News

TVDCTA is the Tennessee Valley Dressage And Combined Training Association

April Dressage Schooling Show Set

The first TVDCTA show of the year will be on Saturday, April 10th, at Steel Prize Stables in Madison, AL. The judge will be Leslie O'Neal Olsen. Closing date for the show is April 2.

Leslie Olsen is a USEF R-rated judge, as well as a USDF Silver & Bronze Medalist. She is the owner of Willowbrook Equestrian Center in Villa Rica, Georgia.

Entry forms and the prize list are on the web and in the latest newsletter.

TVDCTA Thanks deciBel Research!!!

Thanks to deciBel Research for allowing TVDCTA to use their wonderful Conference Room for our monthly meeting and sharing their soft drinks with us. The room has a great conference table and media screen for posting the agenda and items of interest as the meeting unfolds. They also have great ovens that keep our pizzas warm until we are ready to eat. Thank you Sally Colocho for setting up this venue for us -- more of you need to RSVP and plan to come to the meeting on March 16 when we gather again.

March TVDCTA Meeting Notice

The February meeting of TVDCTA will be held on Tuesday, March 16th at 7pm at deciBel Research in Huntsville. There will be pizza at the meeting and the club is providing drinks.

Decibel Research is located at 325 Bob Heath Drive in Huntsville in Research Park. Please be on time, as Sally Colocho must let us into the building for the meeting.

Directions: From Huntsville, take I-565 west, then go north on Research Park Blvd. (255). Take the Old Madison Pike exit and turn right (towards Bridge Street Station). Turn right on Voyager Way, just past Bridge Street Station. Proceed to Explorer Blvd (about 1/4 mile) and turn left. Then turn left onto Bob Heath Drive (about 1/2 mile). You can also use the "directions to our office" link provided at Decibel's web site.

For more information, please contact Sonja Hinds, (256) 217-0740, sonjahinds57@msn.com.

Debbie Hill Scores Wins At Region 1 Championships

Debbie Hill and River Side Lady finished out their 2009 competitive year in October at the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 1 Dressage Championships in Lexington, Virgina. Debbie chose to compete at these particular championships, rather than Region 3 in south Florida, because of the closer proximity.

River Side Lady won the championship for Second Level, Third Level, and Second Level Freestyle. She also rode Legenderry, who took fourth place in the First Level championships.

See the results here.

TVDCTA Annual Awards Banquet

The TVDCTA 2009 Awards Banquet was held on January 16, 2010 at Sonja and Robert Hinds' house in Harvest. The event was a covered dish affair, although the club provided London broil and baked ham, along with drinks, etc.

Twenty-four members and spouses attended. Door prizes were donated by Horsin' Around, Garvin's Feed, and Maysville Feed. TVDCTA thanks them for their generosity!

The barn owners were awarded gift certificates in gratitude for allowing us to conduct the year's schooling shows at their beautiful barns. A big thanks goes out to Cotton Meadows Farm, Flint Ridge Farms, Steel Prize Stables, and Red Horse Ridge.

The following members received awards:

Intro A & B JR.
1st Samantha Webb, LOU 68.39%
2nd Patton Short, MADE YOU LOOK 61.5%
3rd Reagan Short, JUNO IS TOPS 57.83%

Intro A&B AA
1st Jean Coshow SILVERSTONE 61.5%

Training Jr.
1st Patton Short, MADE YOU LOOK 68.39%
2nd Patton Short, CLASSIC ACT 63.98%
3rd Erin Downy, BETHANY 63.33%

Training AA
1st Jean Coshow, SILVERSTONE 62.27%
2nd Patsy Gray, GABRIELLA 60.85%
3rd Sonja Rich, PEKCO 56.8%

First Level JR.
1st. Erin Downy, BETHANY 54.7%

First Level AA
1st Lindsay Jones, HANDSOME 64.68%
2nd Sonja Hinds, ARLO 60.90%

Second Level AA
1st Debi Gilbert, PRINCE BASHIR 63.58%

From Sonja Hinds:

We want to remind you that the requirements to receive an award at the end of the year
are very minimal. We would love to see many many more receive awards. We will add the requirements to the web site and also print a reminder on entry forms.

We also want to let everyone know that you do not have to receive an award to join us at the dinner. It is a fun time for friends and fellowship. We have some incredible cooks in our club!

We have a wonderful place for our meetings (see February notice, above). Please come and bring your ideas to the club. This will be the best year ever!

Flint Ridge Farm/TVDCTA Halloween Weekend Show

Flint Ridge Farm, in conjunction with TVDCTA, hosted a Halloween Weekend Show and Clinic from October 30 through November 1. The judge and clinician was Janet "Dolly" Hannon, "S".

Among Jr./YR riders, Patton Short and Samantha Webb posted outstanding scores. Short had a 68.58% in winning the Training Level Test 2 class,while Webb had a 68.50% in winning the Intro A class. Short, who competed on both Classie Act and Made You Look, also had two additional scores of 68% or better in the Training Level Test 1 class. Kristin Anderson also had a very good score of 36.5 while winning the USEA Beginning Novice B class.

Ashley Hayes on City Slicker scored a 69.54% in winning the Second Level, Test 3 class for Adult Amateur.

In the Open division classes, Andrea Pappano bettered 70% twice. She scored a 70.36% in winning her Training Level, Test 2 class, then followed up with a 70.84% in First Level, Test 2.

Results are posted here.

September TVDCTA Schooling Show

The early fall TVDCTA Schooling Show was held on September 12th at Red Horse Ridge in Brownsboro, AL, with Nina Warren, "L", as the judge.

Show results are at this link.

Virginia Moon Earns USDF Silver Medal

Riding her mare, Broadstone Star (Lucy), Virgina Moon earned her USDF Silver medal this past March.

Here is the account in her own words…

“Riding my mare, Broadstone Star (Lucy), I earned the first score at Murfreesboro in September 2008 at the Arabian and Open Dressage show. Then I got the second score on March 14, 2009 at Poplar Place in Hamilton, GA.

“It was on my 50th birthday, no less. Cindy Latham took us all out and treated us to a Thai Dinner which is what I requested for my birthday. Cathy Zappe and her daughter were there as well as Cindy and her daughter, Lindsay Waite Jones. Cathy surprised me with a lovely crystal rocking horse for my birthday. I suppose one has to turn 50 sooner or later, and that was the perfect celebration for me. I have since retired Lucy and am now leasing the Andalusian gelding Gibraltar from Uwe Meigel and his wife Ellinwood. I hope to do some freestyles with Gibby and earn as many of the scores I need for the freestyle bars given by USDF.

“They say "It Takes A Village" and I have certainly had one. Many Thanks to my instructors over the years including Judith Fiorentino, Debbie Hill and Cathy Zappe. We are so fortunate to have them in our area. Also my steady clinicians through the last ten years - Eugene Abello, Brian MacMahon and Wolfgang Scherzer. Their combined efforts certainly helped me understand this journey we call Dressage and I am forever grateful.”

August Show at Steel Prize Stables

from Judith Fiorentino

Is it too late to say that we all had a good time and the TVDCTA ring looks just lovely set up in the upper arena! Leslie O’Neal Olsen was the R judge and she did a very good job with her scribes and her riders. Her comments were well received and everyone commented that they enjoyed riding for her. Even better, the scribes said they enjoyed their job and would do it again!

It was a hot day and we had hoses out for the competitors and horses and a picture of the spraying off process was included in an earlier issue of the Newsletter. It just takes the writer longer to get her fingers on the keyboard.

We would like to thank all the participants and volunteers who worked so well during the show and we look forward to the shows coming up and the ones we shall plan for next year.

(Go here for results)

June TVDCTA Schooling Show

Despite occasional rain, we were able to successfully complete the TVDCTA Dressage Schooling Show at Steel Prize Stables in Madison, Alabama, with judge Ann Genovese, "r". There was a very heavy turnout for the competition and so additional rides were held on Sunday morning.

The Junior riders were outstanding at this show, with a very good competition in the Training Level 1 and 2 classes, with many of the best riders in this area competing. USDF Silver Medalist Megan Zappe prevailed in both classes, but it took high scores to turn the trick. Zappe hit a 70.44% in Training 1 and 71.43% in Training 2, where Sarah Williams (70%) and Danielle Bolte (68.22%) had excellent rides.

Erin Downey on Bethany had two very good scores, winning Training 4 with 70.80% and then First Level 1 with 71.00%. In Sunday's competition, which was geared towards combined training dressage tests, Alexis Pannell performed well in winning the Beginning Novice classes.

Among the adult riders, LeAnn Siefferman won two AA classes, including a 71.50%. Newcomer Marsha Laitinen performed very well with a 66.53% winning Training 1, in addition to handling volunteer duties. Sue Kirkpatrick had two very good First Level rides, including a 66.95%. In Sunday's competition, Sandy Johnson had some very good rides, including a 26.84% for Training Test B.

Candace Wheeler, Cathy Zappe, Andrea Pappano, and Theresa Simmons each won two classes among Open division riders.

And the new TVDCTA riding arena acquitted itself very well. Check out the photos at the link below.

Scores are now posted here. And a few photos of the show are here.

Spring TVDCTA Dressage and Combined Training Schooling Show

The first TVDCTA show of the season was held on Saturday, April 11th at Cotton Meadows Farm in Elkmont and featured both dressage and CT events. The judge was Nina Warren, "L". We had originally scheduled Kirsten Moltmann as the judge, but had to make a last minute change.

The results are now posted here.

Megan Zappe Earns USDF Silver Medal

TVDCTA rider Megan Zappe recently completed the requirements for her USDF Silver Medal. To qualify for the medal, Megan achieved two scores in Fourth Level and two scores in Prix St. Georges at 60% or greater. Click here to see the story.

Emily Bragg Makes National Rankings

TVDCTA rider Emily Bragg has been racking up some very good scores this past year in Training Level, scoring consistently in the 60% and higher range, with a median score of 63.913%.

The American Quarter Horse Association has ranked Emily and her horse Dashing Away Dan second in Training Level for JR/YR riders and fourth overall for Open riders.

She has also ranked 68 in the USDF JR/YR Award and 352 for the Dressage Horse of the Year award.

Emily manages to find time to train at Steel Prize Stables in between working and attending college.

Riders Honored at Annual TVDCTA Awards Banquet

The annual TVDCTA Awards Banquet was held on January 17^th at Jazz Factory in downtown Huntsville. The banquet honored our outstanding riders for the 2008 competitive season with ribbons and other awards. A good crowd was in attendance, including many family and friends. All enjoyed a good meal and lively conversation.

Awards were distributed for first, second, and third places according to the Year End Award rules. First place winners included JR/YR riders Patton Short, Michelle Miles, and Aubrey Torrez. Adult Amateur winners were Kathleen Tetzloff, Sonja Rich, Lindsay Waite, Ashley Hayes, and Cindy Latham. Open winners were Cathy Zappe and Debbie Hill (twice). Paulette and Patrick Harrell were Volunteers of the Year.