Heather Mason Awarded $25,000 Carol Lavell Prize
13 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Heather Mason Awarded $25,000 Carol Lavell Prize
Heather Mason has been awarded the $25,000 Carol Lavell Advanced Dressage Prize by The Dressage Foundation, recognizing her performances in 2011 when she was an alternate for the U.S. Pan American Games team and swept the small tour at Dressage at Devon.
The award to Heather of Tewksbury, New Jersey, will enable her to attain coaching and training at the elite level of international dressage.
She plans to train on her own Warsteiner, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Riverman ISF x Welona x Roemer) with Lars Petersen, the Danish Olympian based in Florida, and Alfredo Hernandez with the goal of making the U.S. team for the World Equestrian Games in Normandy in 2014.
The $25,000 prize will be awarded by Carol to Heather at a special feature presentation at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby World Cup event next Saturday.
Heather, aged 42, owns and operates Flying Change Farm and is also head trainer of Stone Horse Farm. She is a USEF ‘S’ judge, a Graduate H-A Pony Clubber, and has her USDF Gold, Silver and Bronze medals and Freestyle bars.
“I am excited to know the possibilities that have just been opened with the help of Carol Lavell and The Dressage Foundation,” Heather said. “This will help me dedicate a part of the year to focus only on training, which would not be feasible without this Prize.”
The Carol Lavell Advanced Dressage Prize was established at The Dressage Foundation in special remembrance of Carol’s mother, May Cadwgan, and in honor of her father, Gordon Cadwgan. Due to the generosity of many donors over the past several years, the Prize fund has grown to a sizeable amount that will provide high performance funding well into the future.
Carol Lavell competed Gifted on U.S. teams at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the 1990 World Equestrian Games, and several other horses, including Much Ado, on which she was a member of the U.S. gold medal team at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo.
“I established this Fund at The Dressage Foundation as my way of ‘giving back’ to the sport that has been so good to me. I know that, for most riders, obtaining financial support becomes the ultimate hurdle. I’m so grateful to my family and loyal friends whose charitable gifts have helped me establish this Fund, and in a dollar amount that will be able to award these $25,000 Annual Prizes for many years.”
