Endel Ots wins the Custom Saddlery MVR Award at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (Photo courtesy of JRPR)
Wellington, FL (March 14, 2016) – When dressage stars shine brightly across the state of Florida, Custom Saddlery takes note. The company rewarded Brian MacMahon and Endel Ots for their excellence by presenting them with the Custom Saddlery Most Valuable Rider (MVR) Award at recent Florida dressage shows. MacMahon was recognized for coaching students and horses to excellent scores – as well as excellent scores himself – at the Twice as Nice Dressage Show 2 in Canterbury, Florida. Ots was recognized at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival for his international success with his young horses.
A dressage rider for more than 30 years, MacMahon is a jack-of-all-trades in the world of dressage. He competes, trains, breeds, conducts clinics, and is an “r” judge. Carlie Evans of Southeast Horse Shows, the management company for the Twice as Nice Dressage show, explained why MacMahon was chosen by the show committee as recipient of the Custom Saddlery MVR Award. “Brian was chosen because he is a great supporter of our shows,” she said. “He shows horses himself at all levels including freestyles, he brings students with him who show at all levels, and he has horses that he breeds and has sold competing at the same shows. He’s an all-around positive person in the world of dressage.”
MacMahon usually competes with as many as four horses and coaches five students at shows. At the Twice as Nice Dressage Show 2, his proudest moment was watching his working student, Mickensey Johnson, win all of her classes in only her second recognized show aboard Kalahari, a 15-year-old Warmblood gelding (Beaujolais x Katmandu, Columbus) owned by Eugene Abello and bred by MacMahon.
“I took my first riding lesson 30 something years ago when I got out of college, and that was that,” MacMahon said. “I love the sport. I think that when a horse is truly correct and on your aids, there’s nothing like it.”
MacMahon is based out of his Sword from the Stone Farm in Wellborn, Florida and will be beginning his “R” judge program this summer. Now that the Twice as Nice Dressage Show 2 is over, his upcoming goals are to get his students qualified for regional championships and his young horses qualified for championships, as well.
Endel Ots received the Custom Saddlery MVR Award while competing at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. He was presented with the award because of his impressive achievements over the past year. Ots became only the second American ever to qualify both a five-year-old horse and a six-year-old horse for the FEI World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses in Verden, Germany. Ots qualified Lucky Strike, a German-bred six-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Lord Laurie x Heidi, His Highness) owned by Endel Ots and his father Max Ots, and Samhitas, a German-bred seven-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Sir Donnerhall I x Heidebluete, Abanos), owned by Canadians Gary and Jeannie Vander Ploeg of Pine Ridge Farm. He is continuing his success this winter season in Wellington, Florida, and hopes to once again qualify the horses for the world Young Horse Championship.
Ots is a Custom Saddlery sponsored rider, and competes in the Custom Saddlery Icon Coda model. “I like Custom Saddlery for their customer service,” he said. “They always get things done on time. When you hear you are going to get the saddle, you get it. There are so many saddles to choose from – you can have whatever saddle you want designed however you want it.”
The Custom Saddlery Most Valuable Rider Award is presented at major horse shows to recognize individuals who go above and beyond in the sport. Custom Saddlery, the Official Saddle of the U.S. Dressage Team through the 2016 Olympic Games, gave both MacMahon and Ots an embroidered Custom Saddlery saddle pad, bag, towel, and ribbon as the newest MVR Award recipients.
Custom Saddlery’s MVR Award is all about quality riders, just as the company’s saddles are centered on top quality craftsmanship and materials. Custom Saddlery provides professional fitting services and manufactures accessories to compliment the saddles, including stirrup leathers, girths, and saddle pads.
For more information about Custom Saddlery, visit www.mysaddle.com or call 1-800-235-3865.
For more information, contact:
Custom Saddlery, Cary Wallace
www.mysaddle.com
cary@mysaddle.com
1-800-235-3865