2016 Winter Intensive Training Program Fund

     This summer I was accepted in to the 2016 Winter Intensive Training Program presented by Lendon Gray and Dressage4Kids. The WIT Program is held at Hampton Green Farm in Wellington, Florida January 3rd-March 28th. We will get daily lessons from Lendon Gray, daily lectures from various equine professional, and tour top training facilities in Wellington.

     Lendon Gray has represented the United States in two Olympics and Inducted in to the USDF Hall of Fame. Lendon is dedicated to developing aspiring youth in to top international dressage competitors. Lendon is the founder of Dressage4kids that put on many programs to further young rider’s education. Lendon has helped develop many international riders that compete today.

  

     This year I was one of the lucky fifteen riders accepted into the WIT Program. For those of you who do not know, The Village of Wellington is known for its equestrian community. It is home to the Winter Equestrian Festival, hosting hunter/jumper events, The Adequan Global Dressage Festival, hosting dressage events, and is home to the Palm Beach International Polo Club. Having the opportunity to spend a winter in Wellington, Florida is defiantly an amazing experience.

     In order to afford to participate in The WIT Program it requires a lot of fundraising and financial support. To help pay for this program I have been Braiding at shows, grooming for friends, teaching beginner lessons, selling fudge and bran mash at tack sales, and applying for scholarships. I also have created a GoFundMe page. GoFundMe is a company that allows you to create campaign pages to help you raise money for causes, Please make a contribution to my 2016 WIT Program Fund. The money raised will be used to pay for the program fee, shipping for the horse, horse care supplies, grain and supplements, emergency veterinary care, and rent and utilities. It does not matter the amount you donate every penny helps. Click on the banner below to donate now.

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Courtney King Dye Horsemastership Clinic

Allyssia Bryant and Display

     I was invited to audit the Courtney King Dye Horsemastership Clinic presented by Dressage4Kids, hosted by Hassler Dressage at Rivergade. The Horsemastership clinic was an amazing experience filled with lots of learning. This experience had many "firsts", first plane ride by with no parents, first time attending a D4K horsemastership clinic, and first time being so many miles away from home without my parents. Lucky for me everything ran smoothly.

Emily Smith and Dublin

     The day would start out with and early morning and helping with chores at the barn. Every morning we had some sort of fitness, my favorite was yoga. Then once you finished you morning fitness the lessons would start. After the lessons were finished you would have one or two lectures during lunch. Then the day would finish with barn chores and a trip to the ice cream place in town. I really enjoyed the pizza dinner at the guest house. It was very fun having all the participants plus lendon together to talk. 

     We had lectures from many people. The lecture I really benefited from with my horse where from Susan Hassler, Scott Hassler, Lendon gray and Courtney king dye, and Robert Croteau. Susan gave a lecture about the position of you and your horse. My horse had been having some straightness issues so this lecture was very interesting for me. I am also involved in the Dressage Seat Equitation program so I enjoyed the lecture in that was as well. The Lecture from Scott was about how to be a good coach for your horse. Essentially when you are training you are your horses coach. This lecture was about how to get the best out of you and your horse. Me and my horse have trouble with our harmony and tend to clash. The information in the lecture was been helpful and has helped my horse and I improve. The lecture with Lendon and Courtney was about being a working student. This was very informational for me because one day I hope to be a working student for someone. Robert Croteau gave a lecture about equine nutrition. His was helpful because horses I had in the past did not have a very good top line. He gave us some suggestions on how to improve our horse’s top line. Finally we had a fun field trip to Fair Hill Therapy Center. It was cool to see all the therapy machines. We also got to go down by the track and see a couple of horses practice going out of the starting gate.

Nicole and Kristen Nowak

    Finally I would like to thank all the clinicians Charlotte Bredahl, Alison Brock, Lendon Gray, Scott Hassler, and Courtney King-Dye. Also, thank you to Courtney King-Dye, Susanne Hassler, Scott Hassler, Charlotte Bredahl, Robert Croteau, and Lendon Gray for the lectures. Thank You to Hassler Dressage for donating their gorgeous facility. Thank you to Fair Hill Therapy Center for donating their time. Finally, thank you to Dressage4kids and all their supporters for making this program possible.

C4 Equestrian Ambassador

     I am exited to announce that I have been selected to be a C4 Equestrian Ambassador. C4 belt's mission is to promote individuality through quality fashion accessories that give back. C4 stands for Choose your Color, Choose your Cause. It is C4's goal to provide a unique shopping experience to individual thinkers who will leave looking cool on the outside, and feeling good on the inside. C4's belts are fun and easy to clean, plus the buckles/belts are interchangeable. C4 partners with four amazing charities each year who help the world in vastly different ways. With each online purchase, customers vote on how 10% of their purchase is given back. At the end of the year--all votes are tallied and donations are made based on the distribution of votes. Vist it their website to learn more at c4belts.com, also use the code KE3796 for 10% off your purchase!

Hampton Green Farm EDAP Clinic and Lendon Youth Dressage Festival Midwest

    This year was my third participating in the EDAP Clinic and Lendon Youth Dressage Festival Midwest held at Hampton Green Farm. Absolute and I really benefited from the clinic. Lendon helped us improve the flow of the movements in our tests, improve the expression in the trot half pass, improve the riding of our centerlines, and helped with the canter work. One of my favorite things about these clinics is hearing all of Lendon’s interesting stories and words of wisdom.

    

Day 1 of clinic

     The clinic and show had lots of great lectures. On the first day of the clinic we had a lunch lecture with Vanessa Gesierich-Voltman on horse shopping in Europe. One of the most important things I learned from the clinic is to find someone you know well and trust, and a person that knows the area of Europe you are shopping in. I hope to use this new found knowledge one day horse shopping in Europe. I also got to learn interesting new things about the shipment and quarantine processes. On the second day of the clinic we had a lunch lecture with Dr. Jeff Bunn on hooves. I gained more knowledge on how the hooves work, and on some unfortunate hoof problems such a laminitis and founder. I felt this lecture was very helpful to help me understand more what goes on in the hoof, especially because Absolute has problems in his front hooves. On the last day of the clinic we had a dinner lecture with Ken Braddock of Dressage-News.com. This was one of my favorites; it was a cool look into the world of high performance dressage. I loved hearing the experiences of being a journalist for all the top dressage events. I also enjoyed his opinion on youth dressage in America.

     The Youth Dressage Festival didn't go quite as well as the clinic but  Iworked through the bumps. Despite the down falls in the canter work I was very impressed with the progression absolute has made in the trot work and the scores showed. We placed 6th overall in our division with a 5th in equitation, and 4th in the written test. I am also honored to have been awarded the Sportsmanship Award. Plus I tied for first in the Turn out division. I was happy that my friend Nicole Gallant got the upper end of the tie and won the Turnout Award. Also new friend Katelyn Mosle was Overall grand champion, and friend Madelyn Guthrie was Reserve overall champion. Congrats to everyone who was successful at the show! 

Group picture after the awards ceremony 

   Finally I would like to thank all the people who made the EDAP Clinic and Youth Dressage Festival possible. Thank you to Kim Boyer for donating your gorgeous facility. Also, thank you to Fred Boyer for the wonderful healthy and delicious food. A big thank you to the organizers Marilyn Fahringer, Lyn Kendall, Joan Mack, Mary Herbst, and Jodey. Thank you to the judges, speakers, and commentators Marilyn Griffin, Bernadette Radke, Rhianna Pankhurst, Ken Braddock, Vanessa Gesierich-Voltman, Andrea Landis, Dr. Bunn, and Rosalind Kinstler. Finally, a big thank to Lendon Gray and Dressage4kids. Dressasge4kids, run by Lendon Gray, has many amazing programs like the EDAP Clinics and Youth Dressage Festivals. I strongly encourage you to visit their website and participate in their multiple youth programs. Another huge thank you for everyone who supported this year’s EDAP Clinic and Youth Dressage Festival, it is by far one of my favorite experiences of the year.

Starting The New Year

     Hello and welcome to my blog! Not anything extreme is happening up here in MI, except for the extremely cold temperatures. 2015 is just starting out and I know it will be a great year! Me and my horse, Absolute, are trying for a spot on the Region 2 team at NAJYRC. We also hope to participate in the Winter Intensive Training Program run by Dressage 4 Kids next winter. I knew when Lendon mentioned it at my first EDAP clinic, it was an experience I had to work for. This winter will be filled with hard work, training, and fundraising in order to achieve my goals for the year and years to come. Hopefully the weather will work in our favor! Hope everyone checks back frequently.