Rebecca Hart Honored to be Awarded Custom Saddlery’s Most Valuable Rider

The Adequan Global Dressage Festival at the Equestrian Village in Wellington, Florida is hosting seven weeks of CDI competition and two CPEDIs competitions over the course of three months in 2019. During these weeks, the AGDF will see riders from all over to prepare for the 2019 Pan American Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Adequan Global Dressage Festival awarded Rebecca Hart the Most Valuable Rider Award during the FEI Para Freestyle Grade III – CPEDI 3*. When asked what it meant to Rebecca to win the MVR Award, she said, “it was such an honor to receive the Most Valuable Rider Award. I didn’t expect it at all. We have so many new and good combinations right now and it was a very nice surprise!”

Rebecca Hart has been riding for twenty two years. After growing up in the city, Rebecca first became hooked on riding when coming home from a family vacation. Being a disabled child, she loved that horses were able to “take away” her disability, at least for a little while. They were a huge equalizer and helped her come to terms with being different and gave her an outlet for competitive sports that she so craved.

During the FEI Para Freestyle Grade III – CPEDI 3*, Rebecca took first place with 76.500%, 73.883% 75.500% and 75.278% scores. When asked how she prepared for the CPEDI 3*, Hart replied

“You always learn something new when you go down the centerline. I try to take all the experiences we have shared from previous competitions and just work to continue building a positive and happy relationship in the competition arena. We just keep adding tools to our tool box as El Corona Texel “Tex” and I have only been together for about a year and a half. It amazes me how quickly he has adapted to Para-Sport. I particularly loved riding this freestyle because the last time I rode it was at the World Equestrian Games for the silver medal. So hearing the music and going through the choreography with Tex let me relive that moment in Tryon a little. I always love freestyle day with Tex. He enjoys the music and has such great energy.”

In the future, Rebecca and Tex will be actively trying to qualify for Tokyo 2020. They will compete the rest of the season in Wellington and then spend some time in Europe this summer to gain more exposure with the European judges and riders. Custom Saddlery looks forward to seeing Rebecca’s future accomplishments and wish everyone the best of luck during the rest of the AGDF.