Dressage-News

United States Young Horse Coach Scott Hassler who was in Florida and California to observe future prospects on Monday described as “extremely exciting” several combinations with the potential for international competition.

“We had terrific participation,” said Scott who saw close to 40 combinations in the two areas with the greatest concentration of horses in the country. “it looks like a very exciting year with high quality young horses. Several of the combinations have potential to be future international competitors and I am really excited to watch them develop through our pipeline of trainers and programs.”

Although he is the U.S. Equestrian Federation Young Horse coach he looked at horses aged from four through seven years and offered advice on the next step in development.

The goal of the sessions is to seek out up-and-coming talented young horses and provide guidance for riders, trainers, and owners. In addition to the observation sessions, three training sessions are scheduled–Oak Hill Ranch in Folsom, Louisiana Mar. 2-3; Rosebrook Farm in Georgetown, Massachusetts April 13-14 and Oak Hill Farm in Lockport, Iillinois April 27-28.

“The quality of the top group of horses was teriffic, extremely high quality,” he said. “In the observation sessions I technically was to look at four, five and six-year-olds but I wore a lot of different hats. They are now in the pipeline that the whole team of coaches can keep an eye on them.

“If luck is on our side, some of these horses could be good international representatives.”

In addition to Scott as Young Horse coach, Jeremy Steinberg is the youth coach and Debbie McDonald for developing horses.

The U.S. is seeking a Technical Advisor/Chef d’Equipe to head up the high performance program. Applications for the post close Mar. 15.