17.  JustWorld Ambassadors Julia Tops of Canada, Luciana Diniz of Portugal and France’s own Kevin Staut accepted the check on behalf of JustWorld.  Staut, who is the reigning European Champion and currently ranked the number one show jumping rider in the world, also acted as the ‘Foals from the Heart’ spokesperson.

“It was so great that Kevin supported our initiative to help JustWorld,” said Vincent’s son, Thomas Desmarez.  “When he was out on the grand prix field at Chantilly and spoke about the important work that JustWorld is doing, it all came together.  It is wonderful to have such a big name behind such a worthy cause.  It attracted all sorts of attention and local press.”

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Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, Show Jumping, Uncategorized

FEI Awards – “One in 1.3 Billion Rider” Encourages Equestrian World to Send Nominations

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Alex Hua Tian, Chinese Olympic Eventing rider and winner of the FEI's 2009 HSBC Rising Star Award (photo: Kit Houghton)

10 August 2010 – China’s first Olympic Eventing rider Alex Hua Tian is urging the equestrian community to make its nominations for the five-category 2010 FEI Awards.

Hua Tian, whom the Chinese media dubbed the “one in 1.3 billion” in the run-up to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, won the FEI’s HSBC Rising Star Award last year. The award rewards a rider aged between 14 and 21 who demonstrates significant talent and outstanding commitment. The judging panel, chaired by FEI President HRH Princess Haya, selected Hua Tian for his riding skills and the unwavering dedication that enabled him to cope with intense press scrutiny and pressure before and during the 2008 Olympic Games.

“I was deeply moved to have been nominated by my instructors, Nicola Ward, a New Zealander who, with her Irish Husband, John, taught me in Hong Kong when I was eight years old and by Tamara Weal, who taught me in England when I was 11,” said Hua Tian. “I am sure that in every Pony Club, Riding Club or community there must be many outstanding young riders, who would be hugely inspired to have their passion and dedication encouraged by being nominated for the FEI Awards. I know I was.”

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