What’s happening at Betsy Steiner Dressage?

Open House - May 2009

February

Betsy and Titaan competed in their first Prix St. George at the Wellington Dressage Classic.  He looked very handsome in his beautiful new saddle pad from University of Findlay.  Titaan was a bit overwhelmed the first day of the show but by his second Prix St. George he was acting like a pro and ended up 4^th in his class with a 66%.  Yeah Titaan!!  It has been so amazing to watch his transformation from timid 4 year old to beautiful, mature FEI horse.

Betsy also acted as a Celebrity Judge for a dog show sponsored by ShoClothes during the Wellington Dressage Classic Show.  Dogs were judged on Best Dressage Movement, Best Trick and Best Costume.  There was a great turn-out and the competition was very tough.  BSD’s own Pucci wanted to participate so she asked our Pilates instructor Kim Langford to take her for a spin around the ring.  Their cowgirl costumes were a hit!!   

We are very excited about the finalization of our plans to move to a new barn in New Jersey.  This summer we will be located at Betsy Steiner Dressage at Buxton Farm on Pittstown Road in Frenchtown.  This is a beautiful new barn with state of the art facilities and footing, plenty of turnouts and a large and airy indoor arena.  We are looking forward to hosting Dressage Retreats and educational opportunities as well as offering in house training and boarding.  We will be offering several different options for training and board which we will be detailing on the website so please check back with us to find out more.  

Betsy traveled back to New Jersey on February 19 – 22  for a clinic at Heather Mason’s Flying Change Farm, the next day at June Brody’s beautiful farm and then on to Jason and Heidi  Lemack's Rhythm and Blues Farm.  Betsy held an Equilates class on the 20^th in the evening with over 30 people attending participants were led by Betsy through a sampling of Equilates exercises, designed to benefit riders in both strengthening and stretching of muscles.

January

Betsy and Joli Burrell’s Fino were very honored to participate in a Professional’s Symosium given by Hubertus Schmidt and hosted by DressageClinic.com.  Betsy and Fino did a fabulous job and were of course our favorite combination of the evening clinic! You can watch the symosium on DressageClinic.com  

The same weekend Betsy also rode Findlay’s Titaan with Steffan Peters in preparation for her first Prix St. George with him at the end of the month.  Steffan was complimentary of Titaan and gave Betsy lots of great tips.  They worked a lot on the pirouettes and got them really reliable.   

The BSD gang attended the Dressage World Masters here in Wellington.  We had a great time and were excited that some of our friends from up North came down for the weekend.  We had fun catching up with Angi and Matt Voss and Mona and Bob Blackburn.  The competition was amazing and we were thrilled to see such a high level of competition right here in our back yard. 

December

We were very excited to get new footing installed in the arena in December.  Dan Carr did a gorgeous job for us and we didn’t even miss a day of riding.  He was amazing.  The new footing is a combination of AirFoot and LightFoot and our horses love it!   

Betsy and Jessie were very excited to work with Steffan Peters when he was in town for a clinic.  Betsy rode Joli Burrell’s horse Fino and Jessie rode Kelly Murray’s Remington.  Both horses were really good for Steffan and we were all very inspired after our rides.   

Betsy Steiner Dressage was pleased to host a group of Faculty and Students from Lake Erie College for an educational tour of Wellington.  The goal of the trip was to create networking opportunities for the students and for the faculty to become better acquainted with Betsy’s Equilates program.  We introduced the students and faculty to many of our friends and associates in Wellington.  Their three day tour began with an explanation of Equilates and demonstration of some of the equipment we use to aid our riders.  They then were treated to a dressage demonstration by Jessie and Remington.  That same evening all were invited to a beautiful dinner at the Wanderer’s Club with discussions given by Doug Ziegler, an Equine Chiropractor and Mary Ross, organizer and founder of the Challenge of the Americas.  The next morning the faculty participated in an Equilates class and lecture given by Betsy Steiner and Barbara Foose.  Jessie took the students on a tour of the BSD barn and then on a tour of the Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center.  The whole group then reconvened for lunch and a tour of the Wellington Show Grounds, Grand Prix Village, along with a jumping demonstration by Cain McDermott.  Dr. Tim Ober gave a two hour lecture back at the BSD barn before the group had a networking dinner with top professionals from many facets of the Equine Industry.  Our guest speakers included: Andreas Stanos, owner of DressageClinic.com; Jeff Ramey, co-owner of Ramard Supplements; Michelle Hunt, co-owner of ShoClothes; Barbara Foose, Equine and Human Massage Therapist; Tim Mellott, Horse Sales; Dorte Sorensen, International Dressage Groom; and Tami Hoag; Best Selling Author and FEI Dressage Competitor.

On their last day in town the group was back at BSD for demonstrations of long-lining and equine massage.  We were all exhausted after such a hectic few days but were happy with the opportunities that were introduced to the students.  We have gotten several Thank you notes and a lovely photo album from the participants saying what a great time they all had. 

November

We had a quiet November getting the horse’s settled at CharAn Ireland’s Dressage Center South here in Wellington, FL.  Conrado, our Super Groom; Whompie, our Barn Cat, and all the horses settled in quickly and began enjoying the warm Florida sunshine and lovely turn-outs at the barn.

October

Betsy and Jessie traveled to the Boston area the first weekend in October to participate in a fundraiser for the Bear Spot Foundation.  Betsy rode the University of Findlay’s Titaan and Jessie rode Kelly Murray’s Remington in a Pas de Deux set to contemporary dance music.  The horses had a great time and were very exuberant in their first experience with a musical freestyle.  The horses’ favorite part was letting all the kids pat them when they were finished – they didn’t want to go back in their stalls.  We all had a great time and were happy to be a part of such a fun and successful weekend.  Remington and Titan also participated in the ESDCTA Garden State Classic/Region 1 Championships held the following weekend at the New Jersey Horse Park.  Remington finished in 5^th place in the Third Level Championship class and really enjoyed his first honor round.  Remington won his Third Level, Test 2 class and was third in the Third Level, Test 1.  Findlay’s Titaan competed at Fourth Level won the Fourth Level, Test 1 and Test 3 and was second in his Fourth Level, Test 2 class.