Marion Quigley is the Chef d’Equipe & Co-Coordinator for the Area 1 Young Riders program. Marion was kind enough to send us a report from Area I’s training camp at the hunter/jumper show at HITS, Saugherties. Many thanks to Marion for writing this and thank you for reading.
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Area 1 Young Riders NAJYRC Team Members spotted at HITS, Saugherties!
From Marion Quigley:
HELLO EVENTING NATION!!
No, its not what you think! These eventers have not converted to Hunter/Jumpers! In fact they were at the HITS showgrounds for their training camp in preparation for NAJYRC in Kentucky. Due to the creative inspiration of Co-Coordinator, Nancy Marks, the Young Rider Camp conveniently was designed to coincided and intertwined with Lendon Gray’s Weekend Dressage Festival, thus allowing them access to the fabulous dressage judges, jump rings with great footing, and a chance to bond and work as team members.
Each of the girls got a chance to ride with Beth Barrett for a fix-a-test session on the first day of camp. The second day found them in jumping lessons with team coach, Mikki Kuchta in the morning, and an excellent grooming clinic with Bridgette Kuchta at lunch time, and Jog outfit shopping in the afternoon, after their volunteer session in the main tent for the D4K little ones. The third day was Cross country day, and the gang packed up and headed over to CS&W Farm in Germantown, NY.
Much thanks to CS&W for allowing us to use this fabulous venue, and a huge amount of gratitude to Lendon Gray for her generosity and helpfulness! We will defininately be back next year. The feedback from the riders was that the camp could have been longer! We are hoping to go back next year and also compete in the Dressage Festival as well. What a wonderful opportunity for the riders! And also a huge thank you to Mikki for being such a great and committed coach! We are lucky to have you!
The Area 1 Young Rider Program has grown stronger with more depth in the last year. We have 6 girls qualified and competing this year at NAJYRC in the one-star. We are so proud of each of them, they have worked very hard to get this far, several have overcome huge hurdles! Good Luck to Hanah Forte and Brisco Bay, Jennifer Lyford and Grey Expectations, Emily Mainolfi and Tacaro, Janelle Phaneuf and Irish Ike, Shannon Quigley and Don’t Be Alarmed, and Coleen Shaugnessy and Wynthrop.
Now, its time to pack for Kentucky!
