Dressage News Notes - Brought to You by Mary Phelps, a Markel Equine Insurance Specialist

 

The race is on for a spot at the FEI/WBFSH World Breeding Championships in Verden, Germany with the Markel/USEF Western Selection Trial about to be held at this Weekend's Dressage at Flintridge CDI*. Heather Blitz has decided to turn down a grant from the USEF for European Training - check out why. Two clones of Ulla Salzgeber's Rusty were unveiled this past week - on in France and the other is here in the good old USA! Eurodressage.com has a feature article of the importance of allowing your horse's spirit to shine through the dressage training for the ultimate performance. The Florida Horse Park has received $2 million from the state to start moving forward with the renovations to become an "Internationally Recognized Destination". Like it or not, the barefot revolution continues to take hold and a highly recognized vet held a talk about the subject - check out what she had to say.{C}Busy, busy weekend! The Markel/USEF Selection Trial will take place this  Weekend at the Dressage at Flintridge CDI*/Y/J in Flintridge, CA. Also in California, we have the Dressage Derby I and II in Vacaville. Heading up the west coast Washington has the 18th Annual Spokane Sport Horse Spring Dressage Show in Spokane and the Fort Vancouver Dressage in Ridgefield. The mid section of the U.S. will host the Horses Unlimited Dressage Challenge 1 and 2 in Albuquerque, NM. Texas has the GSEC Diamond Classic I and II in Katy. The mid-west has the Silverwood Dressage May II in Camp Lake, WI and the Bara Trac I Dressage in Mason City, IA. Up north we have the Beland Stables Spring Dressage in Lakeville, MA, the Dressage at Saratoga I and II in Saratoga Springs, NY, the ESDCTA Memorial Weekend Dressage in Allentown, NJ and the Dressage at Heavenly Waters in Bellaire, MD. The south rounds out this week with the Chattahoochee Hills Dressage in Fairburn, GA, the Mayday Dressage in Aiken, SC and Kentucky has the KDA Spring Warm-Up Show and KDA 27th Annual Dressage Show in Lexington.

The Dressage at Flintridge CDI*/Y/J competition will take place this weekend on May 23 - 26, 2013 in Flintridge, CA. All eyes will focus on the Markel/USEF Young Horse Western Selection Trial which is one of only two selection trails in the nation. The youngsters will have to shine to earn one of the coveted, once in a lifetime spots for this summer's FEI/WBFSH World Breeding Championships in Verden, Germany! Read more about who will be going for a spot and more about the Dressage at Flintridge CDI here!

After being offered the wonderful award of a USEF European Training Grant by the USEF, Heather Blitz has decided to decline the opprotunity to allow herself time to focus on her new training center in Medfield, MA. After Heather spent last summer training in Great Britain and with 2013 being a non-championship year, she felt it best to stay state side and concentrate on building her business and filling request for clinics from across the country. Read more about her new facility at Cutler Farm and see what her future plans include.

Despite being a gelding, Ulla Salzgeber's famous partner Rusty has reproduced himself - literally! Two clones, created by France's Cryozootech, have emerged one the scene. One of the colts (Rusty Clone #1) resides in Sonchamp, France at the Cryozootech's facilities and the other colt (Rusty Clone #2) is at Puntaci Farm in Gainesville, TX. See the photos of the two "Rustys", check out the possible plans and catch up on other cloning news of other equine superstars! Read More Here!

Susan Warne has written an article for Eurodressage.com about classically training your dressage horse and the neccessary element of keeping the spirit alive for optimum performance. It is unfortunate when you see that talented "10" horse lose his sparkle and become a more common "6". The spirit can be lost in many ways and the article ask some high perfomance judges what will ensure that the spirit intact horse with brilliance and expression will win over the technically correct robot. Read more on the insightful piece and keep in mind what is so vital to the training of our dressage PARTNERS...

The Florida Horse Park in Ocala was just awarded a $2 million dollar grant by the state of Florida to help in the park's quest to become a "internationally recognized destination" for equine events. While the total buildout of the park is expected to range from $60-$70 million the promis of state money shows commitment from Florida and will likely help attract more local donations and investors to step in and join the vision. Read more about what the park hopes to do to become the venue to attract the money they need!

The barefoot debate continues even while more proponents for the trend emerge. Debra Taylor, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine gave a presentation at the 2013 Western Veterinary Conference, held Feb. 17-21 in Las Vegas, Nev. speaking of the ups and downs of going barefoot. Her talk discussed what the benefits are, are they worth it and can any horse go barefoot. Read the details of the talk here and take in the information to help you decide if this is right for your horse...

 

Mary Phelps (mary@horsesdaily.com) is a Markel Equine Insurance Specialist and CSR Tracey Scharf (tracey@horsesdaily.com) provide the personal attention needed to help make the lives of their clients smooth and easy when it comes to the process of insuring your Farm, business and equine mortality needs. While Mary travels to the shows and barns, you can count on Tracey in the office to be available to answer questions and manage the details with ease. 1-800-572-3286.