Scott Hassler to Step Down as USA Dressage Young Horse Coach

10 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Scott Hassler to Step Down as USA Dressage Young Horse Coach
Scott Hassler in his most frequent location--beside a warmup or training arena on both sides of the Atlantic. © Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com
Scott Hassler in his most frequent location–beside a warmup or training arena on both sides of the Atlantic. © Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

LEXINGTON, Kentucky, Dec. 15, 2014–Scott Hassler is stepping down as the United States Dressage Young Horse Coach after nine years in the post.

Scott, who will be 48 years old next month, said he will leave the post May 1 to spend more time with his family and focus on his competition career.

He is the second of four U.S. coaches to resign this year–Jeremy Steinberg left as youth coach to be replaced by George Williams and Charlotte Bredahl-Baker. Robert Dover is the U.S. Technical Advisor/Chef d’Equipe and heads up the coaching program while Debbie McDonald renewed as Developing Coach.

Scott is director of training at Leslie and John Malone’s Riveredge, a state of the art training, breeding and educational facility in Chesapeake City, Maryland. His wife, Suzanne, is Riveredge Director of Breeding and Marketing.

“It has truly been an honor to serve in this capacity, as I have so much passion and belief in the value of this program and its long-term impact on our sport,” he said of his role in the young horse program.

“We have provided an exciting goal with ranking lists and national championships that many aspire to achieve and we have established a better connection with our breeders.

“I’m particularly proud to see the numbers of young horses that are successfully feeding the High Performance pipeline. I will always remain supportive and passionate about all the USEF pipeline programs and now look forward to spending more time with family, training and competing.”

As the U.S. Equestrian Federation Young Horse Coach, Scott has been instrumental in the growth and success of the Young Horse Dressage Program. He has coached multiple U.S. combinations at the FEI World Breeding Championships for Dressage Young Horses.

Scott trained with the late Herbert Rehbein at Groenwohldhof near Hamburg, Germany.

On his return from Germany in 1991, he designed and developed Hilltop Farm in Colora, Maryland where he spent more than 16 years building its stature as an international breeding and training center before moving to Riveredge.

John Malone is ranked by Forbes magazine as the 64th richest American with a fortune estimated at more than $7 billion (€5.6 billion) and is the largest private land owner in the United States. In addition to Riveredge, he has created a training center in Wellington, Florida in the past two years and bought a major Thoroughbred breeding station about 250 miles north in Ocala, Florida.

The Malones’ Harmony Sporthorses also owns a significant breeding operation in Germany.

Details on selecting a new Young Horse Coach will be announced shortly by the USEF.