On her quest to make the US Pony Driving Team for the second time, Shelly Temple and her Morgan gelding LR Ami B-Line (Cooper) have been training in Germany since August.
Shelly and Cooper competed at the Minden CDE in Germany, August 25-28, 2011. Minden is a large event featuring the German National Championships. The first day of competition began with a bang with their win in the Single Pony dressage class with a score of 43.39.
On marathon day Shelly took a conservative approach with Cooper to ensure he was safe on the technical and long course. However, on day 3, cones, Shelly and Cooper turned it on. They took 2nd place in cones with a double clear (i.e., making the time requirement with no faults). “I was very pleased with my cones course; it was very smooth and Cooper went well,” states Shelly. Overall, Shelly remarks that the German show was great and featured many excellent top pony drivers: “The Germans will be very hard to beat in Lipica [World Championships].”
Accompanying Shelly, Cooper, and her husband to Europe are the feeds, supplements, and equipment of her sponsors: Kentucky Equine Research, Kombat Boots, Purina feeds, Omega Fields, ThinLine, Leather Therapy, and Charles Owens. Shelly is thankful for the support of her sponsors and donors: “This is truly a team sport as I couldn’t be here without the generosity of my sponsors and all the great people who have donated to Team Catalyst.”
Cooper is currently grazing grass and preparing for the World Pony Championships in Slovenia September 22-25. She hopes to build upon her 2007 success as a member of the U.S. Bronze medal team as well as silver medallist in dressage. To follow Shelly and Team Catalyst on their efforts to make the US Team for the 2011 Pony Driving World Championship visit her blog at http://catalystdriving.blogspot.com/.
For more information contact:
Shelly Temple
Windsor, South Carolina
rskydiver@aol.com
www.catalystdriving.com