Elisabeth Austin Awarded $25,000 Anne Barlow Ramsey Training Grant
13 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Elisabeth Austin Awarded $25,000 Anne Barlow Ramsey Training Grant
Elisabeth Austin has been awarded the 2011 Anne L. Barlow Ramsay grant of $25,000 to take her homebred stallion Olivier to train with Great Britain’s Carl Hester and compete at Olympia in London next year.
The award to Elisabeth, 27, of Williston, Vermont, was announced by The Dressage Foundation of Lincoln, Nebraska. The purpose of the grant is to enable talented American-bred horses ridden by U.S. citizens to train and compete in Europe.
Olivier is a 15-year-old KWPN stallion (Idocus x Rowillie x Porter) bred by Madeleine Austin, Elisabeth’s mother. Liz first started competing the horse at international level Grand Prix four years ago and has never shown outside of the U.S. East Coast.
“I am very grateful to The Dressage Foundation and Dr. Ramsay for this opportunity,” Liz said.
“My mom has been breeding Dutch Warmbloods for nearly three decades and her program all started with Olivier’s mother. To receive this grant means so much to both of us, and I’m a little embarrassed to share how many happy tears were cried when I received the news. I’d also like to say thank you to Carl Hester for accepting us for training and Shannon Dueck for encouraging me to work with him.
“Olivier truly is the horse of a lifetime and I am forever grateful to him for taking me on this amazing journey.”
Dr. Ramsay’s gift enables The Dressage Foundation to provide financial support to American-bred horses and their riders.
“We are so pleased that Liz was selected as this year’s recipient, and feel that this grant will enable her and Olivier to successfully continue their pursuit of excellence,” said Jenny Johnson, Administrative Director of The Dressage Foundation.
Dr. Anne Barlow Ramsay of Florida established a Charitable Remainder Unitrust in 1999. She worked with John Boomer, then President and CEO of The Dressage Foundation. The remainder funds were designated to come to The Dressage Foundation in 2009, and John Boomer, “and now her sizable fund will yield the $25,000 grant annually well out into future years.”
“Dr. Ramsay is a Renaissance woman — a wife, mother, medical doctor, business executive, volunteer, world-traveler and equestrienne,” said John Boomer. “In 2009, Dr. Ramsay established a second Charitable Remainder Unitrust, with the remainder funds again coming to The Dressage Foundation in 2019, to continue her schedule of $25,000 annual grants far out into the future years. Anne Ramsay’s creative, distinctive gift is remarkable for its longevity–it will be helping dressage riders and American-bred horses for a very long time to come.”
