Today was day 1 of my 3-day clinic for , Young Riders, Developing combinations and members of our WEG Team going to Kentucky later this month.  Everyone did a great job and I was generally impressed with the riders and their horses.  Tony and Robyn Eames, along with their daughter, team rider, Belinda Trussell, generously donated he use of their fabulous facility and Wendy Hoehne graciously assured everything ran smoothly and all attending were fed and happy.

I’m also staying in the amazing home of Robyn and Tony as well as their beautiful golden labs, one of which you can see enjoying herself in the stream which runs if front of the home.  This evening we celebrated Belinda’s 39th birthday with family and friends. Hard to believe we’re both 39! :)      

Cheers!

RD

Judge, Joan McCartney stands for finalsalute from Esmee Ingham

Wendy Christoff, reserve rider for this years WEG Team has been very busy managing and putting on a wonderful competition for Canadian Junior riders. The show took place on August 27-29 and was a huge success again.  Below is Wendy’s report and tomorrow I’ll add some great pictures taken during the weekend.  I want to congratulate all the riders and commend Wendy and her fantastic volunteer group which has done so much for Canada’s youth!

The show is about kids with horses…all ages and all levels. Our mission statement is “To provide young riders, 21 years and under, the opportunity to participate in a dressage competition that is exclusively their own, in an environment that provides a fair playing field for junior riders of different age groups wherein each will compete against his/her peer group at all levels of skill, from beginners to advanced” .

In 2004 when our committee put on our first show we were told it would never fly as there are not enough youth riders to make a show pay for itself. We hoped we would get 50 riders and we had over 70 entries with over 70% of them riding in the Bronze show and the rest in the Gold show. Now – seven years later we are maxed out at 115 riders with more than 70% of them competing in the gold show and the rest in the bronze. We have a very large FEI youth division and this year with both the Nationals and the gold show we had 20 FEI competitors.  Competitors came from all over BC, Alberta, and Washington state.

Our show is successful because it is all about kids and we have unique prizes and activities that go on all weekend long. Some of the prizes have been saddles, Konig boots, bridles, tack trunks, bicycles, and complete outfits for main prizes and a huge variety of other prizes such as bridle bags, garment bags, boot bags etc all with our lovely logo.

Activities have  included interactive fire safety skills for the barn ( the kids got to try to hold a fire hose!); Rising Stars fashion show where the teams created outfits made from garbage bags and duct tape; education sessions such as proper helmet fitting; saddle fitting; judges perspectives on riding the levels and critical movements in a test; dressage rules and what they mean. Each year we have new and different activities for the kids and they all attend.

This year we felt we were big enough and had enough sponsors to host the Dressage Canada Youth National Championships. This is an annual show that is bid on by show organizers across the country and this is the first time for it to be in BC. We are proud to boast that we had the most number of competitors with 16 declared and qualified horse/rider combinations. This is the largest entry since the show was started in Ottawa six years ago  with all four categories having entries ( 4  FEI Children ; 2 FEI Pony; 6 FEI Jr; and 4 Young Riders).

For some of the kids it was their first time riding in front of a panel of three FEI judges and is a milestone in their riding careers. Our riders impressed the judges and the scores reflected it. Joan McCartney wrote “I was soooooo impressed by your show; the organization and the number and caliber of your riders, especially the focus of your Jrs. It is little wonder that BC is producing all these talented juniors.” Jayne Ayers wrote” GREAT show! Thank you for inviting me” Rosina Franco said she was so impressed with the horses and caliber of riding, especially in the freestyles and she had to keep reminding herself that she was judging kids.

All in all it was a terrific show. Riders in all three shows, Nationals, Gold and Bronze were recognized in out parade of Champions with the spectator seating overfull from proud parents, grandparents, friends and fellow competitors . We pass the torch on to the next organizing committee for the DCYNC as we turn our Rising Stars energies towards a Can-Am challenge in 2011.

All the Best,

Wendy Christoff & Susan Holtby

Managers

Rising Stars

I’m now up here in Canada and ready to begin teaching Young Riders as well as out WEG Team Riders tomorrow and just found out that we are still over 100 tickets short of our goal for the “Send-Off To Kentucky” benefit on September 12th.  Now, I know that many times people wait until the last minute before buying their tickets to these kind of functions but, my Canadian friends, now you’re really starting to make me nervous!

Coming to this event is about having a great time, meeting and showing your support for our team, and providing incredibly vital funding for future programs for everyone from our Juniors through our Elite International combinations.  So here’s the thing. If we do not produce this much needed funding through events like this, how do you suppose we are to create the long-term, sustainable programs which can rival those of countries such as Holland, Germany, Great Britain and even the United States?  To me, this whole thing is such a “no-brainer” that I am just dumbfounded when I’m told we’re still not sold out!  I feel like I keep jumping up and down to try to get people as excited as I am about Canada’s future in Dressage, but for some reason so many of you don;t want to hop on the band-wagon.  I have to say, if you are all content with the results you’ve had for the past 22 years, there’s not much I can do about it in the end , other than to remind you that then you can’t complain about anything including mediocre results.  But if you are serious about becoming a “World Power” in our sport, all I can say is GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

PLEASE, go to the top of this page and click on the banner for the “Send-Off To Kentucky” benefit today and purchase your tickets and tables so that our Team and all the kids and adults hoping to one day represent Canada have world-class programs in place starting in 2011. In the end, you’ll be proud you helped make a difference and I’ll stop having to go back to my hair colourist so often!  Thank You!!!

Cheers!

RD

Don’t you just love when one of these kids come along like the little girl on America’s Got Talent and just blows you away with a voice that could only be being channelled from a deceased former star through an act of God! Such a gift of genius which springs out so naturally and seemingly without effort literally makes me cry when I experience it every single time. It must be like flying on one’s own if you’re that person.

But that does not in any way mean that even these tiny proteges will not make the same if not bigger sacrifices throughout their lives for their “gift”. I think probably the opposite is more true - the child is so focused on their art or sport that they forego a normal childhood in the pursuit of perfection. Just watching shows like “So You Think You Can Dance” or the documentary, “Every Little Step” and you see the tremendous sacrifices these young people have made for the love of their art. Even those who are totally natural talents show the bruises, both physical and emotional, that come with the territory.

It is the same for riders- or at least it should be. No matter how gifted a young person or adult is who has come to me for training, I have always been determined that they understand and live the life of the “complete horsemaster”, not just be a good or even great rider. They have to love it enough to make the hard sacrifices which I believe 99% of the “Greats” all made to become who they were or are. Sometime, I feel that riders today just don’t feel the need for sacrifice, but honestly, I have little interest in those people when it comes right down to it. I want to feel the passion from my students ansd see their ongoing commitment which makes them push beyond their wildest dreams to achieve what they never believed possible. And I don’t want to hear whining about it. Katherine Bateson, who some very nasty people have written unkind things about since she made her first WEG Team two weeks ago, has sacrificed more than most people could imagine to train with me and I can tell you that she never complained once in 16 years, dispite having probably more than enough reason to do so on countless occasions.

Genius, Talent, Determination, Sacrifice, Work, Focus, Intelligence, Luck and LOVE! All words which relate to the road toward perfecting one’s art.

Cheers!

RD

THE 1990 WORLD EQUESTRIAM GAMES

Stockholm, Sweden

Here is one of many pictures of beautiful Stockholm.

Since the 2010 World Equestrian Games are upon us I thought it would be fun to write about the few that I & Herb attended.

One of the most exciting parts of being Robert’s parents is that we got to see countries we would never have had a chance to visit. As with every Olympics, we were thrilled to be going to Stockholm, Sweden for the 1990 World Equestrian Games. Robert would be riding Waltzertakt owned by Walter and Mary Anne McPhail. The rest of the team was made up of Betsy Steiner on Unanimous, Marie Meyers on Demitrius, and Carol Lavel on Gifted.

When we reached our hotel we had to wait for our room to be ready. We sat down in the lobby and began chatting with a lovely young lady. She said her name was Mary Phelps. She told us she was a sports photographer. Mary became a life long friend, and saw me through many tense moments when Robert rode. Herb invited us into the dining room and we had our first taste of truly great smoked salmon. The difference between what we eat here and what they serve there is amazing. She is still a famous photographer of sporting events. Now we are praying for her speedy recovery from a terrible accident.

Stockholm is a lovely city with its antiquity, fountains, beautiful seaport, with ships in docks.

Here is a picture of an old side street still in cobblestone.

One day we had time to visit the Vasamuseet Nautical Museum. It was very impressive. There was a authentic old sailing ship. The crew you see are carved out of wood.

One more thing Stockholm is noted for is its handsome men and beautiful women. The people are very friendly and they didn’t mind answering questions like “how to get somewhere” or “what does that sign mean?”.

Stockholm, being on the water, fresh fish was abundant. One night Herb & I were strolling from our hotel and we saw a sailing ship that was converted to a restaurant. It was called Eriks Fixk Restaurant & Ostronbar. We went in. It was very nautical and lovely inside. We were seated where we could see the water. Portions aren’t large as they are all over America. I liked that, and our fish was delicious. I don’t drink, but Herb had a Scotch. Our bill was $200 American money!

The most unusual restaurant I have ever been in was called The Shrimp Boat. We walked in to see rows of tables. Between each row and going around the end was a waterway flowing around like the real thing. The waitress came up to take our order and she explained that it would be delivered via sailboat on the water. I thought, wouldn’t it be fun and profitable to have a restaurant like that in Florida. After all, every parent and especially grandparents, would definitely want to take their darlings to eat there. Well it never happened back home. Building a restaurant and running it are very different from visiting one. I am so sorry I didn’t have my camera with me that night.

Here is a picture of Herb buying a hot dog for 20 American dollars. Notice no plate or French fries. I had a 30 dollar hamburger on a bun. During the show I became very thirsty and went to a nearby stand to get a glass of water. I got a funny look, but was handed small cup with warm water in it. 8.00 please! I said “do you have any ice?” She answered “No, it is too warm for ice!)

Robert’s memories of the ride are as follow:

“I believe we placed 6th as a team. I was unable to work my horse for a week before the jog because he had strained a tendon. He was very difficult to get into the arena at all, no less have a good test. But he was good enough to make it to the 2nd round of the Special as I recall. I was after a break and the band was playing and they were watering the green fiber-sand arena with huge fire hoses when I arrived to enter the oval and I could not get him to go in. So I turned him around and backed him in and then swung him around and began cantering forward so he couldn’t stop. I think he had somewhere around 65%.”

Here is a picture of the dressage arena at the games. We were very impressed when Queen Beatrice and her Consort drove by in their carriage.

I always make an album of each event but unfortunately I didn’t write what each building and area was.

Hope you enjoyed my memories of Stockholm. Next will be the 1994 World Equestrian Games in The Hague in Holland.

My good friend, Oded, sent me a link without telling me what it was of. When I clicked it and watched the “cartoon”, I wasn’t sure what to think of it and frankly, I’m still not sure.  Normally, I would simply throw it in the trash bin; however, it does show just how far people and technology will go.  So, for that alone, but most definitely not to agree in any way with the message it is giving, I am enclosing the link for you to view.

 Cheers!

RD

Well, it’s been a fantastic couple of weeks in which I spent a lot of time either in Miami Beach or Fire Island and dealt with the purchasing of our new homes and one more thing which I can’t tell you about quite yet. but which I’m equally excited about.  So, with that all on its way, I am on my way to Toronto for a week of doing clinics for young and developing combinations as well as members of our WEG Team.  The clinic will be at the farm of Team rider, Belinda Trussell and the show is the Ontario Championships where some of our Team combinations will ride as a warm-up for the Games next month.

I’ll be up there until the 5th, September, but I will bring my laptop with me so I can do updates and post from wherever I am. I will only be home from the 6th to the 14th of  September when I meet the team at Kathy Priest’s farm in Lexington for our final training camp in preparation for the WEG’s.  The Games start on the 25th with the Dressage taking place on the 27th, 28th, 30th and 1st. I will depart for home from Kentucky on the 2nd, October and hope very much that the Canadian Team will have had a great show there!  And what’s next for RD?  I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see, won’t we.

Cheers!

RD

I guess I’ve been pretty bad about keeping you all informed on what’s going on with things and people in my life and since I know you also care about some of them, I’ll bring you up to date.

Guenter is at a show in L.A. where he called me from yesterday to give me a well-deserved “reading down” for being out of touch for the last week.  We always speak at least once a week and he was worried about me.  I LOVE GUENTER!  Anyway, he is actually getting around without any crutches now which is amazing in such a short period of time, and he is teaching and I’m sure driving everyone crazy. :)  He will fly back to Germany at the end of the year to have the screws and plate removed by the surgeon who put them in.  And after a couple of weeks, he’ll be back and ready to slowly resume his riding career, thank God!

I had a lot of fun texting back and forth with Courtney during the trials for the WEG’s. I have to tell you that if you only read her messages, you would never think anything could be at all wrong with her.  Courtney has an amazing sense of humour though and this as well as her Olympic spirit and determination will most definitely bring her back to the competitive saddle one day. Of that I am certain!  OH, and LOVE COURTNEY TOO!

My best friends, Josh and Ron, are both busy as every with their respective jobs.  Josh is one of the most successful Realtors in Manhattan and Ron is producing a new documentary that is going to win all the awards, guaranteed!  And guess what - I LOVE !THEM BOTH !

My Mom and Dad are hanging in though each continues their daily battle with Cancer and Altzheimers.  My brother and sisters are all well and my nieces are both in love. My Mom can’t wait to become a great grandmother!  Love ‘em all!

Robert Ross continues to amaze me with his immense talent in real-estate and we are buying 2 new homes, one here in the Polo Club and one in Fire Island for summers. LOVE  HIM MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF!

Simon is the sweetest, cutest, schnoodle in the entire universe!  He only wants to be loved by everyone and every dog. I’d say he is universally LOVED!

So, generally speaking, life is great and I am blessed beyond words. Well, maybe there are four words that would sum everything up:

                                             LOVE TO YOU ALL!

RD

So here’s the thing.  I, like every American and truly most people around the world, stood horrified by the downing of the Twin Towers and the mass murder of thousands of innocent people, among them Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Atheists and yes, even Muslims.  Is there a legitimate fear of Islamic Extremists and for that matter, Extremists of any culture who would use terror as an their M.O.?  Absolutely!

But that does not in any way allow us to heap all people of any religious faith into a category and call them terrorists or anti-American.  Now let’s talk about this big deal of building a mosque 2 blocks from ground 0.  We’re not talking about hallowed ground here, folks.  I live in New York and I can tell you that area is repleat with office buildings to sex shops and everything in between.  If this were about someone wanting to build a Church or Synagogue there, you wouldn’t have heard a word about it, but all over America, bigoted and racist people are marching in the streets to prevent the building of mosques in their neighbourhoods and this is just plain “un-American!”  After all, other than Native Americans who we’ve generally treated like shit, all the rest of us came here from other nations and every cultural and religious background in the world to go after the American Dream.  That is what makes me so proud to be an American and to have represented this great country in 6 Olympics.  We absolutely need to fight true terrorism everywhere in the world and protect the United States as our President is so effectively doing.  But we are the land of FREEDOM and EQUALITY FOR ALL CITIZENS!  And that includes our Americans of the Muslim faith, so if they want to build a house of worship in the neighbourhood down in the financial district, I say “GOD BLESS!”

Cheers!

RD

I am very happy and excited to report that Robert and I have finally found a new home and are closing on it on Tuesday. It is much smaller than our previous home, but is still in the Polo Club and sits nicely on the lake and overlooks the polo fields and steeplechase course as well. And I think it will be a lot of fun because I get to completely gut it and pretty much start from scratch. The ceilings need to be vaulted, new floors, doors and windows throughout, and a brand new kitchen and new bathrooms and closets all have to be built. I am counting on some of my good friends with great taste to guide me to the best deals so I can stay within my budget as promised to my boyfriend, Robert, when we made the deal.
OK, so I know that’s going to be the hardest part, but I’m determined to bring this puppy in on time and at or under budget! Wanna take any bets right now on the outcome?

Cheers!

RD