|
American
Dressage News
Four Advanced American Young Riders Selected for
European Program
 Four
advanced young dressage riders have been selected for
the 2002 Advanced Young Rider European Training/Education
Program, a joint project of The Dressage Foundation
and the United States Dressage Federation, Inc. (USDF).
An independent selection committee chose Gwen Poulin
(FL), Joanne Chmiel (IL), Brandilee Hilbert (NY) and
Amanda Johnson (IA) to make the second trip to Europe
for this program. Kathryn Fleming (IL) and Bridget DiPasquale
(CA) are the first and second alternates, respectively.
The group will be led by Olympic medallist Michael Poulin
and Heather Bender, both from Florida. A Board Member
of The Dressage Foundation who is also an original benefactor
for this program, has made a donation to pay for the
travel expenses of the two adult chaperones on this
year's trip.
Through generous support from The Dressage Foundation's
Captain Andrew de Szinay Fund, the group will be traveling
to Belgium to Judy deWinter's Dressage Stables, where
they will observe a variety of horses in training at
various levels. The group will also travel to Germany
in July to observe the training of Jean Bemelsman, a
top German trainer and Grand Prix coach. The group will
then attend the FEI European Young Rider Championships
in Italy to see their peers in action before returning
home.
While traveling, the young riders will record their
observations in writing and provide photos for daily
uploading to a special website developed just for the
trip, which was donated through The Dressage Foundation
by Krista Kotlarz and her company, CyberNET Engineering,
Grand Rapids, Michigan. Access to the website will be
through the USDF (www.usdf.org)
and The Dressage Foundation (www.dressagefoundation.org)
websites, allowing riders worldwide to learn from the
virtual journey.
"The dedicated and conscientious independent selection
committee was very impressed with the quality of the
candidates," stated John Boomer, President and CEO of
The Dressage Foundation. "They had a very hard job narrowing
the candidates down to just four. However, basing their
decisions on essays, competition scores, recommendations
and commitment, the committee has selected a wonderful
group of young riders."
For more information on this program, please contact
Sheila Forbes at the United States Dressage Federation,
220 Lexington Green Circle, Suite 510, Lexington, KY
40503; 859/971-2277 or John Boomer at The Dressage Foundation,
130 N. 10th St., Lincoln, NE 68508; 402/434-8585.
Related Links
American Young Riders
Inspired by European Training
Image copyrighted: Mary
Phelps
|
