Dressage-News

LEXINGTON, Kentucky, Oct. 14–Debbie McDonald has joined fellow U.S. Olympians Steffen Peters and Guenter Seidel in providing clinics for developing horse and rider combinations, the U.S. Equestrian Federation announced Wednesday.

Debbie of Hailey, Idaho, a multiple Olympic, World Equestrian Games and Pan American Games medalist, will be teaching at Linda and Michael Fowler’s Epona Farm in Thousand Oaks, California, Dec. 12-13.

The clinic is open to USEF A and B long-listed riders and Developing List combinations, with invitations distributed to qualified competitors directly from the USEF office.

“I am honored to have been asked to conduct a USEF Developing Clinic,” McDonald said. “I have always wanted to give back to the sport that has been so great to me. I love to coach and feel that I can bring my skills in this regard to greatly benefit the future of high-performance dressage.”

In addition, three-time Olympian Guenter Seidel of Cardiff, California, will conduct a USEF Dressage Developing Clinic at Mary Anne and Walter McPhail’s High Meadow Farm in Loxahatchee, Florida, also on Dec. 12-13.

“I’m looking forward to helping develop our up-and-coming dressage talent, and am especially excited to travel to the East Coast and see all the great horses and riders from the other side of our country,” Seidel said.

The clinics are in addition to the previously-announced USEF Developing Clinic with reigning FEI World Cup Final and CDIO Aachen Champion Steffen Peters of San Diego, California, at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation headquarters in Gladstone, New Jersey Oct. 30-31.

East and West Coast athletes currently on the 2009 USEF Dressage Long List for training and athletes on the USEF Developing Rider List will receive an invitation sent by the USEF Dressage Department. Riders attending the clinic will be strongly encouraged to bring their personal trainer to the clinic. The purpose of these clinics is to educate, assist and promote both the riders and their trainers.

The clinics will focus on developing horse/rider combinations in the United States. USEF High-Performance Dressage Committee anticipates continuing similar Developing Clinics into 2010 and beyond to further identify and advance dressage talent in the United States. Participation in at least one of the Developing Clinics may be mandatory to remain on the USEF Developing Rider List.

For further information, contact Jenny Van Wieren, USEF Assistant Director of Dressage at jvanwieren@usef.org or (859)225-6949.