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Largest EDAP Clinic to Date at LYDF Midwest 2016
The last weekend in June is the annual Lendon Youth Dressage Festival at Hampton Green in Michigan. The show started six years ago and from the first year, it included a two-day Emerging Dressage Athlete clinic. These clinics--sponsored by Dressage4Kids, a 501C3 non-profit organization, have grown exponentially around the country as the most successful youth dressage program in the United States--over 200 riders will participate in one or more EDAP clinics in 2016. Hampton Green Farm's Michigan clinic was one of the first, and from it some prominent national riders have emerged including NAJYRC medalists and USEF National Champions. At this year's EDAP clinic, there were 15 riders whose applications were accepted for participation. Selection is based on criteria stated on the Dressage4Kids website and includes a video, test submission and a written application. The clinic stretched over three days and Lendon Gray was assisted by HGF resident trainer Maria Lithander to accommodate all the riders. Trainer Andrea Landis spoke to the group about fitness and cross-training, and Dr. Jane Bistline spoke about risk management to avoid the kinds of injuries that she treats most often in riders. All EDAP riders then competed in the Youth Festival--a three part competition consisting of a written exam, a dressage test and an equitation test. This year's Judge, Marilyn Griffin, judged all levels from Walk/Trot to Prix St. George, along with Stephanie Beamer who presided over a demanding Equitation Division. Saturday evening's special speaker was international Grand Prix rider Devon Kane, an inspiring and impressive young professional who described her journey from youth rider to US Nations Cup Team member. Her experiences from the early years of grooming and being a student, to competing with the top riders of the world, were eye-opening and instructional to all who attended. Devon is a funny, approachable, accomplished young woman who easily drew the admiration of the younger aspiring riders. Young Rider Kerrigan Gluch spoke on Sunday afternoon, telling her recent experiences while training and competing in Europe on the USEF Euro Tour. The weekend concluded with an awards ceremony, with top placings for those who excelled in the highy competitive environment. Results show that the youth riders who have consistently been a part of LYDF Midwest are improving and competing now with scores that wiill rank them with the best in the country. Our thanks to all the volunteers and parents who assisted this weekend, for the generous spirit of our sponsors and for our fantastic youth riders, from the littlest (6) all the way up to the seasoned FEI competitors. Full results available on the LYDF Midwest page on Facebook.
2015 in Review
HGF 2015: What a year it’s been! Spanish Reserve National Champion, Small Tour--Oxido NAJYRC Bronze Medal Individual Young Rider Freestyle--Vaquero HGF NAJYRC Gold Medal Junior Team--Iliado HGF NAJYRC Fourth Place Junior Individual--Iliado HGF USEF Reserve National Champion, Young Rider--Vaquero HGF CHIO Hagen Team Bronze Medal--Grandioso European Championship Team Fourth Place--Grandioso 5 International Grand Prix wins--Grandioso In 2015, the PRE horses of Hampton Green Farm have distinguished themselves in national championships on both sides of the Atlantic. Competing against the best horses of all breeds in Spain, the United States and Europe, Hampton Green Farm horses and riders have continued to prove that the PRE horse is relevant in high performance dressage. Youth Riders Kerrigan Gluch and Alexandra Meghi of Canada both brought home medals from the North American Junior Young Rider Championships, individually and in team contests. Iliado HGF was the highest FEI-ranked international horse in Canada for 2015, and 8 year old stallion Vaquero HGF, with Kerrigan, went on to become USEF Reserve National Young Rider Champions, in their first year competing at the Young Rider (Prix St. George) level. Jose Daniel Martin Dockx campaigned three horses for HGF in 2015, with resounding success. Ten year old Bolero debuted at Grand Prix, with respectable international scores in his first year, taking third place in the Freestyle at CDI Madrid, scoring over 70%, and ending the year with a national win in Sotogrande. At the Spanish National Dressage Championships, 9 year old Oxido was Reserve Champion of Spain at the Small Tour. Grandioso and Dani captured 5 CDI Grand Prix wins in 2015, including a big win in Wellington in January. They were an integral part of the effort to secure an Olympic berth for Spain at the European Championships in Aachen, with a stunning team finish of 4th place. And they finished the year with a satisfying sweep of the Madrid Horse Week Grand Prix, with scores that came close to their all-time highs. In Michigan in 2015, HGF’s breeding program produced 5 top-quality foals from sires Grandioso and Faralay II (of Ketcham Ranch). HGF riding staff, led by Maria Lithander, worked diligently over the summer preparing an exciting group of young horses for sales prospects in 2016. A full brother to Nicholas Fyffe’s Fiero HGF--4 year old Mejorano HGF, by Grandioso—was started in the summer and then traveled in the fall to Spain to begin training with Dani in Mijas. Six mares were covered for 2016 foals, by sires Camaron IX, Cuatrero IV, and Armas Charneco. Revision was held at HGF in the fall, and 3 year old Conocido HGF received outstanding marks from the ANCCE vet, with marks of 9 for movement and overall impression. HGF sponsored youth initiatives in 2015 through Lendon Gray’s Dressage4Kids foundation. The Winter Intensive Training (WIT) program was held at HGF in Wellington again, with 15 young riders who spent three months training with Lendon and others, and competing in the Florida circuit. HGF was also a sponsor of the Robert Dover Horsemastership Week in Wellington in January, hosting an 80s-themed fundraiser that brought out over 200 people and raised close to $5000.00 for the program. We also were title sponsors of the Florida International Youth Dressage Championships in March, and were pleased to see European youth rider participation for the first time in 2015. In June, HGF hosted the Michigan Emerging Dressage Athlete Clinic and the Lendon Youth Dressage Festival in Fruitport, bringing out the largest group of aspiring dressage riders to date for these events. In 2015 HGF continued to open its doors for local non-profits, with over 15 charities hosting events on our grounds in both Michigan and Florida. We have found that “a day with the horses” is a successful draw for raising awareness and funding for many worthwhile charitable organizations, and that helping with these events has become the high points of our calendar. HGF-bred horses received top honors with their riders/owners in 2015, including USDF All Breeds winners, Copa USPRE winners and USPRE Dressage Team members, a USEF Silver Stirrup winner, and a member of a national developing list. So another busy year comes to a close….with an even more exciting year ahead with the prospects of the Olympics in Rio. Four HGF horses will be competing with young riders in the Florida shows starting in January, and Dani will continue to develop Bolero and Oxido for the Grand Prix. A group of young HGF-bred horses will make the trip from Fruitport to the south of Spain in 2016 to begin our newest project of young prospects, and several more will be started here in the States for various purposes. Grandioso, in his final year of competition, will participate in select clinics and shows during the year at the direction of the RFHE for hopeful participation on the Spanish Team. HGF is more than locations and more than horses. Its is a community of hard-working and dedicated people who make all of this happen with success. We could not be who we are without our team. Our hats off to this wonderful family we call HGF: Joan, Jim, Martin, Norma, Francisco, Luis, Jaime, Gilberto, Dani, Mohamed, Kerrigan, Maria, Remi, Katja, and Sara. Our collective Best Wishes to all our friends for an exciting and rewarding 2016!
Kerrigan Gluch and Vaquero HGF: USEF Reserve National Young Rider Champions
At the USEF Festival of Champions in August at Lamplight Equestrian Center, long-time HGF working student Kerrigan Gluch and HGF's Vaquero were named USEF Reserve National Champion for Young Riders. In this first year together, and their first year at the Young Riders level, 18 year old Kerrigan and 8 year old Vaquero have made steady progress from national shows to international shows, to eventually a Bronze Medal at NAJYRC and now the Reserve National Championship. At Lamplight, Kerrigan was joined by both Lendon Gray and Oded Shimoni. Kerrigan is a product of Gray's Emerging Dressage Athlete and Winter Intensive Training programs, and Wellington-based Shimoni is her current trainer. Kerrigan and Vaquero were up against stiff competition, especially from 21 year old Catherine Chamberlain--a multiple NAJYRC medalist who was recently returned from the USEF European Tour--and Natalie Pai, ranked first nationally going into the competition. In the team test, Kerrigan narrowly edged out Catherine for the win, but the tables turned in the individual test. Kerrigan's scores of 69.298 and 68.289 gave them second place overall and the Reserve National Championship. Kerrigan and Vaquero's plans are to continue to compete this winter at the Young Rider level in the CDIs in Wellington, while working with Shimoni with the YR Grand Prix as an eventual goal.
Two HGF Horses Medal at NAJYRC 2015
This year, two Michigan-bred Hampton Green PREs competed in the NAJYRCs, the FEI Youth Dressage Championships for North America held annually in Lexington, KY. Alexandra Meghi with Iliado represented Team Ontario on Iliado II in the Junior Division, and Kerrigan Gluch with Vaquero HGF represented Region 2 in the Young Riders Division. Both pairs finished in the Top 5 of their division and both horses brought home a medal! One the first day, Alexandra and Iliado were the highest scoring pair for Team Ontario, which won the Gold Medal in the Junior Team Competition. The following day they finished 4thin the Individual Test. In the Young Rider Division, Kerrigan with Vaquero improved her standings every day—moving from 8th in the Team Competition, to 5th in the Individual, and finally taking her place on the podium with a Bronze Medal in the Freestyle. Alexandra is in her second year of Juniors with Iliado—a 2005 gray gelding by Idilio out of Ibiza. Trained by Tina Irwin of Ontario, the pair are ranked in the top 35 horses worldwide by the FEI world rankings for Juniors, having completed a very successful season in Wellington. Kerrigan, a long-time Working Student for HGF, is in her first year at Young Riders, as is 8 year old Vaquero, a gray stallion by Cuatrero IV out of Encina HGF (Idilio). Kerrigan is trained by Oded Shimoni of Wellington. Next stop for Kerrigan is the USEF Festival of Champions at Lamplight Equestrian Center in Chicago in August.
HGF at NAJYRC
Following a winter of competing in the international Junior Classes in Wellington, HGF Working Student Kerrigan Gluch was invited to represent Region 2 in the North American Junior Young Rider Championships in Kentucky with Lentisco XVIII. The pair joined several other of Lendon Gray’s WIT riders who qualified from various regions across the US and Canada, along with the rest of the top riders on the continent. One of these was Alexandra Meghji of Ontario, who competed for Canada on HGF-bred Iliado II, formerly owned by David Sonshein. Both young ladies had great results—Kerrigan finishing 8th in the Junior Individual Championship Class, and Alexandra taking the Bronze overall! The PRE horse has become very popular with the next generation of riders, who are finding that, due to the versatility of the breed, one horse can take a rider successfully from the Junior level to Young Riders and then on to Brentina Cup, as exemplified by Rachel Chowanec and Embrujado. There are several now in Lendon Gray's training program and more will be seen in the winter shows with their talented youth riders. Congratulations to Kerrigan and Alexandra for their job well done! Many thanks to Laurie Moore and Alexandra Meghji for the photos.
Back on Top! HGF-sponsored Rachel Chowanec and Embrujado XI are USEF Reserve National Champions for the Young Rider Division
It seems like only yesterday that a very shy 14 year-old arrived in Michigan from Connecticut to try out one of our horses. The little girl was Rachel Chowanec, a Lendon Gray student since she was 5 years old. The horse was Embrujado XI, an atypical PRE with behavioral issues that Lendon Gray couldn’t resist and had to own. All along, Gray had Rachel in mind for the imported gray gelding, and once again, she made the right call. Rachel took Embrujado (whom she quickly renamed “Mouse”) home with her to Connecticut, and the PRE with too much spook and too much bull-fighting instinct suddenly had pink wraps and ribbons in his long mane. It was the start of a transformation that has now taken this pair from nowhere to the National spotlight…twice! They first appeared in Gladstone in 2011 at the Junior Level, surprising many with their focused and technically accurate tests. That year they were Reserve National Champions for Junior Division. Rachel had clearly made a fundamental difference in Mouse’s life, but now we know they were only getting started. In the beginning of this year, Rachel and Mouse started along a rough road, with several small niggling injuries keeping them out of consistent competition. Their show record was sporadic, and fell short of a score to qualify for NAJYRCs. Over the summer, they attended Lendon Gray’s EDAP clinic in Maryland, as well as rode in her clinic at HGF in June. Rachel also schooled with Andrea Landis and Nicholas Fyffe over the summer with a number of her PRE projects. But their inability to show consistently this year kept them out of the top 12 for the USEF National Championships, although they were named as an alternate. Yet luck was on their side, and with only two weeks to go till the competition, Rachel received the official invitation to compete. They traveled to Kentucky not really feeling 100% prepared but very happy to be included. Again this year as in 2011, the harmony of their partnership along with the technical accuracy of their tests brought them straight up to the top of the ranking. They were up against the 2013 NAJYRC Gold Medalist and yet by the second day, the gap was closing. Scoring 65.474 in the Team Test, and 67.237 in the Individual, Rachel and Mouse took the USEF Reserve National Championships again as Young Riders. Rachel’s achievements with Embrujado represent the highest national recognition that a PRE has reached in the United States to date, and she says they have more in store. We can’t wait to see where it goes from here!
Spring News at HGF
The Wellington Season has officially ended, and all the horses here will have the month of May off to rest and enjoy the breezy warm days. Our young riders posted another winning season: Kerrigan Gluch won 6 of her 9 Junior classes with Cuatrero, establishing strong averages toward the Region 2 NAJYRC classification. She also placed 4th in the Florida Youth Championships with Lentisco. Rachel Chowanec and Embrujado received scores to 67.8 in both Young Riders and Prix St. George at the big shows with many firsts, and re-introduced Idolo Americano to the showring with a high score of 71.9 at Third Level. Congratulations and nice work to both young women who worked very hard this season in the barn as well as the arena. In Michigan, Sandie Talbot and her staff are getting ready for the mares to foal and the stallions to return. HGF is expecting a large group of foals this year, by stallions Cuatrero IV and Camaron IX out of our Marin Garcia brood mares along with those of our other featured performance lines. With new ANCCE Revision guidelines stipulating that all presented stock be past their 3rd birthday, all remaining 2010 stock will be presented for Revision in the fall. Spring cleaning is finally starting, and the farm is recovering from a particularly long and wet Michigan winter this year. We have a full slate of charity events planned for summer 2013, as well as lots of work for the students--horses to start, Lendon Gray clinics, the LYDF Midwest, Dressage at Waterloo and more. In Spain, Daniel Martin Dockx and Grandioso, along with other Spanish competitors, are headed next to CDI4* Treffen at the Glock Horse Performance Center in Austria, the weekend of 15-19 May. We will inform as to live coverage of this show.
Meet Mica Mabragana
Mica Mabragana, 24 years old from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is our resident rider this winter in Wellington. Mica has spent the last five years in New Yord as a working student for Lendon Gray and has accomplished quite a bit in those five years. She is a USDF Certified instructor (Training through 4th level), and a USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold medalist. She represented Argentina at the NAJYRC 2007 on Ballywhim Ardan Mor and at the Young Rider World Cup 2007 in Germany on Granada, Oded Shimoni's recent mount for Israel at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. Mica has won several CDI classes as a Young Rider and in 2010 made her Grand Prix debut. At the Region 8 Championships, Mica was the Grand Prix Reserve Champion on Nexus. This winter Mica will be riding HGF's Idilio II, with sites on qualification for the Pan American Games next year, and along with Lendon Gray will continue the schooling of Cuatrero, Grandioso's younger brother who had been in training with Courtney until last spring. We welcome Mica and her clients to HGF
Hampton Green Farm's IDILIO II and Mica Mabragana Invited to Represent Argentina at the Pan American Games
We have just received word that the Federacion Ecuestre Argentina has invited Mica Mabragana and Idilio II to represent Argentina at the upcoming Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Mica took over the training of Idilio last December, and competed him for qualifying scores in the International Pan Am qualifiers in Wellington this past winter. The pair maintained a consistent and respectable average against a high standard of performance among American and Canadian contenders. Long-time protegee of Lendon Gray, 25 year old Mica has represented Argentina as a young rider in both the NAJYRCs and in the Young Rider World Cup in Germany in 2007. This was Mica's first year to show at the international levels in Wellington, and she has begun to be noticed for her quiet, correct and effective riding. Idilio II is a foundation breeding stallion for Hampton Green Farm. At sixteen years old, Idilio was one of the first PRE stallions to compete successfully in Wellington at the FEI levels, which he has done for the past 8 years. He is also a highly successful breeding stallion, sire to many winning young dressage horses in the United States including Idolo Americano (2003), Champion US Bred Stallion, Devon 2007, Region II Second Level Champion 2010 and Icono HGF (2006), owned by Martin Schaudt, who has earned top placings and winnings in several large FEI Five-Year Old classes in Germany this summer. All of us at HGF are very proud of Mica, and happy to see our beloved stallion achieve this distinction at this point in his long career.