After a wonderful radio show with JAR and Sari last night ( If you didn’t get to hear it live, it’s up right here on DoversWorld.com by clicking the track bars under my picture.) and another private conversation with JAR today, I felt uplifted by the amazing things they and their “Project Arrowhead” are doing for people and horses.  We chatted about how much our lives actually have in common, although he was a “real Motown Star” and I’m just a Dressage rider/trainer who feels a responsibility to give back.  JAR’s singing talent and name have opened doors for him and his causes all around the world.  We are both “idea people” who come up with a seemingly constant stream of new possibilities for making our world a kinder, better place.  The hard part is taking that energy, harnessing it, and then directing it with the help of many others so that it results in true and meaningful change.

That’s why I love Ellen as well as the show, Glee!  Both are using God-given talent as well as hard work and focused energy to change the minds of the masses around the world.  And it is obvious by how much each are loved that our world truly is moving forward.  But, even as we see this progress; even as we celebrated the legalization of Gay Marriage in New York and other states, look what happened in California, certainly one of the most progressive states in the country.  Well over 60% of Americans believe that Gays should be allowed to marry ( about the same number that wishes Obama’s Job’s bill would be signed into law and that we have to take climate change seriously) and yet right- wing, fear/hate based extremists will do anything to prevent people like me from enjoying the same rights they and all Americans should have.  Even today, the so-called ” New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms” are rejoicing in having found one judge who is allowing an attempt to challenge New York’s Marriage Equality Act by saying that elected officials met privately to discuss the issue without the public being invited in prior to the vote which finally moved us closer to a country which treats all its citizens with equal respect.  But here’s the thing - We will win our constitutional rights in EVERY SINGLE STATE in this country, no matter how long we have to fight, because it is what America is great for.

  I say that even as I am ashamed of the bill to allow the slaughter of horses again in America, a place where we do not allow the consumption of horse meat if for no other reason then they are given drugs which contaminate that meat.  The truth is that, other than dogs, no animal has done more for mankind and changed civilizati0n then the horse.  So, when someone says that this is the lesser of two evils, since horses were being auctioned off, transported in horrible conditions to Mexico and Canada where they experienced even more dreadful slaughter houses, I say that we should have shut down such transport and made deals with Canada and Mexico to make illegal the slaughter of horses!  Period!

JAR and I agree that there is a tidal wave of people who want to save our world and the people and animals in it.  And yet there are very vocal minorities who still don’t believe in Global Warming, Equal Rights for all Americans, the need to protect all of the animals, wild and domesticated for consumption, sport, service or as pets, or our responsibility to prevent kids from being hurt, abused, neglected, subjected to gang violence, drugs and disease.  Because that would require the funds coming from a government which they believe is too large and regulated already.  They don’t get that it was the very act of deregulating which caused the huge companies to write sub-prime mortgages, causing the near collapse of our economy.  Proper regulation is absolutely necessary, lest we be ruled forever by the 1 percent at the top of the wage scale and not by what is right and good for all 100 percent of our population and the animals and plants which share the land with us and for which we are supposed to be responsible caretakers.  Everything is inter-connected…..EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE!  When we think we are not is when we believe in the false assumption that bad things happening elsewhere will not affect us.  But I feel it at my core that the smallest injustice or loss somewhere else finally finds its way to me here, sitting in my home, wishing for people everywhere to “GET IT”.  Even if we don’t, the universe will correct itself, whether that means the eventual end of civilization as we know it.  Still, I am a huge optimist and I hope and believe that we will “GET IT!”

Cheers!

RD

Rarely do I feel an immediate kinship with those I have never met or even spoken to, but that is most definitely the case with my special guests tomorrow evening on “Dover’s World” on WBZT(AM1230. Clear Channel) in the Palm Beaches and LIVE AROUND THE WORLD right here at DoversWorld.com from 6:05 to 8pm EST.  I received a wonderful letter from Sari Hewlett-Pacheco who lives in Texas and has created a special partnership with her long-time friend, Jean Albert Renaud ( JAR), through their mutual love  and desire to make the world a better place for kids and horses alike.  Here’s just a small part of their amazing story:

JAR is a former Motown artist who has written hits for Lou Rawls, Emir Deodato, Teddy Pendegrass and others.  He toured with The Jackson Five, Sly and the Family Stone, The Platters, Redd Foxx, Jackie “Moms” Mabley and The Four Tops to name a few. Although many in such a situation would revel in their own importance, JAR felt the hollowness of an industry that often places little value upon people beyond their net worth and latest hit.  So within site of the pinnacle, he walked away……

But let me tell you, this amazing artist has done anything but fade away!  He has not only become an activist to help stop the AIDS epidemic and created a beautiful CD called “Choices”, highlighting his love of horses ( JAR has been an endurance rider for many years.) as well as his thoughts on LOVE, FREEDOM and the need to “PROTECT YOURSELF!”

JAR and Sari have also come together to create “Project Arrowhead” (projectarrowhead,org) through the 501-C3, Protect Yourself 1, Inc.  Its mission is to target youth living in disadvantaged areas, and uses horses/Mustang as a vehicle to get the attention of the general public.  They understand that at-risk youth and Mustangs face the same challenges: extreme aggressiveness, fear, malnutrition, exposure to diseases, and have to face survival on a daily basis with these handicaps. 

I know that, as my friends and readers, this story must resonate in your hearts as it has in mine, so PLEASE tune in tomorrow evening and call in with your questions and to show your support for this fabulous duo at 561-844-6167  or toll-free from anywhere to 1-800-889-0267.  In the meantime, take a look at www.JeanAlbertRenaud.com, www.ProtectYourself1.org, and projectarrowhead.org.  This is going to be an amazing show so do not miss it!

Cheers!

RD

I was very worried that k my Mom would not be well enough to come up to our best friend, Ron’s, for Thanksgiving here in Welington this afternoon.  But thank God and modern medicine, for she was up to the trip and my sister, Dale, brought the three of them for what turned out to be a wonderful dinner among Ron’s family, mine and other great friends. 

The truth is that I looked at this Thanksgiving with very mixed emotions and tried very hard not to become emotional during the party.  My Dad’s Alzheimer’s has progressed a lot in the last year (He’s turning 88 December 21st.) but other than pulling out his wallet to pay for dinner 7 or 8 times, he looked and acted fine for a  person his age.  Life is such that it is time now for my Dad to need assisted living, especially because my Mom’s health has also declined from cancer and she just can’t take the stress anymore.  In other words, my fear is that this could likely be the last Thanksgiving in which the picture below could be taken again.  I thank God for this evening though and will never forget its importance and the love I feel for my family and friends.  I don’t know if you can understand this; The story of my life is being written way faster than I wish and though I keep trying to find ways of slowing it down, it seems more and more like the proverbial stone rolling down the hill, speeding up with every second that it falls.  I am very glad that I have this photograph in which time, for the split second, stands still.

Mom, Dad, Dale, Robert and me -Thanksgiving 2011

Cheers!

RD

It’s the day before Thanksgiving and everybody is already trying to give us a big push toward the Christmas holidays so we will buy, buy, buy!  I’ve got a lot on my mind beyond my usual business and projects, but I don’t want to forget a few important things.  So here it goes.

I am thankful for and send my love to all my family and friends everywhere and wish them eveything wonderful.

I thank God that Sjef came through his surgery and will be his usual pain in tha ass self again very soon.

I am thankful that my friend, Dr. Heather Houck, is back to work (for selfish reasons too) and hope that her wonderful horse, Tacolando, will have a long and successful career under his new owner/rider, Andreas Helgestrand

I am thankful that Robert, the love of my life, has stuck with me going on 25 years and hope we will finally be married next summer in Fire Island.

I am thankful for the animals in my life, especially Simon and HGF Fiero

I am thankful that I get to wake up every day to a life full of beauty and adventure and I would not trade even the most difficult challenges in my life for another existence.  We truly define ourselves not when everything is going perfectly, but when things are rough.  Life is AMAZING and I give thanks for mine every single day!

Love,

Robert

Last night my Mom gave away a family trade secret on International Radio - my Aunt Tillie’s famous Thanksgiving stuffing recipe.  By the time she finished, I was salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs, only to find out that Mom had forgotten several ingredients on the air.  I am convinced that Aunt Tillie was guarding her recipe, lest it get into the wrong hands and used as leverage on a national level or something.  But this morning Mom e-mailed me the recipe along with a note to put it up for my readers and “Dover’s World” listeners.  Here’s her message.

Morning Robert:
 Aunt Tillie would be turning over in her grave if you don’t put this
correct version of her stuffing on your web site because I left out some very
important ingredients.  The stuffing is as follows:
for typical family of two adults and two children and a few relatives, this will
fill them but for more people, double it:
 - seven slices of toasted white bread crumbled into a big bowl
 - two eggs, mix them up into the loosely crumbled bread
- meanwhile in a skillet or saute pan, brown one large chopped onion in
schmaltz, or butter, or the oil of your choice;  add one stalk of diced celery
or two if the celery is small, add one large diced carrot and a cut up
chicken/turkey liver (optional) 
 - season with salt pepper and a little garlic while cooking
- mix the sauteed ingredients in the bowl with your bread/eggs
- add in one can of cream style corn
- put into pyrex baking dish and sprinkle with paprika and bake for 45 minutes
to an hour, until the top is brown, at 350 degrees.
I wish you all a healthy and happy Thanksgiving.
Love, Mom

I also want to wish everyone a very happy, healthy Thanksgiving.  Giving thanks and giving back to others  are top priorities in my life.  Even when life is not so easy and we face obstacles, the love we share with each other now and throughout the year is what is important.

Cheers!

RD

I posted on Facebook that “I am looking forward to and expecting the immediate resignation of each and every member of the “Super-Committee”.  If they were a team on “The Apprentice”, I dare say they would be brought into Trump’s office, subjected to a tirade from the boss ( who I can’t stand either), and unceremoniously FIRED!  I don’t care which party they are from - they were given a task to save our nation and failed miserably.  They do not deserve to say “Sorry, but we couldn’t come to an agreement” and still think they could keep their jobs in Congress.

Basically, the entire Congress is a huge joke in which members from both sides have done nothing but assign blame to the other side while our nation suffered from its inability to act on our behalf.  Do they just not hear that close to 70% of Americans want the rich of our country to be appropriately taxed?  Even the richest of the rich have agreed that raising their taxes is the right thing to do.  What the BLEEP!!

Much of Obama’s Jobs Bill has, in the past, been proposed by a majority of Republicans, but they are so set against doing anything which might make him look good enough to be re-elected, they will simply let America tank to ensure he is a one-term President.  These are the people we want representing our states?  

 The worst thing the Democrats have done is be terrible at getting their message to the American people as to all the things this President HAS DONE!  I firmly believe President Obama has done everything possible to prevent what would have been a full-blown depression after Bush took us from  Clinton’s huge surplus to his own equally huge deficit, creating the near total collapse of our economy.  Obama has ended to two wars begun in the Bush years, created a health-care plan that no President was able to get through before him, ensuring forty million Americans presently uninsured will be covered.  His Job Bill would put America back to work in jobs of the 21st century and re-build our infrastructure which is a shambles.  The list goes on and on.

For now, I could not be more ashamed of our Congress, especially the Super-Committee, which is anything but SUPER!  They need to go BYE-BYE!

RD

I can’t wait for my radio show, “Dover’s World”, this Tuesday evening, November 22nd from 6:05pm to 8pm EST on WBZT (AM1230, Clear Channel) in the Palm Beaches and LIVE AROUND THE WORLD right here at DoversWorld.com.  My first Special Guest has designed the clothes for and dressed stars from around the world as well as FOUR President’s wives, including Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Reagan!  And now Alfred Fiandaca, with stores in Manhattan as well as on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, Florida, is also designing for Dressage rider and wife of Republican candidate for President, Mit Romney, Anne Romney.  I musttell you that. despite the fact that I am at polar opposites from her husband’s political views (nowadays, anyway), I really have enjoyed my time spent with both of them while out in L.A. training Jan and Amy Ebeling on Anne’s horses.  They are very kind people and Anne is extremely elegant at all times, thanks in part to Alfred, who I hear she adores.  And how can you not fall in love with this “FABULOUS” gentleman who, though small in stature, is a giant in his industry and could give any designer half his age a run for their money and win!  Alfred has stories galore and kept me laughing from Palm Beach to New York by way of Philly (That’s another story!) and I can’t wait to ask him questions about the famous people he designed (and designs) for as well as his “socialite” stories of which there are enough for 10 radio shows and then some!  If you know Alfred Fiandaca or just want to ask him the kind of questions we all love to hear answers about, call in from 6:15pm to 7pm EST to 561-844-6167 or toll-free from anywhere to 1-800-889-0267.  Alfred and I would LOVE to hear fromYOU!

If that’s not enough to get you tuned in, get ready for this - My 2ndhour of “Dover’s World” is going to be devoted to everyone who, 4 years ago this week, found out that the person we all believed to be our great friend and very wealthy business tycoon who was investing our money and guaranteeing we would live like kings and queens as a result of his efforts, ended up being a “minnie- Madoff”.                             ” The Joe Zada Ponsi Scheme - four years later!”

I will be talking to fire fighters and police who lost everything, as well as others who were more lucky like Robert and I and were able to dig our way back out, but none without having our lives changed forever in so many ways.  This is going to be an emotional and yet important show for those who were taken advantage of and for those of you out there who think something like this could never happen to you.  Tune in and call in at the numbers provided above.  I promise it’s going to be quite a discussion!  And who knows, maybe Zada will be listening from his cave somewhere and find a dime to call in to tell everyone his side of the story.  Wouldn’t we all love that?!

Cheers!

RD

Recently, I was asked to comment on the USDF proposal for a National Championships at all levels to begin in 2013 and be held annually in Lexington, Kentucky.  My first thought was that if it takes place, it will have been exactly 30 years since I competed on Romantico in the Insilco USDF National Championships at the Grand Prix level.  It was a huge thing for me back then to make the trip to Omaha, Nebraska, and most certainly was a wonderful experience and a great show.  But it was also the only competition like it at the time and many of us made it our priority to attend and contest the championship.

The question is:  Would such a National Championship still be viable in light of the many shows around the country, especially the many CDI’s in California and Florida?  As it is, the Regional Championships around the country are not always well attended by the very best combinations at each level.  People these days choose their shows by what they feel they will achieve by attending, whether that means coming to Florida so they can train with top trainers and move up the levels while competing at great shows against most of the best combinations.  When one lives in an environment where the standard is high, one tends to rise to the occasion and this is why we see so many top riders and horses in Southern California and Florida each winter.  It is my opinion that holding a USDF National Championships in Lexington would be fine provided that the grass-roots riders as well as the sponsors would support it.  But I have my doubts that many of the top combinations from California, Boston, Maine or even Florida would decide to make the long trip to Lexington to compete in a First or Second Level Championships in November. 

Now, here is another thought - What if the USDF partnered with the USEF to hold the National Championships for all levels, including Ponies, Junior/Young Rider, Young Horse, and the FEI levels including the Intermediaire 1 and Grand Prix Championships for both organizations?  Think of what a week of competition that would be and how many people would want to be a part of it, whether riders, owners, sponsors, vendors and spectators!  Many times the selection trials for International Team events have been held in conjunction with the USEF National Championships, but in recent years the quality of the competition has only been strong at the level of the Team being decided upon.  Even this year, though the Intermediaire Championships were very strong because it was the final selection trials for the Pan American Games, other than Steffen Peters and Ravel being there, the Grand Prix as well as the Junior/Young Rider classes were not up to the level they could have been.  And there was a lack of spectators throughout the week and not a lot of electricity or atmosphere.  Selection Trials change from year to year as they should, both as to their dates and their locations, depending upon where and when the International Championships will be contested in that year.  That is another reason why an annual USDF/USEF National Championships held each November in Lexington would become a top traditional “must-attend” competition in America.  If Dressage at Devon were made one of the final qualifiers for the Championships, it would even have the bi-product of bringing back Devon’s relevance, a problem I have written about but now would be solved in a way I never thought of before.

So there you have it - my opinion on a USDF National Championships.  Standing alone, I believe the idea is nice but will flounder.  Partnered with a USEF Championships I think it could become a real success and flourish!  That’s how I see it from my angle.

Cheers!

RD

Every day of our lives we are dealing with transitions, whether they are related to our lives as Equestrians or as “Civilians”.  The truth is that the art of making those transitions happen with grace and fluidity is really that which determines the degree of  joy and ease versus pain and chaos we feel.  Naturally, those transitions which bring a greater amount of stress in our lives are harder to manage with the grace I refer to, especially when we are extremely emotionally attached with the outcome of action to change. 

And so it is that now is the time in my life when big transitions and small ones are upon me to deal with, hopefully all with an element of grace I would so much wish to exhibit.  Knowing there are people who I love and who love me in return is a huge advantage as is learning from watching my wonderful friends who have taught me by way of  their example what it means to exhibit that grace under pressure.  The circle of life is full of millions of transitions - change is one of the only true certainties we can count on.  In the end, how we perceive the changes we must deal with is finally what defines their effect on our lives and who we believe we are as people. 

My intention is to accept transitions in my life exactly as I try daily to train my horses to do so - with harmony, confidence that the outcome will be, if not immediately, eventually the right one, and the grace of understanding that it is all part of the adventure of life.

Cheers!

RD

I was saddened with the news of a fire last night which, though bravely fought by 300 fire-fighters from all around Long Island, swept through a large portion of the main part of the town’s center.  Below is the report from The Huff Post.  My thoughts and Robert’s are with the owners as well as those who’s offices, shops and home were destroyed.