Lendon Gray’s Dressage4Kids Atlanta Youth Festival Heads to Georgia International Horse Park

 

Bedford, NY – The 5th Annual Atlanta Youth Festival will be held October 29, 2017 at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Georgia.

Lendon’s Youth Dressage Festival started in 1999 as an individual and team competition for riders from ages 4 through 21. The Festival showcases the abilities of youth riders and provides a setting for kids to learn and to have fun. Division championships feature a three-phased competition: a written test, an individual dressage test, and a group equitation ride.

Each phase counts equally towards the final score so that the most well-rounded young riders have an opportunity to win (and not just the riders on the fanciest horses). The goal is to encourage riders to not just become better riders, but to also become better horsemen and horsewomen. In addition to the three-phase competition, participants must also volunteer for at least 1 hour during the Festival.

There are now two additional Festivals held annually, at Hampton Green Farm in Fruitport, Michigan and at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Georgia (home of the 1996 Olympic Games).

Show manager Liz Molloy, owner and operator of Taramia Riding School in Cumming, Georgia, is passionate about developing riders. After bringing a United States Pony Club team to the Dressage4Kids Youth Dressage Festival Midwest in 2012, Molloy knew she wanted to start a Festival in Georgia and so the Atlanta Youth Festival was inaugurated in 2013.

Now in its 5 th year, the Atlanta Youth Festival will be held October 29, 2017 at the Georgia International Horse Park. Divisions offered are Introductory through Fourth, FEI

Children’s, FEI Pony, FEI Junior and FEI Young Rider. Additional fun competitions include the Turn Out Inspection, Team Competition, Stall Decorating Contest, Leadline Class, Musical Freestyle Class, and Cover Art Contest.

The Atlanta Youth Festival is preceded by a Dressage4Kids TEAM Program Clinic on October 27-28, 2017. TEAM stands for Training, Education, and Mentoring and is for dedicated, determined young dressage riders of all levels, ages 25 and under. The goal of the program is to find, to help to educate, and to be part of the development of talented youth to become the international riders, teachers, and trainers of the future.

TEAM Clinics include private riding lessons, lectures, and demonstrations. The educational lectures and demonstrations for the Atlanta TEAM Clinic will include Pilates instruction, a demo and discussion of the FEI Children’s Test, a presentation by Sports Psychologist Cheryl Williams, a panel discussion, and Turn Out Inspections by United States Pony Club (USPC) South Region Horse Management Judges Jenna Temple and Jenny Galbraith. The Equitation Judge will be Keli Gambrill and the Dressage Judge will be Susanne Lauda, USDF L graduate.

The Festivals offer truly unique experiences – designed specifically for youth riders to promote their development in Dressage and good horsemanship all while having fun! If you are in the Atlanta area from October 27-29, 2017, stop by the Georgia International Horse Park and support our youth Dressage riders. Auditing is free of charge.

For more information regarding the Atlanta Youth Festival, contact Show Manager Liz

Molloy at 770-634- 4089 or at MissLiz@TaramiaRidingSchool.com. For more information regarding Dressage4Kids, contact Mary Livernois at mary_herbst@hotmail.com.