Kara Wintersteen and BB Princess Liyah Take Home the Premier Equestrian Sportsmanship Award at the 2011 Estes Park Arabian Horse Show

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Kara Wintersteen (left) was presented with the Premier Equestrian Sportsmanship Award at the 2011 Estes Park Arabian Horse Show. (Photo courtesy of Andrea Reynoso)

Sandy, UT (August 18, 2011) – With a combination of a warm smile, encouraging comments, a humble attitude, and a striking amount of horsemanship, eighteen-year-old Kara Wintersteen won over the judges and earned herself the Premier Equestrian Sportsmanship Award at the Estes Park Arabian Horse Show.  She and BB Princess Liyah, a nine-year-old Arabian mare, competed in a variety of classes and whether she missed a class or missed a lead, Wintersteen was never heard to complain, and always gave her horse credit for her winnings.  After having to scratch her morning dressage test due to a delay on the trail course, Wintersteen was given the chance to ride the test at the end of the schedule, just before the halter class was scheduled to begin.  She rode a beautiful dressage test before high tailing it out of the gate to strip off her tack for just in time for the halter class.

Premier Equestrian, one of the largest suppliers of dressage arenas, horse jumps, arena footing and stable accessories, was pleased to name Wintersteen the first Sportsmanship Award recipient as she obviously embodies the key attributes of a good sport.  Heidi Zorn, president of Premier Equestrian, congratulated Wintersteen on her wins and on her lovely attitude.  “Kara is a fantastic competitor and truly puts her horse and her fellow competitors before herself,” said Zorn.  “The show staff here noted how she rode in the Arabian Mounted Native Costume class and then came out and helped one of the other competitors get ready so they could compete.  This is the sort of deed we are looking to recognize with the Sportsmanship Award.”

Wintersteen has owned the purebred Arabian mare BB Princess Liyah, also known as Angel, since 2005, and the duo competed in fifteen classes at Estes Park, winning a third of them.  But placements aren’t Wintersteen’s first priority.  “All I really care about is the ride,” she stated.  “If I can come out of a class knowing we did our best, then that’s fine with me.  Angel was given to me as a hot, unbroken three-year-old when I was only thirteen.  Everything I have done with her has been without the help of a trainer.  We do get beaten, but it’s a learning process.  A good ride is a good ride, but especially so if it’s an improvement on previous rides.”

Wintersteen is a model of sportsmanship, and Angel, a Polish mare bred by Barbara Boodell, epitomized one of the themes of this year’s show: “The Versatile Arabian.”  Demonstrating the amazing adaptability of the Arabian horse, the pair showed in Western Trail, English Trail, Dressage, Halter, Sport Horse Under Saddle, English Pleasure Advanced, Western Pleasure, Western Pleasure Advanced, Barrel Racing, and native costume.

“We congratulate Kara and Angel on a spectacular show, and wish them all the best in the future,” said Zorn.  “We hope that they will enjoy the pair of Roeckl gloves they’ve won, and I encourage Kara to never lose her wonderful attitude.”  Premier’s products have been embraced by the equestrian community and last year the company was thrilled to supply the dressage arenas for the World Equestrian Games, as well as the dressage warm-up arena, driving arena, driving warm-up arena and the flower boxes and dressage letters. “Premier also supplied GGT Footing for the dressage arenas at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center during the World Dressage Masters,” Zorn said. “Proper horse arena footing is a big issue and Premier has the answers to the most often asked questions when it comes to arena footing.”

For more information on Premier Equestrian products, including footing, dressage arenas, jumps, and stable accessories, visit their website at www.PremierEquestrian.com. Their YouTube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/premierequestrian1.

For more information contact:
Heidi Zorn, Premier Equestrian
1-800-611-6109
www.PremierEquestrian.com

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