Winter 2011

Steffen Peters Symposium News

We are really excited that the Steffen Symposium is nearly here.   We know that there are many choices that you have to make on how to spend your time and money but this promises to be a very special event and we hope that as many of you will attend as possible.  It will be held December 17-18 at Valhalla Stables in Aubrey, TX starting at 9:00am.  Once again, this is the only Texas appearance for Steffen and we hope that everyone will take advantage of the opportunity to watch a trainer who is not only the most decorated competitor in US Dressage history but also coach to an impressive list of sought after trainers such as David Blake and riders such as 2011 NAJYR team Gold and individual Silver medalist Brandi Roenick to name just a few!  Our rider list is set and is filled with some of the top performing horse and rider duos in the region.

•    Marta Renilla and Presumido:  Marta and this PRE stallion won the 2011 Region 9 Open Grand Prix Championship.

•    Jacqueline Paxton and Dean:  Jacqueline is a NAYJRC Gold medalist and Dean earned the reserve championship in the HDS $10,000 Extreme Freestyle.

•    Rebekah Wesatzke and G Sharp: This duo earned the 2011 USDF/Region 9 Prix St George reserve Championship.

•    Lyndon Rife and Jago:  Lyndon and Jago earned the 2011 SWDC Fourth level open Championship and the USDF/Region 9 Fourth level reserve Championship.

•    Filling out levels third through Training level will be USDF Bronze medalist, junior rider Cassie Schmidt on Monet 30, USEF S Judge and USDF Gold medalist Sue Casey on Elle, and Lucy Sharp on Baron von Danzig.  All three of these horse and rider pairs are accomplished have won recognized competition classes at their respective levels with scores to 70% and beyond.

We will also host a silent auction to benefit US Team rider Courtney King Dye with wonderful products from: 

Back On Track, Succeed, GPA, Charles Owen, IRH, SmartPak, ThinLine, HorseTech, Oster, Professional Choice, KL Select, Dover, Goode Rider, Pro Kold , an NFL Football signed by Mr. Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys and many more wonderful items.   

Auditing fee includes seating and lunch, catered by Aviano Italian Restaurant, each day.  

A discounted rate of $40 per day is available to juniors who register early  

Championships Results

We finished out the year in great style at the USDF Region 9 and Southwest Dressage Championships in Houston earlier this November.  We had super show team and everyone did really well.  Some highlights include:

·     Lyndon Rife and Jago, owned by Tammy McGowen earned the SWDC Fourth level Open championship with a 69% and the USDF/Region 9 Fourth level open reserve championship with a 65%.

·      Sarah Hester and Austin Chase earned the SWDC AA Second level Championship, the USDF/Region AA Second level Reserve Championship, and the SWDC Bronze medal in the AA Third level.

·      Sue Malone Casey and Elle placed fifth with a 71.4% in the USDF/Region 9 Open Training level championship class and then went on to win four open first level classes with scores to 69%.

·       On Saturday we had a really fun day.  Amanda Hester and Herbie Hancock won the Training 3 junior class with a 66.8%, Mary Beth Henderson and Andreas won the Training 3 AA class with a 66.8%, and John Rees won the Training 3 Open class on Zigado with a 70.4%!

·      Nancy Foglia competed in the open competition training level classes where she won two classes and eared a second and third with scores to 67%.

·      Cassie Schmidt earned the SWDC Bronze medal in the SWDC Third level junior class on Riviera and won two third level classes with scores of 69 & 70% on her new partner Monet 30. 

·     John Rees competed both Zigado and Kelico with great success in the open training level classes with scores 70% and blue ribbons for each horse. 

Thanks to everyone for being such a super team!  Everyone supported each other and took time out to watch rides and award ceremonies and it was wonderful to be a part of it all.   Thanks to the Hester family who put together an incredible horse health basket for the HDS Battle of the Barns Silent auction.  It drew a top price and it looked really lovely.  We are really excited for the 2012 season with all of you.  If any of you have good pictures from the event please send them along.      

Carlos Torrell Clinic

In October we hosted a clinic with Spanish national champion Carlos Torrell.  It was an even that we had wanted to host for a long time but could never find a date.  Well it was truly worth the wait.  We enjoyed four days of Carlos insightful and enthusiastic instruction.  He worked with horses of all levels, breeds, and capabilities and riders of professional, junior, and amateurs of all levels as well.  We are very excited to announce that he will be coming back in February for another clinic.  Many of the spots are already committed but if you are interested in attending please let us know as soon as possible and we will try to accommodate you.    

New Additions 

We have several new additions to announce.  We are very happy to announce the completion of our full sized, outdoor dressage arena.  It is wonderful and we are really enjoying using it.  We hope to add some small schooling events to the 2012 calendar to get everyone ready for show season!   We also completed six stalls in the second barn.  They are really nice 12 x 12 stalls with doors that the horses can hang their heads out of.  We have also completed and additional grooming/wash stall in this barn. 

Last but not least we have our newest addition to the LTR Dressage family:  Simon Growl.   When I heard this French Bulldog puppy needed a new home I could not resist.  He has brought us a lot of joy in the two short weeks since we brought him home in a time when we really needed it!