Dressage News Notes - May 25, 2010

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This week on DressageDaily News Notes: A busy show schedule with links for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. A Massachusetts woman who started riding at 50 and is still going strong at 71, and was featured in the local news. Gigi Stetler, owner of RV Sales of Broward, recently prevailed in her protest against Equestrian Show Holdings LLC. Horse shot by crossbow in England was cared for by her pasture mates before help arrived. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is coming to Kentucky during the WEG, and FEI President HRH Princess Haya recently called for a more rational risk-based approach to international trade requirements for the transportation of competition horses.

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It’s a big show weekend in the northeastern part of the country. In Allentown, New Jersey there will be the Eastern States Dressage and Combined Training Memorial Weekend show (www.centerlineevents.com). And, northward in Saratoga Springs, New York, the popular Dressage at Saratoga will take place at the historic Saratoga Racetrack (www.enydcta.org). And, Beland Stables Spring Dressage will be in Lakeville, Mass. (www.belandstables.com). It’s a holiday weekend and the kick-off to summer and there are plenty of shows in other parts of the U.S. as well. Dressage at Flintridge will take place in Flintridge, Calif. with the Western Markel/USEF Young Horse Selection Trial (www.flintridgeridingclub.org). In Lexington, Kentucky, the KDA Spring Warm-up Show and KDA 24th Annual Dressage Show will serve as prep events for the upcoming WEG (859-351-4137). Spindletop Arabian Horse Spring Show will be in Katy, Texas (www.spindletoparabianshorseclub.com). Fort Vancouver Dressage will be in Ridgefield, Washington (360-281-6550). Missouri Dressage Classic will take place in Fulton, Missouri (www.cdcta.org). Dressage in the Plains will be in Peyton, Colorado (www.sunprairiestable.com). Tennessean Dressage will be in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (www.tndressage.com). Bara Trac I Dressage will be held in Mason City, Iowa (www.dressageshowinfo.com). Silverwood Dressage May II will be in Camp Lake, Wisconsin (www.silverwoodfarm.net). The 15th Annual Spokane Sport Horse Spring Dressage will be in Spokane, Washington (www.spokanesporthorse.com). Horses Unlimited Dressage Challenge will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico (www.nmds.us). The Dressage Derby will be in Vacaville, California (www.christianenoelting.com). NED Marshall Memorial Show will be in Grand Junction, Colorado. May Day Dressage will be in Aiken, South Carolina (www.carolinadressage.com).

Betsy Keohane proves again that one is never too old to ride dressage. Keohane, 73, was recently featured in the Westwood Press of Westwood, Mass. The mother of four didn’t take up riding until she was 50 and once she started, she hasn’t stopped. She rides nearly every day at Sugar Ridge Farm where she boards her partner and best friend, Marley, a 21-year-old Irish Sporthorse. It’s perhaps fitting that she has that breed considering that it was during a family trip to Ireland nearly 30 years ago that she first discovered her love for horses. She and Marley have been partners since he was nine and she spends every morning riding him, grooming him, and Betsy says, “grooming him again.” Betsy makes clear she has no intention to give up her passion, not as long as she can sit on a horse. You can read more about Betsy and Marley’s special relationship at www.wickedlocal.com/westwood/news.

British press were reporting this past week on a mare named Zeta that was shot twice with a crossbow while in her paddock but survived with the help of four pasture mates. Both The Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk) and The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk) reported that after the mare, a competitor in dressage and show jumping, was shot, her friends gathered around her and kept the wound clean by licking it. It was nearly three hours after the incident that a neighbor saw the horse down and called owner Jo Young. "They kept the wound clean which would have prevented it from being infected by bacteria. It also helped to stem the blood flow. There was definitely a herd instinct kicking in among the horses. They knew Zeta was in need and they rallied round to save her,” Jo said. "I received a call saying one of my horses was hurt. I rushed to the field and saw Zeta with a bloody gash in her side. The other horses were standing right next to Zeta and they all had flecks of blood on their muzzles.” Zeta is now recovering.

If you like classical music and horses, here’s the perfect mix for you – the Alltech/FEI World Equestrian Games and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s reported that Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel, a 29-year-old current star in classical music, will conduct the prestigious orchestra at Centre College's Norton Center for the Arts on Sept. 27, during the WEG. The only other United States appearance by the Vienna orchestra with Dudamel will be Sept. 30 at New York's Carnegie Hall, the final concert in a series of three Vienna Philharmonic performances that will open the legendary venue's 2010-11 season. If you want tickets, call 1-877-448-7469 or visiting the Norton Center box office.
And speaking of the WEG, volunteers are still needed. Organizers are trying to get 10,000 volunteers. For more information, go to www.alltechfeigames.com.

FEI President HRH Princess Haya recently called for a more rational risk-based approach to international trade requirements for the transportation of competition horses. Speaking to some of the world’s top animal health government officials at the 78th OIE General Assembly in Paris on Sunday 23 May, the FEI President acknowledged the need for sanitary measures such as required testing and quarantine periods, but called for these measures to be applied in a reasoned manner and proportional to the risk of disease-spread when transporting international sport horses. The FEI President highlighted the high health status of competition horses and called on the OIE to take decisions on importation requirements for equines based on a fair assessment of risk and consistent decision making. She stressed that lengthy delays at border posts are not acceptable and are a clear contradiction of the principles of fairness and good welfare. Read more at www.horsesdaily.com.

Gigi Stetler, owner of RV Sales of Broward, recently prevailed in her protest against Equestrian Show Holdings LLC, over trespassing charges alleged to have occurred at the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. Stetler and RV Sales of Broward have been a longtime sponsor at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, and have had a standing sponsorship contract since 1992. In 2010, however, the Winter Equestrian Festival chose not to renew Stetler's sponsorship contract after securing her confidential client list under the ruse they were getting in line to prepare files for the 2010 show year.

According to Stetler, she was on the show grounds at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center as a "spectator, exhibitor and participant of the horse show," the weekend of February 12-14, 2010 and had an enjoyable show. Then on February 16, 2010, she received a cryptic email letter advising her that she was not permitted on any of the show grounds and should she come on the grounds she would be arrested for trespassing. This warning was sent on behalf of property owners, not the show Licensee, and was not defined in time and scope. After attempting to rectify the problem head-on with the property owners and getting nothing but delay and inattention, Stetler filed a protest with the USEF for the horse show refusing her entries and not allowing her on the show grounds. On March 24, 2010, Stetler was given a full day hearing, with all parties in attendance, with the USEF Hearing Committee in Lexington, Kentucky, and on May 17, 2010, the USEF made a unanimous decision in Stetler's favor. Read more at www.horsesdaily.com