Jacqueline Brooks Earns the Season’s First Custom Saddlery Most Valuable Rider Award at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival

Jacqueline Brooks, on D Niro, is presented with the Custom Saddlery Most Valuable Rider Award by April Leonard during week one of the 2015 Adequan Global Dressage Festival

Wellington, FL - “You have to enjoy every day. If you surround yourself with happy people, you will be happy.” Canadian rider Jacqueline Brooks said, sharing the secret to her success and her ability to deal with tough situations— especially in the show ring. Brooks competed in the Grand Prix Open division during week one of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. She rode the Swedish Warmblood D Niro (D Day x Alitalia), who has also competed in the Olympics and in the World Cup Finals. Custom Saddlery, the Official Saddle of the United Sates Dressage Team, recognized Brooks’s skill and dedication to the sport of dressage during the debut week of the show series. The popular saddle manufacturer awarded Brooks with the Custom Saddlery Most Valuable Rider (MVR) Award, which is presented to riders who exceed expectations in major competitions. Award recipients are competitors who portray excellent horsemanship, outstanding performances, exemplary sportsmanship, superb teamwork, and dedication to giving back to the sport and the equine community.

Brooks is a well-respected trainer, instructor, and coach as well as a competitor in dressage. She boasts about the great people and the fun she has in the equine community, which contribute to her plan for the Adequan Global Dressage Festival— “to enjoy the season.” “I’m actually planning to just be in there with D Niro, not worry so much about the score, make some changes where needed, and figure him out a little bit,” states Brooks. Seventeen-year-old D Niro showed slight sensitivity to the stormy weather during the first week of the show series, and Brooks looks forward to having quality rides that can help him through any tenseness in the ring despite the temperature changes from the pair’s native Canadian region to the southern states. Brooks’s “Most Valuable Rider” attitude inspired Custom Saddlery to award her with the Most Valuable Rider ribbon and a Custom Saddlery embroidered saddle pad.

Based out of Aiken, South Carolina, Custom Saddlery offers high quality, one-of-a-kind dressage saddles. In addition to unique saddles, the business provides professional saddle fitting services and saddle accessories such as stirrup leathers, girths, and saddle pads. For more information about Custom Saddlery, visit www.mysaddle.com or call 1-800-235-3865.