Posts Tagged ‘dressage’

We’ve got some thrilling news at EcoLicious Equestrian.  We’re honored and super excited to become a sponsor of a talented young three day eventer Lauren Kieffer from the O’Connor eventing team. Why Lauren? She understands the importance of making sustainable  & environmentally friendly choices and avoiding toxins and chemicals that conventional equine grooming products contain.

So who’s Lauren, where does she come from and what is she up to?

Lauren was born and raised in Mt. Carmel, Illinois. She fell in love with horses and began riding at the young age of six. She competed in several local hunter/jumper and 4-H shows before pursuing eventing at the age of 12, training at Susannah Lansdale’s barn in Evansville, Indiana. 

Lauren fell in love with eventing and started training with Karen and David O’Connor started in 2005 when her parents signed her up for the O’Connor Eventing Camp in Virginia. She then took up a working student position with them and then became their Resident Rider in 2008. For you who aren’t that familiar with the three day eventing scene Karen and David O’Connor are the IT and their numerable accomplishments include medals from Olympic Games in Atlanta and Sydney! Karen has been named US Female Equestrian Athlete of the Year ten times and, in 1993, was the number one ranked lady rider in the world. She received the Team Silver Medal at the Atlanta Olympics, riding Biko, and the Team Bronze Medal at the Sydney Olympics, aboard Prince Panache. David brought home the first eventing Gold Medal for the United States in more than a quarter of a century, when he clinched the individual eventing championship on Custom Made at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney with the best score in Olympic history. Alongside Karen, he and Giltedge helped the USET capture the Team Bronze Medal in Sydney, and the Team Silver in Atlanta.

And now back to Lauren. Here are some of her most notable achievements. Lauren has been named to the Developing Rider’s List every year since 2006 and was placed on the USEF B-List in 2009 after her top placing at the Jersey Fresh CCI***.  She also received the Markham Trophy the spring of 2007.  The trophy is given to the highest placed rider under the age of 21 at the USEF CCI*** Spring Championship.  She has many top placings in horse trials and FEI competitions, most recently completing the 2010 Rolex Kentucky CCI****.

Lauren is well known for her success with a variety of horses and for her natural approach in all her training techniques.

We asked Lauren to tell us a bit about her equine partners. She trains and competes about 15 horses, but according to her the two guys below are the most notable ones:

Snooze Alarm 12 year old chestnut Arabian gelding: North American Young Rider Championships team member 2005, 2006, and 2007; Named to Developing List 2007 and 2009; Named to USEF B- List 2009; 8^th at Jersey Fresh CCI*** 2009; 1^st Plantation Field Int 2009; 28^th at Rolex Kentucky CCI**** 2010; 1^st Richland Park Int 2010

 Ultra Tim 10 year old bay Thoroughbred gelding :Named to Developing List 2010; 2^nd Plantation Field CIC** 2009; Top 15 at Fairhill International CCI** 2009; Top 10 Millbrook HT Adv 2010.

We’ll be keeping you in the loop about Lauren and her accomplishments, so make sure to sign up for our blog!

Ride Green!
The EcoLicious Equestrian

Check out our full line of delicious, natural and green equine care & grooming products at www.ecoliciousequestrian.com

This week Durango & I went to Dressage Camp – 2 days of intense schooling sessions with clinicians from different parts of the country, lessons in hands-on equine stretching and show braiding followed by a schooling show.

Carolyn from Backstretch Equine Massage showed our horse enthusiast group how to stretch our horses’ muscles.  We were able to practice on our own horses and Durango really enjoyed his stretching session as well as the carrots that come with a couple of stretches.You can check out several how to stretching videos here from Horse Channel.

We learned how to braid Anky Style Sewn In Dressage Buttons.  Mellisa Bosma,
our mentor tried our In Control Braiding & Mane Setting Cream and loved the smell, the texture and the job it did. It’s a slightly sticky conditioning cream that eliminates fly-aways and moisturizes at the same time.  Unlike Quick Braid, In Control doesn’t dry out manes.

And the best part : if you have “helmet hair” you can use In Control to smooth your own do! Just remember to use only a little bit, it’s concentrated. Video with instructions on how to make your own Anky Braids  is coming soon.

Here’s Durango and I on the final day of the camp – the schooling show. In spite of couple of “on-course-errors” (yeah – I lost it TWICE! I blame it on the total lack of sleep) the judges feedback was very encouraging and we finally saw eights on the score sheet. Thanks judges for not letting us roast in our jackets!

Are you going to a horse camp this summer? Let me know…

Ride Green,

The EcoLicious Equestrian
Your Horse. Your Earth. Your Choice.

Check out our full line of earth friendly & all natural yet effective EcoLicious equine care & grooming products at www.ecoliciousequestrian.com

EcoLicious Equestrian is proud to support Dressage WPG in their efforts to develop & better dressage in MB. Due to health issues of my horses (they’re on the mend now getting conditioned and ready for the summer show season) I didn’t get to show.  After a torrential  down pour on Friday night, both Saturday and Sunday held up to the rain. The show grounds were busy not only with dressage, but also with Polo & Cutting shows.

This gorgeous boy “Unison” posing with Kim – his rider -  and our EcoLicious banner was groomed from head to toe with our EcoLicious products. Too bad the sun didn’t come up, you would see the dazzlingly blinding sheen.

We’re head over heels with Unison – a KWPN stallion imported from Netherlands. He’s not only stunning and an exceptionally talented animal, but he’s also a gentle teddy bear.  He’s a gem and I hope to breed my mare to him one day!

Check out couple more pics from the weekend.

Ride Green,

Team EcoLicious Equestrian
Your Horse. Your Earth. Your Choice.

Check out our full line of EcoLicious equine care & grooming products at www.ecoliciousequestrian.com