This article is reprinted from the American Connemara magazine.
By Abby Parent and Lili Green
Lili and Holden
Holden and I had been to the Dressage4Kids Youth Dressage Festival in 2022 and loved it! Holden’s registered name is Blackwing Holden’s Thunder (Wildwych Thundersnow x Wildwych Dreamtime, by Aran Milano). He turned 10 the week before D4K. In August, Holden and I spent three weeks at Lendon Gray’s Summer Intensive at Bel Aire Farms in Millbrook, N.Y., only an hour away from HITS! I did not have a team at the time so I reached out to another girl who was doing SIT and asked to be part of her team, and funnily enough Abby was on the same team with her Connie, Benny. We soon realized that Abby’s Benny and my Holden were both from Blackwing Connemaras in Louisiana! It was such a cool realization and made the show so much more exciting. Holden and I had some trouble in past shows at HITS because it can be a very big show experience but he was so amazing at D4K 2023 and I was so proud of him! We competed First Level and U13 Dressage Seat Equitation, which was amazing practice because those were the divisions we were competing at regionals the following month. D4K has been a great place to meet fellow young dressage enthusiasts and create more Connemara connections!
Abby and Benny
I took my 5-year-old Connemara cross, Blackwing Coffee and Beignets (Benny) who is by Blue Rock Fintan, to the Dressage4Kids Youth Dressage Festival. Benny was bred by Raelin Schenck of Blackwing Connemaras. My family purchased him as a yearling and he was the cutest baby horse ever! Riding a young horse from the very beginning has been challenging but also has been a very rewarding experience. Benny has a very chill personality but can also get nervous at times. The Youth Dressage Festival was his second show and we competed in the walk trot canter division. I was so proud of him for how well behaved he was at such a big show grounds! We ended up winning the U14 Walk-Trot-Canter Division and winning the two Connemara breed awards for the highest scoring Connemara! One of the highlights of this show for me was being on a team with Lili and meeting Benny’s cousin, Holden. When Benny and I are not practicing in the dressage ring, we love to ride tackless!
About D4K
The Youth Dressage festival was created 25 years ago by former Olympian Lendon Gray. As well as having an individual competition it also has a team competition. We had six other teammates and our theme was Rock’N Roll (we also did the tack room competition which is always so much fun!). Our team was split into two mini teams, but Holden and Benny were still on the same team! We were both on the Rockin Riders 2 (the second Rockin Riders team) and our team won second place! The Youth Dressage Festival also has “Fun” classes, the dressage trail class, prix caprilli, musical freestyle, and quadrille! We both competed in the dressage trail class, which has many different scary obstacles for the ponies, and a lot of tempting snacks!!
Other Connies at D4K
There were two other Connemaras at the show, Loughreas Aine Noon (Loughreas Seamus x Cool of the Evening) and Rock the Boat (Loughrea’s Seamus x Keota) otherwise known as Nugget and River, both owned by Heather Dostal. These two mares are half sisters! Heather’s daughter, Emmie, competed with Nugget in the Pony Cup class as well as the Walk-Trot Division. Emmie and Nugget won reserve champion in the Pony Cup class and got 4th in the Walk-Trot Division. Anna Banas-Chen rode River and they got 5th in the U14 Walk-Trot- Canter Division! It is so cool to have so many amazing Connie-rider partnerships at the Youth Festival, especially because Lendon Gray herself rode to Grand-Prix on Seldom Seen, a Connie cross! Connemaras are such a spectacular breed, and we feel so lucky to be able to have such amazing horses in our lives!
