Close to 600 people enjoyed a night of PRE celebration at the annual USPRE Party, during Week 3 of the 2014 Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida. While delicious Spanish fare-provided by Café Fredo and La Tienda-was on the menu in the Global Pavilion, no less than 16 locally-owned PREs and their handlers/riders/owners put on a performance that has topped all former years!
The evening began with a schooling session of young horses. Each year, USPRE strives to bring out never-before seen horses in this part of the program, young talent that shows the potential of our breed. This year, we had many new horses, including a number of mares, and new faces, and the best part was that all but one of the horses were bred in North America.
Next was a Morphology Class demonstration by El Portal Andaluz of Miami, Florida. El Portal Andaluz , owned by Avelino Lamazares and Piedad Villa-Rojas generously provided all of the beautiful stallions, handlers and even "judges" to re-create for the American audience a typical breed class one might see at SICAB. The audience was riveted with the beauty of the horses and the handling, which emphasized the natural movement of the PRE horse.
A baroque exhibition of long-lining by the Stallions and Knights of Medieval Times was a particular delight. To the strains of Strauss the stallions performed many High School and classical movements. But when 3 street dancers invaded the arena, the music changed and the Knights and the Stallions showed that they were up for any dancing challenge. In the end, it was a show of "Respect" by all the dancers...human and equine.
Several traditional Dressage performances featured familiar local horses and riders: Youth Rider Pas de Deux with two stallions in perfect synch with each other. Robert Dover's presentation of Fiero and Nicholas Fyffe, who demonstrated the extraordinary potential of a young PRE horse trained classically from the start. Janne Rumbough on her own competitive Grand Prix moung, Junior, topped off the night with a rousing freestyle to the classic disco hits.
The entire program was narrated by international announcer Nicho Meredith, who provided informative commentary throughout the performance.
After the horses left the arena, the music and dancing continued in the tent-a perfect kick-off to the Festival's first big show and CDI-W. Throughout the week, USPRE was on hand to present the awards to the winners of the CDI-W Grand Prix, the Grand Prix Special, and the Freestyle. The USPRE Victory Lap, for the USPRE National Champions, was televised on Friday night to the entire country via USEF Network.
USPRE has been a sponsor of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival since its inception, and has benefitted from the world-wide exposure of our activities during our title week. The combined audience of the Wellington attendees and the USEF Network viewers provides USPRE with a powerful venue for the promotion of our horse to a target community.
USPRE wants to thank all of the members who volunteered their time, resources and horses to help make our week such a success.
Photos courtesy USPRE
Related Links
USPRE Week at the 2014 Global Dressage Festival
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USPRE Dressage Committee Introduces New Initiative for FEI Riders: the COPA USPRE
USPRE Brings Spanish Olympic Stardom to Wellington