When I tell you that this “End Of The Season Celebration” will be like no 0ther before it, I can pretty much guarantee it, and here’s why.
My partner, Robert Ross, in conjunction with his office, Keller Williams Realty, is holding this Gala on the property of his latest listing, And are you ready for this? It is none other than the farm he helped build (in more ways than one), the former barn of Joe Zada. This amazing facility will be opened to the public for one evening, April 11th from 5:00pm-8:00pm and is located at 3410 Old Hampton Drive in Grand Prix Village directly adjacent to the Horse Show on Pierson Rd. in Wellington.
If you are thinking, what makes this party so different from countless others, let me explain. Yes, this barn/mansion for horses and people is for sale and one walk-through and you will be glad you came. And, of course, there will be cocktails and H’or Dourvers served throughout the evening. But even more important is the fact that Robert has chosen to make the celebration a benefit for not one but 3 causes near and dear to my heart and I trust yours.
There will be a silent auction of a very few super items that I know you will want to bid on and the money raised will go to the Equestrian Aid Foundation, which helps people in the horse world suffering from life-threatening illnesses or injuries.
The other 2 causes are our dear friends, Courtney King-Dye and Charlie Weaver, both of whom are recovering from very serious injuries and desperately need our help. So great is their need that I, who have not competed or worn my show clothes other than one time for another rider hospitalized in critical condition, will put back on my tails and perform a musical freestyle in honor and for the benefit of Courtney and Charlie. Now, I don’t put my white breeches on for the fun of it - I am looking for angels to come forward to “sponsor’ my exhibition, and I ain’t cheap, ya know! Seriously, I am hoping for as many people as possible to underwrite my performance for $5,000.00 for each of our two friends in need. Their hospital and other bills are astronomical, despite their insurance, so I am asking ( ok, begging ) for your generosity. This is most defintely a one time offer; you will not see me dressed up on a horse, dancing around to music again!

So PLEASE come out on April 11th. Come see this palace for horses (You can even buy it if you want), eat, drink, be merry, and support our most wonderful friends who need us more than ever.  Invitations and ads will be all over Wellington in the next couple of days

Cheers!

RD

Its spring, flowers are blooming, temperature is rising, and the earth is awakening from its winter slumber. The power of spring, which brings along a breath of new life, is enough to bring joy to anyone. Recreational gardeners can enjoy the bountiful colors of their flowers, home-improvers can work on those projects that the tedious weather prevented them from, and fisherman can go back to fishing; but spring is probably the best time of the year for all of us sports enthusiasts. It’s the season for runners to go finally get in their shoes and shorts, for the horseback rider spring means being able to take a ride without first bundling up, and to watch sports whenever we are not being active!

Sports are everywhere during spring, as it’s the start of baseball season, the time to fill out March Madness NCAA Brackets (mine’s totally busted), the time for us equestrian fans to make some Kentucky Derby Betting, and in 2010 only, the time to start getting hyped for the FIFA WORLD CUP .

The topic for today will be my World Cup predictions. I will talk about another sport on my next post.

As an avid soccer fan, I enjoy arguing and discussing anything related to soccer (so please leave some comments for us to debate).

Seeing as how only 7 countries have ever won the World Cup, it is not likely for a “dark-horse” to be crowned champion. With that in mind I quickly selected my favorites (Brazil, Spain, England, Argentina, and France). The strongest team, statistically, is Spain, closely followed by Brazil. England, Argentina, and France have amazing star-studded squads.

Argentina, as deep as they are, has one major defect…Maradona. The international star turned coach, simply does not have the temperament and hasn’t shown any mastery of the coaching position, and that will be Argentina’s downfall. Similarly France’s coach Raymond Domenech, seems to be too caught up playing favorites and not making the right calls for France to shine. England, a big favorite, is largely helped by Rooney’s stellar moment…which means that if Rooney underperforms one match, it may mean the end of England’s run in the World Cup.

This leaves Spain and Brazil. My money is on Brazil. While Spain is clearly in better form than Brazil, they have a huge target on their back. This means that every team will be playing their best against Spain, and this will leave Spain very fatigued if and when they reach the Final. Brazil will play this to their advantage and with their Joga Bonito and star power, I believe that Brazil will, for the sixth time, be World Champion.

Here is a bracket of my predictions….(just click the image to enlarge it)

Enjoy and please fill free to discuss and argue

Sydney Olympics

2000

After five wonderful days in L.A. with Ethelann we arrived at LAX to await a ten o’clock flight on New Zealand Air Lines. Aaron Ross, Robert’s father was also going to the Olympics. He took pictures of us and our boys, and later downloaded them to us.

After 18 hrs of travel & air time we arrived in beautiful Sydney. Naturally my suitcase was the one marked “heavy… Bend your knees to pick up!” New Zealand Airline’s seats are roomy & have movable parts that come around your head so you can sleep. They also have movable foot rests … How come USA airlines don’t? The service was exceptional as was the food. We knew we were back in the states when Delta served cold drinks & peanuts! Sydney is very beautiful & reminiscent of Miami with it’s magnificent harbors.

The AT&T hospitality center was located directly across from the opera house ( by water). If you look at the pictures it is the three story yellow building next to the lavender one. Robert had called us in L.A. to tell us to buy Monday’s U.S.A. Today, as he and three other Olympians were featured on the cover. No one could find any paper with such a picture … It was only shown in Sydney! Pic 4

Our first stop was an overnight stay at the “Kirketon Hotel”. We had arrived at 7:30 in the morning. It was Monday there …. What had happened to Sunday? We were assured we would get it back going home! To our surprise the young man who greeted our arrival was the same fellow we had seen on TV. In L.A. he is the chef “Katie Couric” was interviewing on “Good Morning America”. He couldn’t have been nicer. He brought us coffee & later helped bring our bags to our super modern ($500.00 a night) room.

Al came over with his duffel bag on his back. He had slept in a hostel for his first night, and was to room with us when we moved into our assigned hotel the next day. On his ride in from the airport he met a young artist who, along with his wife, took all but Herb on a walking trip of the Sydney harbor etc … His wife came along. They even had us up to see their apartment & his paintings. That evening Al, Herb & I dined at “Salt”, which is a restaurant in our hotel. Dinner for three had been 235.50 …. I felt a little better when we found out we were paying Australian prices … American was half! Al said he would rather sleep on an innertube then pay $500.00 a night, so he stayed in a hostel for $300, with a bathroom down the hall.

On the 26th. We started our ritual 2 hour & 20 minute ride to ” Hemsley Park Equestrian Center”… and it was pouring! As you can see we had on our AT&T hats & ponchos … Unfortunately they only reached to our knees, so from there down & underneath to the skin we were soaked. It stopped raining for the six minutes Robert rode. We were beaming when we waited for the award ceremony. His team received a bronze medal. Al ran around to the other side to take a picture of the presentation. A guard came up & said only press was allowed down near the arena. Al said.” o.k. you can arrest me after I take a picture of my brother. He just won a medal”.

Poor Al had to wear my back pack in front & his on his back! It was heavy for me empty! AT&T gave us identifying picture badges to wear around our neck. They got us free public transportation everywhere, & free lunch & dinner at the entertainment center. They also provided free use of their computers & web site, & last but not least free tickets to some other events. Al went to wrestling. I went to boxing with him. It was fun to see Cuba against Russia or the U.S.A. Al paid 12.00 dollars for the three of us to take the train, and I said “I think it is free with our badges ~ . ‘~Thanks for telling me now, mom”! He didn’t repeat that mistake.

The next Olympics, Al said, should have an event called “Taking Care of Your Parents”. I thought someone had cut my purse off! After alerting security & making everyone wild a sweet volunteer asked if I had looked in my seat … Of course there it was .. A nice man said he wondered why I had left it! It must have been the heat.

Dad had his day also. He left his backpack on the floor of a cab we had taken so he wouldn’t have to walk from the train to our hotel. Al made a mad dash after it, but it got away!. A Chinese man asked if I’d had the license number. I said no, so he gave it to us, but all the calls did not get it back.

Al & Lynne treated us to “New Zealand”, but that’s another story I promise to tell you.

Lendon tells me that Courtney is continuing to make steady and positive progress. This makes me so happy I just can’t tell you! Still, there is a very long road ahead which will require not only patience from all of us who love her, but any and all financial aid we can give since, as anyone who knows will attest, the expenses for someone in Courtney’s situation can be astronomical. To that end, a benefit online auction is being held and below you can read about it. PLEASE, do your best to help Courtney!  Thank you very much!

Online Painting Auction Benefits Olympic Rider Courtney King Dye’s Medical Fund On April 6th the highest bidder will win this original oil on canvas entitled “Pensive” by Patricia Powers, MFA, generously donated by best selling author Tami Hoag. With the help of Lendon Gray, Robert Dover, Kim Boyer, Maryanna Haymon and many more of Courtney’s friends and supporters, this auction promises to be a significant addition to the efforts made so far to help defray the mounting costs of helping Courtney recover from her serious brain injury, incurred on March 5th.The auction is being held at the Grey Dun Studio website, http://greydun.com and the current high bid will be posted there regularly until the auction ends on April 6th at midnight Easter Standard Time. The painting is in Wellington Florida, and the winner can arrange for pickup or shipping. The email address for bidding is greydun@greydun.com”Pensive” is 30 x 40″ inches, with a value of $5500.00, and does not need framing It has a gold and white background. Grey Dun Studio, Ms. Powers’ retail site, often holds auctions and raffles to benefit animal welfare, and all the pertinent information about the auction is available there. Contact Patricia Powers at 518 653 7708 for more information, 9AM to 9PM EST

There is just no denying that the Dutch have it going on these days and, once again, they have proven themselves unbeatable at the World Cup for Dressage. Only the Grand Prix for the Special was won by German, Matthias Alexander Rath who, with Sterntaler-Unicef  dominated the class with73.40%, clearly an upset for both Anky Van Grunsven with Salinero and Isabell Werth with Satchmo, both Gold Medalists. Ankyhad won bothtours just the week before in Dortmund with Salinero and Painted Black, achieving very high scores with both, and I believe she underestimated Salinero’s fitness and the strength of his “second wind” as she said he was quite wild in the very electric arena in Den Bosch.  That, however, was most definitely not the case in the Special where the two Olympic Champions, in their usual style, clearly fought back to be first and second respectively with a very small difference in scores between them.

But the real story has to be that the top 3 spots in the Grand Prix to the Freestyle as well as the Freestyle itself went to Dutch riders. While Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzivalwon the Grand Prix with a wopping 78.85% over the favorite, Edward Gal with Moorlands Totilas who. with tension caused mistakes “only” received 76.81% followed by Imke SchellekensBartels riding Hunter Douglas Sunrise with 74.89%, the best Isabell Werth could do with Warum Nicht FRH was a 4th place finish with 73.32%.  And the judges were very much on the same page which I like to see.

On the Freestyle today, however, Edward Gal, just like Anky and Isabellin the Special, proved he was not going to take the defeat in the Grand Prix laying down. Totilas bested 2nd placed Parzival by almost 7 percentage points, winning the class with 89.80% to Cornelissen’s 82.85%. Once again, Imke and Sunrise placed 3rd with82.15, showing that the Dutch have unparalleled strength at this time. These were the only 3 scores overr 80% this year as Isabell and Warum Nicht scored 79.75% for her 4th place.

So, what are we to take away from these results?  Obviously, Netherland’s machine is functioning at a very high level and I expect this will not soon or easily change, since the Dutch truly love Dressage and treat it like the real sport it is, with respect  and a huge amount of sponsorship.  Germany is already fighting back from its troubles of the last year and will most certainly be a string contender for a medal in Kentucky. Conspicuously absent from these Fianls were  participants from 3 countries; Great Britain, the United States, andCanada.  England, which bested Germany for the silver team medal at the European Championships last summer, though very strong, had none of their top riders trying for the World Cup this year. And in NorthAmerica, both the defending champion from last year’s World Cup, Steffen Peters with Ravel, and top placed Canadian, Ashley Holzer with Pop Art decided they would forego this year in order to better prepare for the World Equestrian Games this fall in Kentucky. Sadly for the sport, none of the other qualified North Americans decided to ride in Den Bosch either.

So, our next chance to see  the top combinations going head to head for medals will be this fall in Lexington, KY.  I am 100% positive that these World Equestrian Games are going to provide the very best competition we have ever seen, with record breaking scores to prove it.  And, while Holland seems invincible at the moment, the rest of the medals are up for grabs, in my opinion, and I for one, will be doing everything I possibly can , along with my riders, to bring one home to Canada for the first time since 1988.

Cheers

Calling all Canadians - Your team needs your support if they are to bring back medals this year and in the future. - am talking about the “Hall Of Fame Gala” benefit April 25th in Toronto.
This event is sure to be both very fun and elegant and most importantly, the profits go directly to our World Equestrian Dressage Team effort. For the price of one nice dinner for 2 people, you can buy a ticket which our team will definitely benefit from. Beyond that, you will be helping to honour the first ever inductees into the Dressage Hall of Fame.
There will be amazing silent and live auction items including a World Equestrian Games package, a sweet vacation package, and one month of free training sometime in the next year by me. (And, just so you know, I do not take any new clients other than Canadian Team riders)

So please order your tables or tickets today by going to the website as advertised to the right on this website’s front page. I truly hope you will all join me at the Gala and help our Canadian Team to bring back a medal from Kentucky!

Cheers!

RD

I cannot tell you how excited I am that we held the first conference call of the Take The Podium Fundraising Committee tonight. In taking on the job as Canada’s Coach/ Technical Advisor, I knew that right up with doing everything possible to produce a medal winning team for the World Equestrian Games, the goal of creating an extremely strong fundraising arm for our High Performance programs was vital to any future success. With that in mind, I began asking for names of people in the Canadian Dressage community with not only a strong sense of the sport, but equally as strong a sense of finance. After months of calls and in person meetings with individuals, I am very proud to announce the names of the Take The Podium Fundraising Committee, a totally autonomous entity which shall have as its mission, to raise money for High Performance Dressage programs and team-related competition expenses.

I am very grateful to the following members of this hugely important committee:

John Risley- Chair  

Robyn Eames

John Macpherson- Rider

Wendy Christoff- Rider

Wlater Shanly

Gary and Jeannie Vander Ploeg -Rider / Owner

RobertDover                                                                                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

We will be working very hard to produce funds through direct mailing as well as by holding benefits, the first of which we are planning for early September as our “Send-off To Kentucky” Gala. More to come about this unique, signature event in the next weeks, so stay tuned!  It’s going to be amazing - that I guarantee!

Cheers!

RD

Here is an official update on Courtney King’s condition from Lendon Grey. Lendon has been wonderful in keeping me and others posted on her progress and I thank her very much

An update on Courtney: She is still technically in a coma, although she sometimes responds to commands to move and even smile. She is being put in a special chair to allow her to sit up for periods of time. Tomorrow she will be flown in an air ambulance to The Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in W. Orange, NJ. This highly regarded facility is near her northern home and a large support group. Even better they are open to having her dogs and even a horse visit! This is the beginning of a long road of rehab although no one can tell us how long or how difficult that road will be. The address is 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ 07052. Cards and notes are welcome, no flowers yet please. Visitors will still be extremely restricted and in the future we will create a schedule for visitors. Anyone wanting to visit should contact me graydressage@optonline.net.Courtney’s family is extremely grateful for the outpouring of love shown through cards and email — comebackcourt@gmail.com. I have received such amazing support through my facebook page and want everyone to know that Betsy Tyler, Jen Baumert, Courtney’s parents, brothers, and sister have joined Jason at her side daily. There is a friendly face with her 24 hours a day.There have also been so many people generously helping with the finances. While insurance will cover most of her medical bills at this time, the generosity of others is helping with her two flights, the medical extras necessary, as well as some of her regular expenses like mortgage, car payments, etc.  We will make sure Courtney is always taken care of , but we appreciate those who are offering to help. There are various fundraising efforts: the first was done by  Charlotte Page and Brendan and Kaitlyn Tota. These children sold carrots and apples during the Palm Beach Dressage Derby right after Courtney’s accident.  Upcoming activities include a clinic that Stefan Peters is donating, an online auction of a Patricia Powers painting donated by Tami Hoag as well as a Succeed sponsored online ebay auction. Thank you all so much for your generosity. Any donations should be made to the Courtney King Trust, % Equine Business Institute, PO Box 28, S. Deerfield, MA 01373.Courtney’s horses are being cared for by her regular staff and Jenn Marchand, her long time assistant, is currently working them. They will be going north to her summer home in NY in a couple of weeks. All owners have decided to keep the horses fit and ready for Courtney’s return.Thank you everyone for your love, prayers, offers of help, and overall caring for Courtney

Lendon

I have two and only two words to say about American Idol this year - Crystal Bowersox!
From her first audition to tonight’s performance, for me she has stood miles above the rest of the singers. The fact that the only other name I actually remember this year from the group is “Big Mike” say volumes. Though I like Mike as well as the tall, long-haired guy, I think their voices, though marketable enough, are not the thing that stars are made of. Crystal, on the other hand, is pure, born to sing, talent. I actually think she just might be channeling Joplin, whose song she did tonight. She is way older than her years, a master of her craft as well as her life, even as she has obviously had her share of adversity to deal with. It is the hard times she has lived through that probably have given her voice as well as her personality a no B.S. kind of attitude, and I LOVE IT!

I only hope that America does not screw this one up like they already did by sending home the other quirky white-haired girl with a very good and distinct voice.

For me, Crystal is already the winner and I am 100% positive she will have a great future in the business.

Cheers!

RD

I absolutely love being at my condo in the Bentley Bay in South Miami Beach. I arrive here and immediately fall in love again with the views of the bay, ocean, and the Miami skyline. Life slows down for me when I’m here and get to lay on the beach, enjoy great dinners on Linclon Road or maybe take in a movie. Even walking my dog, Simon, along the bay while the waves lap along the edge of the docks makes my heart feel good. And I love watching the cruise ships leaving the port as they sail by our condo.

All in all, South Beach is like having a slice of South America mixed with New York City put together. And when I leave back for Wellington to go back to work, I feel rejuvenated and ready to get back to my horsey life. So it’s all good!

Cheers!

RD