| Susan
Walker |
| California |
Kalibre
Dutch WB Gelding |
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Susan Walker & Kalibre, Dutch Warmblood
Dutch Warmblood High Point Perpetual Trophy Winners
10/09/03
USDF has posted the year-end rankings for 2003, and we at Rancho Los
Amigos/German Dressage have a lot to be proud of:
Susan Walker and Kalibre are ranked #1 in the Junior/Young Rider
Division for the United States at Second Level, and were only
outscored by a single Adult Amateur, and 14 Open Division riders at
Second Level. Way to go, Susan!
Jennifer Hoffmann and Petit Danseur are ranked #4 at Prix St.
Georges, and #5 at Intermediaire-1 for the United States.
Jennifer is ranked #7 at Intermediaire-1 with Facet.
Jennifer is one of only 2 riders to have 2 horses in the Top 10 in the
same FEI Level (Jan Ebeling was 6th and 8th and Intermediaire-1),
making this an incredible achievement. Petit Danseur is owned by
Georgia Griffiths.
The All Breeds Awards (awards given within individual breeds, rather
than overall) will not be announced until later this month.
We made it to Championships safely, and our horses are looking great
in the workouts. Susan had a warm-up class today (judged, but
not part of the Championships), with a beautiful ride. It was a
mixed Jr/Adult Amateur Class, in which she placed second.
Jennifer will be riding Herzberg in her Musical Freestyle tomorrow,
and Facet and Petit Danseur in the Intermediaire-1, and Susan will
ride Kalibre in the first leg of the CDS Adult Amateur Second Level
competition.
Gay Walker
Gay Walker's
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Jürgen Hoffmann
found Kalibre (a 10-yr-old, 16 hand Dutch Warmblood
gelding) for me in January of 2002. We started competing in
February,
and qualified for the California championships, Southern
California
junior championships, and the USDF region 7 championships.
We competed
at juniors doing first level 14 and under, and finished 2nd
with an
average score of 63%, which put us 4th out of all the
juniors. We then
went to the CDS/USDF championships, finishing 3rd in the 1st
level
Amateur CDS with a median score of 66% out of 28 riders.
With a 68%, we
received the High Score for a Dutch Warmblood in a CDS horse
of the
year class at any level, amateur or open. We also finished
5th with a
score of 64% in the USDF first level jr/yr division. Our
median score
throughout the show season brought us 2nd place in the US
for Dutch
Warmbloods at 1st level Jr/Yr
I started riding 6 years ago at the age of 6 doing jumping.
Through my
jumping trainer, I went to a dressage clinic trying to
improve my
flatwork, and then ended up buying a little dressage pony
from Canada.
I worked with him for a little over a year, then decided
that I didn't
like his ornery attitude and the way he pulled on the bit,
and then
sold him. It was then that Jürgen found me Kalibre. I ride
4 or 5 days
a week, taking lessons for 3 or 4 of the days, and just
spoil Kalibre
rotten.
Susan |
And from Susan's
mother, Gay. Meet Susan and Gay at USDF
Portland.
I'll have my 12 year old daughter, Susan, along
with me this year. She and her horse, Kalibre, are receiving
Second for the Dutch at First Level. They had a great year,
and won the Dutch Warmblood High Point Perpetual Trophy for
any level, any division (Open, Amateur or Junior/YR) at our
State
Championships, and she was 2nd in our Juniors at State, and
3rd in our
Adult Amateur Division. Not bad for a 12 year-old. Pardon
me, Mom got
a bit carried away bragging. It's so cool to have my
daughter to share
my addiction with. We have a Musical Freestyle on our agenda
for this
year.
I'll be back in the show ring this year. At least the year
off was
worth it; Quila's filly was ranked 3rd in the United States
with the
Rheinland-Pfalz-Saar Verband and is really quite a darling.
Now I just
have to wait and wait and wait until she's old enough to
ride. Mom in
the meantime is more fun than ever, and has me grinning.
--Gay
P.S. I was really really popular when I invited friends over
for
dinner and to watch WEG. When I buy the rest of the dressage
videos at
the convention, I don't think I'll be able to stand myself,
I'll be so
popular. But I'll manage somehow. Great job! You get better
every
time, which surprises me because there seemed so little room
for
improvement.
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