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HGF is fielding 3 riders this year on HGF-owned or originated PRE horses--Junior Riders Rachel Chowanec and Chelsea Reed, and former Young Rider Champion/World Cup Rider Mica Mabragana.[nbsp]
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Sixteen year old Rachel Chowanec made her Florida International debut with double victories in the Junior Team and Individual tests at the Gold Coast Opener CDI last weekend on Lendon Gray's Embrujado XI. Scores of 63.063 and 65.395 were enough to top another very competitive and promising Junior Rider, Paula Matute, and her lovely Spanish stallion, owned by Deborah Williams. The two Junior riders, on their almost-matched gray PREs, were the talk of the show and their closely contested classes were the highlight of the weekend for many. Keep an eye this pair in the future!
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Embrujado XI is a 12 year old PRE gelding from Malaga, Spain, that HGF initially located for a client. A series of circumstances resulted in HGF's ownership of the horse in 2007 and the following year, Lendon Gray purchased him with her young student Rachel Chowanec in mind. The two have been together for a little over two years and have begun to bring home the rewards. In 2010, Rachel and "Mouse" were USEF Reserve National Dressage Seat Champions, finished in the top 15 at the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships in Lexington, and were Regional Champions at Junior Level for Region 8.[nbsp]
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In addition, Rachel was awarded Best Seat for the JR/YR Division this past weekend, an award hosted by Trilogy Saddles and determined by vote of the judges.
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In other news, Mica Mabragana did her first show with Idilio at the Wellington Classic Dressage Challenge on Jan. 15-16. They finished 6th in large Open national classes both days at the PSG and Inter I, with scores of 65.658 and 66.579. Mica has been training Idilio since the beginning of December and was delighted with this first time out together and a career-high Inter I score for Idilio in Florida. Their next show is the Wellington Classic Spring Challenge CDI, where they plan to do the international classes.
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HGF's third sponsored rider, Chelsea Reed, is the 15 year old daughter of Medieval Times' Tom and Megan Reed. She will make her first Wellington appearance also at the Classic Spring Challenge with HGF's chestnut dynamo Lentisco. Chelsea is a student of Lendon Gray's and at Lendon's Youth Festival in 2010, Chelsea and Lenny took First in two of their three classes.[nbsp]
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Stay tuned as the season progresses...
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