Achievement

I discovered the sport of para dressage at age 11, when I searched the internet to see if there were riders with a disability out there, and to my pleasant surprise, there were. I watched riders like Rebecca Hart and Roxanne Trunnell give their all in the ring with their horses. I had waited 17 years for a chance to chase my dream after persistently asking my parents for lessons, and I was so excited.

Meet a few of the riders who have earned USDF’s new Diamond Achievement Recognition Reprinted from the May/June 2022 issue of USDF Connection magazine By Amy Swerdlin Rider awards—the bronze, silver, and gold medals and freestyle bars—are...

Shopping for a new horse is wonderful in both anticipation and in memory. The actual process though is like shopping for clothes where fantasy and reality collide. I had just lost a very special horse and I knew that if I wanted to continue riding, I would have to start the process of looking for a new partner.

Partnerships are what make dressage special. The kinship between horse and rider is often palpable, but some pairs transcend the special to become unmistakably magical.

Having recently graduated from law school and with limited funds for a purchase, I found myself browsing PetFinder, hoping to maybe find an Off the Track Thoroughbred. The first profile I clicked on was of a 5-year-old, 13 hand pony mare, named Dixie.

I showed my beloved first Morgan Timmy (Intimidator) in hunter and western pleasure, and those are some of my best life memories.  As I grew up, life and work interfered, and I was away from horses for 15 years.

Growing up, I always wanted a Kennebec Morgan. My mom had worked out at the Kennebec Morgan Farm in the 70s, and told me stories of her happy memories with all the different horses. I was obsessed.

https://vimeo.com/716911482/3424fc9f33 Through the USDF Regional Schooling Show Awards Program, opportunities for yearly awards and regional rankings abound for USDF Group Members who compete in non-USEF-licensed/non-USDF-recognized competitions. You trained hard for your scores, nominate for the...

By Suzanne Roantree Krauss Today, I got a really fun envelope from USDF!  It was stuffed with Rider Performance Certificates with my name on each one. Three certificates and patches saying I had achieved scores of...

Originally, dressage wasn’t my main focus, but I quickly became enamored by the sport. Once I was “bitten” by the “dressage bug”, that was it, and I completely focused on training him up through the levels.