DRESSAGE QUARTERLY REPORT March 2018 Volume 2, Issue 1

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Dressage Committee Chair’s Message

In this edition of the Equestrian Canada Dressage Quarterly Report, we continue to highlight our Rising Stars with a profile on Vanessa Creech-Terauds. We also introduce some upcoming clinics for 2018 including the second annual Performance Advantage Symposium scheduled for November 17-18, 2018 at High Point

Equestrian Centre in Langley, B.C. We encourage those in the area to take advantage of the learning opportunities which are free for those who have paid into the dressage levy in 2018. Finally, we are excited to officially introduce the new Am I Ready video series. This initiative provides an opportunity for those who may not be able to easily travel to clinics or competitions over the winter to get feedback from Canadian judges. With the FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, NC set for Sept. 11-23, 2018, information is included on tickets, lodging and volunteer opportunities. We have also included links to a list of our Canadian dressage athletes who have declared their intent to compete for a spot on the Canadian Dressage Team. We wish the best of luck to all of our athletes and encourage the community to cheer them on as they compete for qualifying scores in Florida, and later this spring and summer in Canada and Europe. ~ Victoria Winter Member Suggestions We would like to hear from you - our dressage community. If you have suggestions for the next issue of Dressage Quarterly, please submit those ideas to: Christine Peters, Senior Manager Dressage Olympic / Paralympic Program, cpeters@equestrian.ca

Contributors Editorial Content Jessie Christie, Joanna Crilly, Joan Macartney, Celine Hutchison Majerus, Christine Peters, Sheila Skene, Victoria Winter Photos Annan Hepner of Phelps Media Group, Cealy Tetley, Equestrian Canada, Joanna Crilly, Joan Johnston

EC Contacts Contact details, photos and biographies can be found for all Equestrian Canada staff at the following link: www.equestrian.ca/about/contact A quick overview of staff contacts for dressage specific and technical portfolios are highlighted below: Christine Peters, Senior Manager Dressage Olympic / Paralympic Program, cpeters@equestrian.ca Celine Hutchison Majerus, Program Coordinator – Dressage chmajerus@equestrian.ca Officials Manager, Technical Development Rachel Huebert rhuebert@equestrian.ca Coaching Interim Director, Technical Development Jennifer Eastwood-Fisher jeastwood@equestrian.ca Competitions Coordinator, Competition Services Maria-Christina Lepore mclapore@equestrian.ca Rules / Long Term Equestrian Development Manager, Technical Development Rachel Huebert rhuebert@equestrian.ca

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2018 Dressage Competitions Handbook The 2018 Competitions Handbook is in the final stages of production and will be sent to the printing house shortly. Affiliates can expect to receive their copy of the handbook starting in March. For those interested in purchasing extra copies of the handbook, the cost is $15. You can order extra copies through Celine Hutchison Majerus, Program Coordinator – Dressage chmajerus@equestrian.ca

2018 Dressage Levy Performance Advantage Symposium

The Dressage Levy Performance Advantage Symposium will be coming to Langley, BC on Nov. 17 and 18.

The 2018 event will be held at the beautiful High Point Equestrian Centre www.highpointec.ca/contact-us.

The symposium will again be offered free of charge for those that have contributed to the dressage levy throughout the 2018 season. The Dressage Levy Performance Advantage Symposium will feature a full two days of exciting educational opportunities, including:

• Perfecting Test Riding • Youth Development & Talent ID • Young Horse Development • Training your Eye for Dressage

• Performance Analysis • Rider Fitness • Massage Therapy (human and equine) • Freestyle Choreography • Sport Psychology

Additional details will be released shortly. Hope to see everyone in attendance!

A Wonderful Journey toward Retirement It all began the day I slid off a strawberry roan called "Help" when the girth gave way. From there, the journey into polo and racing and then on to eventing and dressage and teaching and judging, was a long and winding road. It has been quite an education and making sure my girth was tight was a very important first lesson. Well, that and wearing a helmet, although for many years, like so many riders, I eschewed safety gear unless forced to wear it in racing and polo, where it was cool to wear team colours. I grew up in Ghana, and begged my mother to take me riding with her at the stables operated by the army and mounted police. I was 6 and the loose girth incident occurred at my very first lesson. Undeterred, I carried on. We all have memories of funny incidents and near disasters that surely make us wonder what we saw in this sport. A wise person once said riders all fit into one of two categories: those who have fallen off and those who will.

I once tumbled off into a lagoon under a rolling horse when riding in a bikini on Labadi Beach in Accra, and suffered serious sand burns and a hip injury. I took a slide down a pony's neck and into the mud when it saw fit to roll in a puddle (mortification amplified as I was wearing a new Harris Tweed riding jacket), was jettisoned up and off a stationary horse when it was startled by a big dog jumping up at its side and I once turned right when my horse chose to turn left. But most humiliating of all was one New Year's day near Toronto, when out for a hack with friends, I boasted that the horse I was riding was so placid, I was sure he could be ridden with me facing

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backwards. When you are looking at the south end of a horse heading north, and it bucks, it gives new meaning to the word "rear" or the phrase “more from behind”. Eventually he continued north without me.

Fast forward through being fired three times by Capt. Adam in St. Lazare to teaching and training instructors in Malaysia to keeping riders from falling off Blue Streak at Sunnybrooke Stables in Toronto to co-owning Kars Riding School and all the other exciting stuff in between. I have wonderful memories: like the little kid whose pony ate its way across a diagonal in a grass dressage ring; the chickens that share the competition ring with competitors in Bermuda; the wild turkeys that do the same from time to time in Winnipeg; the Canadian FEI judge who said I would never make it into the FEI judging ranks because I don't drink (I replied that making it into the FEI ranks might drive me to drink); Cara imploring clinic attendees to hurry up with their remarks on a test sheet. "You haven't time to write the Gettysburg address, for God's sake." and from dear friend Mark Isenberg: "Why don't you wear a helmet?" But perhaps the funniest memory of all is of the day a scribe asked me to keep my marks in my head so she could watch her daughter's test in the adjacent ring......

There was something to learn every day from teachers, students, horses, colleagues and hay farmers. Judging allowed me to meet wonderful people and I got to pat some very sweet horses as well as recoil at some fire breathing dragons (anything ridden by Mr Barisone).

After 37 years of judging, I retired at the end of 2017. The road ahead will still include a horse (and always a camera) but I will watch from the sidelines as the horse is trained and cared for by one of the best. ~ Joanna Crilly, retired Senior Equestrian Canada Dressage Judge

FEI World Equestrian Games 2018 The FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG), held every four years in the middle of the Olympic cycle, is one of the biggest events on the global sporting calendar, combining eight equestrian World Championship caliber events in a pre-determined location. The FEI disciplines – Jumping, Dressage and Para-Equestrian Dressage, Eventing, Driving, Endurance, Vaulting and Reining – are all included on the competition schedule, while equestrian-focused demonstrations and exhibitions will also be hosted throughout the duration of the event. The 2018 edition of WEG will be held in Mill Spring, NC, over 13 days from Sept. 11-23, 2018 at the Tryon International Equestrian Center. Full detail on WEG can be found at https://tryon2018.com. Dressage is the ultimate expression of communication and elegance between a horse and athlete, and has rapidly grown in popularity each year around the world. Hear about the 2018 plans directly from Dressage Discipline Manager, Thomas Baur at https://tryon2018.com/article/exclusive-qa-with-dressage-discipline-manager-thomas-baur. Tickets Get your all session Dressage Pass at https://tryon2018.com/directory/List/type/351. Lodging Click here for general spectator lodging options. Accommodations for WEG are being managed by Connections Housing, a full-service sourcing, housing and event management company. With 30 years of experience serving events in a range of industries, Connections has two full-service, fully-owned call centers and will oversee all aspects of the housing process from contracting and room block management to reservations and post-event analysis. Volunteer Programme The FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2018 Volunteer Management Programme is in the "Scope Phase" and receiving enquiries from prospective WEG volunteers. Submitting an online enquiry is the first in a sequence of steps required to complete a volunteer application. The additional steps can be found in the online WEG Volunteer Portal that will be launched in March. This scheduled launch will begin the "Recruitment Phase." Volunteers who have submitted an enquiry through the existing online form will receive a link to the Volunteer Portal to begin an application. The deadline to complete applications through the online Volunteer Portal is May 1, 2018.

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Click here to learn more about the WEG Volunteer Program. Click here to submit a volunteer enquiry. Equestrian Canada Dressage Criteria Interested athletes and support team candidates are encouraged to review the following information and criteria:

2018 FEI World Equestrian Games Equestrian Canada Selection Criteria & Procedures - Dressage

Declared Athletes For a complete list of declared athletes for the World Equestrian Games visit www.equestrian.ca/cdn/storage/resources_v2/XaNomf6RrJ7SY6TSi/original/XaNomf6RrJ7SY6TSi.pdf

Removal of Collective Marks on FEI Dressage Tests The FEI Dressage Judging Working Group (DJWG) made a recommendation that the Collective Marks be partially removed from all FEI Dressage Tests in 2018, keeping only the collective mark for the rider. This will not be applicable to the FEI Young Horse Tests Rationale – With the possible exception of the rider/aids mark, the DJWG felt that the collective marks are already taken into account in the movement scores. In analysis of the 2017 tests it was found that while technical and collective scores are quite correlated, the riders at the top of the ranking do typically receive an extra boost from the collective marks. The DJWG also observed that even in some high level events the ranking of the technical marks in effectively overruled by that of the collective marks. Youth Profile – Vanessa Creech-Terauds To lead off our 2018 Rising Stars profile, we introduce Vanessa Creech-Terauds.

At the recent Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Florida, Vanessa topped all of the FEI Young Rider classes, plus competed in the Young Riders Grand Prix. How did Vanessa get to this level? Let’s meet Vanessa and the horses and ponies in her life….

As a five-year-old, Vanessa began riding a cute little miniature pony named Coby. He would take off running into a corner but would never put his head down so she learned to hold on tight!!! Coby was the first pony that sparked Vanessa’s interest in riding – to the extent she never wanted to get off. Coby still lives at the family farm, enjoying retired life.

As Vanessa became more serious about riding, she was fortunate that Doug and Louise Leatherdale gave her an incredible opportunity to ride one of their former breeding stallions, Rob Roy. He was no longer a stallion and was looking for a new job at a time when she was seeking an FEI Junior horse. Thus a strong partnership was formed and Vanessa became part of the Leatherdale team! Vanessa absolutely adores Rob Roy. Yes, he can be cheeky, but is full of personality – even being a ‘Houdini’ as he is always able to slip his halter off and makes sure to search you down for any treats. With a personality like this, he always brightens Vanessa’s day.

A little over a year later, Vanessa was fortunate to begin riding Fleur de Lis L, a homebred by First Dance from Leatherdale Farms. This has become a very special partnership. While Fleur can be a little spicy, whenever this pair enters the competition ring, they are both able to focus and get in sync with each other. An amazing bond has been formed with this mare as this team move from junior to young riders.

Vanessa is now riding Devon L and Harley L from Leatherdale Farms and is striving to develop strong partnerships with them.

Balancing school and riding can be a challenge, but Vanessa is fortunate enough that her school supports her, enabling her to complete schoolwork while away. Vanessa’s competitive nature not only helps with her riding and competing, but also drives her to keep grades high. Her typical routine in Florida includes riding two horses in the morning, doing schoolwork for a couple of hours, then returning to the barn to ride the other horses and finish up.

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Future goals include her desire to represent Canada at major world championships. She adores the dedication, precision and partnerships that dressage requires and would love to advance her riding to the higher levels. High on her priority list is to train a young horse to grand prix. This is a long journey, but having that bond with a horse for so many years and seeing them progress and develop, is something she would take a lot of pride in.

Vanessa has enjoyed incredible success in the competition arena. A few highlights:

• 2013 – first level – two gold and one silver at the Canadian Interprovincial Equestrian Championships with Finja (at the time owned by F. Haupt)

• 2014 – NAJYRC – FEI Junior Team Silver Medal with Finja (at the time owned by F. Haupt)

• 2015 – NAJYRC – FEI Junior Team Gold Medal with Denzel BC (at the time owner by D. Marvin)

• 2016 – NAJYRC FEI Junior Individual and Freestyle Silver Medals with Fleur de Lis L (owned by L. Leatherdale)

• 2017 – won the Young Rider division at the Florida International Youth Dressage Championships with Fleur de Lis L and travelled with her mom to Europe with Fleur to compete in Denmark, Hagen (where she was on the podium for the Young Rider Freestyle), England and back to Germany.

Vanessa is a dedicated, serious and talented young rider. With these successes, she is off to a great start. We wish her all the best and look forward to following her progress as she strives to achieve her training and competition goals.

Equestrian Canada Launches Am I Ready Program for Dressage Affiliates Equestrian Canada (EC) is pleased to introduce the Am I Ready Program, created as a tool for EC Dressage Affiliates to receive feedback from certified officials without leaving the comfort of their home stable. Am I Ready features an online portal that allows athletes to record their performances of EC Dressage Tests at their own stable, and upload the videos for review and evaluation from an EC certified dressage judge. Tests of all levels can be uploaded, from Training to FEI.

Available exclusively to EC Dressage Affiliates, Am I Ready is a user-friendly, cost-effective and convenient development resource for Canadian dressage athletes from coast-to-coast - or anywhere in the world! A digital video recorder (or even simply a smartphone or tablet) and internet access is all that is needed to take advantage of the following benefits:

• Real-World Feedback: Athletes and their personal coaches can review test feedback from EC certified dressage judges and identify areas for improvement.

• Competition Preparation: Those looking to enter EC sanctioned competitions for the first time, or advance to a higher level of competition, can get a leg-up on preparation by implementing judge feedback at home before entering the ring.

• Development Opportunities: Those who don’t have access to competitions in their geographic area can receive formal evaluations from EC sanctioned dressage judges without leaving their stable.

To get started, download the Am I Ready User Guide today:

Am I Ready - User Guide The Am I Ready Program is free to all Dressage Affiliates. You can pay your dressage affiliate fee through the EC office by contacting: Mika North mnorth@equestrian.ca, or Kate Simpson ksimpson@equestrian.ca.

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Where are they Now? Ten years ago Jade Deter was coming off the 2007 season with her “very special horse” named Mastermind, ranked as the number one North American Junior Rider. She was a triple gold medalist at the 2007 NAJYRC. In 2008 she was named to the Canadian Young Rider Team and that year the

Team went on to earn bronze at NAJYRC. Her riding didn’t go unnoticed. She was offered working student positions in Germany with Klaus Balkenhol, and in the US with Steffen Peters. In addition, she received two full educational scholarships, one to a school in the US, and the other to Hartpury College in England. It should be noted one of the guest instructors at Hartpury is Carl Hester. Jade’s mantra of “work hard, take opportunities and never give up” sparked her to board a plane to England with her equine partner, Mastermind. Her goal was to train with Carl Hester. Jade was determined to make this happen. In fact, in December 2009 she sent him at text asking if she would be able to go work and train at his stable over the Christmas break. Out of the blue, just before Christmas, she received an unexpected call that she refers to as an “early Christmas present” from Carl Hester, inviting her and Mastermind to come and train with him for the eight-week break. “Over those two months I developed a special training relationship with Carl that I hope to keep with him forever. Carl said I was welcome back anytime,” explained Jade. Between summer and fall semesters in 2010, another lucky opportunity came by way of one of Jade’s sponsors, Sherry Belton, who knew William Fox-Pitt. Sherry arranged for Jade to work with William’s horses and a number of eventing riders, including Angus Humfrey, who competes at the 3* level. In 2011, Jade partnered with Angus and formed AJ Sport Horses. AJ Sport Horses has flourished and now has over 30 horses. Jade’s days are full – between managing an emerging breeding program, riding and training horses, and

coaching students, she doesn’t have much spare time. However, she still takes the opportunity to be coached by Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin or Gareth Hughes when available. Her breeding program has resulted in recent travel to Holland for the KWPN Stallion show, where both stallions and their offspring are showcased. Jade is planning the breeding for three of her mares. She is excited by breeding prospects for the future. She is equally excited to encourage young students. “We currently have a student from Canada who is going to do her first season of eventing this year in the UK. I encourage any young riders who have the opportunity to come to Europe to do so.” As for Mastermind, he is now 23 and enjoys hacking around the English countryside. We can’t wait to catch up with Jade in another 10 years and find out what she’s up to! Events Calendar Dressage Youth Workshop - Mental Preparation and Test Visualization Clinician: Jacqueline Brooks, Canadian Olympian Date: May 18, 2018 Location: Ottawa Dressage Festival, Wesley Clover Parks, Nepean, ON Registration: Opening March 2018 Interactive test walk (without horses). The athletes will work with the clinician directly, using visualization techniques to explain their preparation for each movement and what they are thinking about in preparation as they approach each movement. Dressage Adult Amateur Workshop -- Mental Preparation and Test Visualization Clinician: Elizabeth Steacie, Canadian High Performance Athlete Date: May 18, 2018 Location: Ottawa Dressage Festival, Wesley Clover Parks, Nepean, ON Registration: Opening March 2018 Interactive test walk (without horses). The athletes will work with the clinician directly, using visualization techniques to explain their preparation for each movement and what they are thinking about in preparation as they approach each movement.

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Dressage Judge Updating/Promotion Clinic Clinicians: Cara Whitham, Retired FEI 5* Dressage Judge Dates: Aug. 24-26, 2018 Location: Anderson's Ranch - south of Calgary, AB Registration: Opening March 2018 Dressage Levy Performance Advantage Symposium Dates: Nov. 17-18 Location: High Point Equestrian Centre www.highpointec.ca/contact-us Registration: Opening April 2018 New and Promoted Officials 2018 Dressage Judges - ecorded NEW

Susan Carr ON

Dressage Judges - Basic PROMOTED

Camilla Giffen ON

Janet Henderson ON

Dressage Judges - Medium PROMOTED

Claude Diotte QC

Ron King ON

Lynne Poole ON

Dressage Judges - Senior PROMOTED

Ellen King QC

Dressage Stewards

Heather Findlay NB Senior PROMOTED

Michelle Taplin ON Senior PROMOTED

Lynne Poole ON Medium PROMOTED

Patrick Dunn BC Basic NEW

Sarah Laxton BC Basic NEW

Joan Weir BC Basic NEW

Ann Nicholls ON Basic NEW

Volunteer of the Month In late 2014, the EC Dressage Committee (known at the time as the Dressage Canada Committee) decided to widen the scope of recognition for the amazing volunteers who tirelessly work to keep the sport of dressage growing.

For many years there had been an annual Dressage Canada volunteer award for which nominations were sought. But as a volunteer supported organization, it was felt that there were so many dedicated volunteers in their own local areas who whilst appreciated, were rarely recognized publicly. A monthly recognition program was set up starting in early 2015 with the very first recipient being Wendy Christoff from Delta, BC, on her retirement from the Dressage Canada Committee and as the DC Coaching Committee Chair. Since then, volunteers from across the country have been nominated and recognized by their peers almost every month.

Any EC Dressage Affiliate may nominate a volunteer or group of volunteers who have contributed to the growth of dressage, whether as an organizer, committee member, entry secretary, scribe, scorer, grounds-person or in any other volunteering capacity that has made a difference to the sport. The volunteering can have occurred at a competition, clinic, fun day, seminar, meeting or any function related to dressage. Because so many family members and friends support dressage, the volunteer does not need to be an EC Sport Licence Holder. The volunteer will be recognized with a handsome certificate, lapel pin and recognition on the EC website and official EC social media channels.

At the same time the Volunteer of the Month program was set up, a tragic event prompted the dedication of the annual volunteer award to the MH Lessard Volunteer of the Year Award to honour the memory of Marie Helen Lessard (known as MH). To those who did not know MH, she is described as being passionate about sharing her love of horses - whether as a competitor, coach, steward, judge, bilingual announcer or show organizer. Her cheerfulness and zest for life was infectious and carried through to her involvement as a member of the EC Competitions Committee and former Dressage Canada Committee, Chair of the former Dressage Canada Competitions Committee and Sport Council Competitions Committee, as well as an EC Learning Facilitator.

All recognized volunteers of the month are included in the annual nominations for the MH Lessard Volunteer of the Year Award.

If you know of a volunteer who you believe deserves recognition, nominations are quick and easy through the EC website. Following is a photo presentation of all of the 2017 Volunteers of the Month.

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2017 Dressage Volunteer of the Month Recipients

January

Anne Welch

February

Erin James

March

Winona (Noni) Hartvikson (left)

April

Audrey Kokesch

May

Jill Irving

June

Jan Simmonds

July

Angie Szokol

August

Alison Martin

September

Dressage Prince Edward Island

October

Symposum Riders

November December

Jean Duckering