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Lead line Winners clamor at Equine Ambiance to get their leather bracelets at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby

Photo credit: (JR Photo)

Derby once again was the highlight of the dressage community. Walter and Maryanne McPhail do a fabulous job of producing a great event and should be commended for their 25 years of dedication. Turnout was fabulous, and dressage enthusiasts got to see how the best in this country do it! Let's not forget the contributions over the years of Hovalt and Gisela Pferdekemper, the founders of both White Fences and the Dressage Derby. Without this visionary couple, White Fences would still be a cattle ranch!

Super Sponsors: Courtney King had the ride on Christine McCarthy's 18-year-old KWPN stallion Idocus at the 2008 FEI World Cup Dressage Final in s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, on March 27-30, as one of two United States representatives in the prestigious international event. Sponsorship provided by Renee Isler enabled Courtney to complete a major portion of the funding for her trip to the World Cup. The show's Organizing Committee awarded Courtney approximately $10,000 towards transportation costs for Idocus, however the actual funds necessary was approximately double that amount. In addition to roundtrip air travel from the U.S. to the Netherlands, there was also ground trucking costs to and from the airports, trucking to and from U.S. Dressage Chef d'Equipe Klaus Balkenhol's stable in Germany, and trucking to and from s'Hertogenbosch for the World Cup. Renee generously offered to cover all the additional travel expenses beyond the show's allotment. We applaud your support of this great rider, Renee!

Everglades Dressage, owned by Rose and Bethany Peslar, stepped up to the plate and made their covered arena available for schooling before the Zada Enterprises CDI high performance competition at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Because of the overlap of both jumpers and dressage horses in the International Equestrian Federation restricted stabling, a separate CDI dressage schooling area was required. Rose and Bethany allowed the use of their facility so that the CDI competitors could more conveniently school their horses in a controlled environment without having to share the ring with jumpers or to hack to another schooling area.

Eventing: The whole equestrian community has rallied round Darren Chiacchia, with a benefit that was put on for him at the home of Walter and Carol Dover, in Havana, Florida (outside of Tallahassee). The Red Hills Horse Trials Committee (unofficially, and as individuals) are all involved in pulling this together on very short notice. Robert Dover, chairman of the Equestrian Aid Foundation dusted off his shadbelly and top hat and did a musical freestyle for entertainment. A band played, and dinner was donated by Bonefish Grill, Outback Steakhouse and a local restaurant, Chez Pierre. I'm sure other celebrities will attend, although there they are all in the middle of big events and preparing for Rolex. At press time, Darren was still in Tallahassee Memorial Hospital but when he's able to travel, his family will move him to Buffalo, NY. In the mean time, his family is staying with friends in the Tallahassee area. Darren suffered a serious fall at the Red Hills Horse Trials on March 15. He was riding Baron Verdi at the Preliminary level - the pair fell at the fifth cross country fence. Darren was airlifted to Tallahassee Medical Center where he remains at press time. Baron Verdi was uninjured in the fall.

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