International Dreams become Reality for Marquis and Lily

Marquis de Matcho and Lily Zilo are pictured here moments after winning the Prix St. George with a score of 67% at the White Fences Dressage show on June 12, 2010. The winning score also completed her certificate of competency to compete in the 16th Asian Games in China this coming November. Lily and 'Paco', (owned by Jillian Costello of Gainesville Florida) will travel to China to compete for team Hong Kong. The two qualifying scores were earned in less than two months after Lily and Paco joined up as a team. I am very proud of their progress, thus far, and look forward to coaching them through the next few months.

My Summer at Camp

The summer went by quickly for me as I taught 38 kids how to ride at a beautiful facility on Raquette Lake in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains in NY. More than half of the little ones had never ridden a horse, but by the end of July they were at least trotting on their own. Much thanks is owed to the gentle creature pictured here. He is a 21 year old purebred Arabian ( Skusic ++/)gelding with my 6 yr old granddaughter, Arienne, astride. I also had my niece, Alivia, with me who rode every day and was quite comfortable in the saddle by the third week. I will treasure the memories and photos of these two for some time to come, as they live more than 4 hours away from me and I almost never get to teach them to ride, and pass along the passion that I share for horses.