Exciting Show Results by Woodlands Equestrian Club’s riders

Dear friends,

I wanted to share exciting news with all of you. Woodlands Equestrian Club team is proud to count with great Dressage competitors among their students and trainers, as they showed at their performance last weekend (April 26th – 28th) at the Houston Dressage Society Spring I & II and CDI3* USDF Region 9. Let me start with the lowest Dressage levels.

On the training levels of the recognized show, Katie Bortel, WEC’s Dressage Assistant obtained an outstanding 70,2% with the P.R.E. Stallion Lulapon at his first show ever! He is turning 5 this year and has a promising Dressage career. His future owner will be a lucky rider since Lulapon is available for purchase. His test here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-D9mNH3lbs

Marta Renilla, WEC’s Dressage Director also debuted a young prospect. WEC’s Rhustler, a 4 year old Hannoverian who obtained a 72% on Sunday, making the 2nd place on the Open division! Great job! Another young horse’s first time on the competitions arenas was Sheriff, owned and ridden by Anartz Chanca, Marta’s fiancé. They both debuted in a Dressage show, obtaining a 66% on his Friday test! Anartz has been training Sheriff since January under Marta’s instruction. Both rider and horse have a bright Dressage future ahead. Keep the good work! 16 year-old McKaela Hodge, student of WEC’s trainer Amy Jacobs did a very nice test and obtained the 3rd place on Sunday with her horse Shreck in the Amateur division. Well done!

Moving to the Second Level, Katie Bortel rode again. This time her own horse Stoli and placed 2nd in the Open Division. Very nice test!

Vincent & Aliado – 3rd Level

A newcomer to the US competitive arenas, but not to the Dressage championships in other  countries, is Marta’s student Vincent Flores, originally from France. He debuted Aliado on 3rd Level, placing 2nd in the Amateur division with a 68,33%. Aliado is a 7 year old P.R.E. Stallion imported from Spain and has been owned by Vincent since December. The pair is planning to compete in 4th level later this year. They will succeed for sure!

A beautiful mover showed his gaits on the 4th level tests. Marta Renilla competed with the elegant Lusitano Stallion, Anastasio and placed first and second during the weekend with a nice 68%. Anastasio belongs to Jorge Canavati and is currently for sale. A truly treasure! His test here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w06OZAJ0MCw

The Prix St George happened early during the 3 day-show and with great results for Woodlands Equestrian Club.

Sandy Locke competed during the three days in the Amateur division with her dear Rocky, a 14 year old Dutch Warmblood gelding, placing first on Friday and Sunday and second on Saturday! Her Sunday result was an outstanding 66,447%. Congratulations! Sandy and Rocky rock!

Also in Prix St. George, Marta Renilla competed in the Open Division, WEC’s Mistico, a truly Grand Prix prospect. After debuting Prix St. George in Wellington last month, at 7 years old, this Andalusian Gelding that Marta has been training for 3 years, showed amazing movements and placed first on Sunday with a well deserved 71,84%. Marta is training him already in Intermediate I and believes he will be an outstanding Grand Prix horse very soon.

Marta & Presumido at the Awards Ceremony after their CDI 3*

There is no doubt that the highlight of the weekend, were the CDI 3* tests. Miss Renilla, International Grand Prix competitor, represented Spain with the 10 year-old P.R.E. Stallion Presumido in the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle, being this last one the top event of Saturday night activities. Four International judges gave Marta and Presumido a 70.125; 72,750; 71,125; 71,5% and 64,125; obtaining an average of 69,925%. They both have been dancing together for 4 years, since he was only a 6 year-old with promising Dressage endeavors, and today, after four CDI 3* and many hours of training, they showed us the real beauty of the sport that we all love.  Enjoy her performance in this video from last Saturday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbczorIx01

On a separate note, WEC’s Riding School students are also doing great at local schooling shows! This past Sunday they obtained 8 Blue ribbons in the Hunters/Jumpers Schooling Show at Snowdo nia Farms. Nicole Chambers, one of our youngest and most promising students was the ultimate champion with 3 Blue Ribbons! Jeremy Montemarano, Mariana Beltran, Nicole Brunel, Olivia Delucca, Gabriela Vazquez also obtained first and second positions. Congratulations!

Good job WEC’s team!

YVONNE VISSER, FORMER FEI JUDGE VISITS FROM SPAIN TO OFFER A DRESSAGE CLINIC AT WOODLANDS EQUESTRIAN CLUB

June 8^th and 9^th 2013 / 10422 Hufsmith Rd., Tomball TX 77375 – Woodlands Equestrian Club is proud to host a Dressage Clinic with an outstanding Dressage figure, Yvonne Visser.  Besides the clinic, Yvonne will delight us with a Lecture on “History and Present of the P.R.E. Breed in Dressage and its Training”.

 Yvonne Visser was born in NY, USA, but moved to Spain at an early age and joined the Spanish Cavalry School in Madrid, considered one of the best in Europe. She took the first course for National Dressage Judges in 1976 and she was part of its first promotion. She then trained  with top European Judges such as Wolfgang Niggli, then head of the Dressage Department of the FEI, followed by Eric Lette and Mariette Whittages.

In 1991, Yvonne became an International FEI Judge. Since then she has judged all top national and international Dressage competitions in Spain including the 3* CDI’s of the Sunshine Tour since its inauguration, 6 CDIO’s in Hickstead, England, Saumur, France, Asti, Italy,  several top national competitions in Germany , a CDI *** in Sau Paulo, Brasil, etc. She later took the first course in Warendorf, Germany, to specialize in the training and judging of young horses and since 2008 she has made several trip to Brasil as a Dressage clinician.

She has  trained with Juan Antonio Jimenez, one of the Spanish Team Members to win the Silver Medal in the Athens Olympics. Her training is based on the International Training Scale for Horses: Rhythm, relaxation and contact (acceptance of the bit), impulsion, straightness and collection, which is a must for all horses, no matter what discipline they want to compete in and the only way to train a horse to be supple, obedient and on the aides. This Scale has been recognized as the best training tool available to make a horse supple, on the bit and accepting the aides willingly and without resistance.

In 2011 she retired as an FEI Judge in 2011, but still judges in regional Dressage and Eventing competitions and she is an active Technical Delegate for Spanish Equestrian Federation. She also has been invited to join a project for training Lusitano and Spanish (P.R.E.) in central Europe in order to promote these breeds for International competitions.

For more information on Yvonne’s Bio and registration, please visit:

www.woodlandsequestrianclub.com/eventsCOMINGUP or email ana@woodlandsequestrianclub.com

INTERVIEW TO MARTA RENILLA, WEC’S DRESSAGE DIRECTOR

1. Marta can you introduce yourself, what you did in Spain, where you were born, your mother and the horses, your results in competition, why you left Spain, how ? Your studies in Houston, how you created Woodlands, who had the idea ?

My name is Marta Renilla and I am a professional Dressage Grand Prix trainer. I was born in Leon, Spain, 29 years ago and studied a Business Degree in Madrid while sharing my life with this wonderful sport. I lived my mother’s passion for horses all my childhood and together we moved from jumping to Dressage thanks to our Swedish trainer Lena Örtendahl. She adviced us on a Dressage horse, and that’s when we met our dear Isenbrant, the Hannoverian that would take me to the European Championships and Grand Prix levels. My mother and I trained him together and she let me the competing activities. (2000-2004). Spanish Team as Junior & Young Rider; * National Spanish Championships (2000-2004). Gold and Silver medal as Junior and Young Rider *  Madrid Championships (2000-2004). Gold Meal as Junior & Young Rider. From 2004 to 2009 my passion became my profession and I started to train clients’ horses and compete Isenbrant professionally in Grand Prix in Spain and later in the US.

Woodlands Equestrian Club surged from a dream…. My mother had been training Dressage in Mexico and US while I continued my competitions and studies in Spain. But in 2006 she passed away on a horse. This horrible tragedy made me move to US to be close to my father and after a couple of years my father, sister and I started developing the idea of creating a Dressage training facility , focusing on the Pure Spanish Breed, despite my Isenbrant is Hannoverian, due to their gentle personality and skills for Dressage. And since we’re from Spain, it made sense to focus on PRE ;s than in any other breed.

2. You were one of the best young riders in Spain.And you left fort he States. Any regret? How is your life there? Absoluetely not. I’m the happiest girl of the world. I have dozens of horses to train, 3 gorgeous dogs and I live with my fiance Anartz, who happens to be an amateur rider. I didn’t plan to be here, but now that it happened, I couldn’t ask life for more!

3. Describe one of your daily life  I start riding my first horse at 8. We have a great staff that helps tacking and untacking horses which makes my training much more productive. I normally start with Presumido. He is the main stallion of a local stud farm that I’ve been training since he was 6 all the up to Gran Prix. He and I have obtained ythe Grand Prix Champions’s title for the region 9 for two years in a row (5 states of the South). I then continue with Mistico, our 6 year old that I’m planning to take to Grand Prix. He has so much talent, he’s already competing in 4th level!

I have Dressage assistants and students that normally ride at the same time, so I can supervise their work. Around 1 I finish riding, take a quick bite and a shower and I start teaching from the ground to our boarders. I use a long distance radio system that makes extremelly easy teaching for hours. When I have a gapp, I join my sister Ana at the club’s office and answer her invoicing questions, we talk about projects, the operation, horses for sale, etc.

4. Now you train, teach and compete. What can you say about competing in USA ? Is it different from Spain, the level ? It is different. US is so large you don’t have national championships but they’re distributed in 5 states each. I miss competing in the same show with riders from every corner of Spain. The recognized shows are not comparable with European standards.have much higher level, only the CDI’s (international) you can feel the outstanding high levels

5. You are promoting PRE horses in Texas. Is it easy to convince American riders  to buy ?

The US buyers who know the breed, really appreciate them and the training we develop here at WEC. Since I carefully select those horses to have future among buyers, I have found a warm welcome in Houston and US in general. In addition, there are several large organizations that promote the breed  here in the US, so you couldn’t say the breed is completely unknown, it’s only less common in the Dressage competition arenas, and that’s my goal.

6. What do they like and dislike in PRE horses ?

As I mentioned, the breed is knowns, but motly for their beauty and gentleness.  It is interesting, observe the surprise of many of my students, who are long term dressage riders on one-bloods, when they try one of my horses and discover their unique movements

7. What do your clients do with the PRE horses they ride and buy? Dressage, jumping ?

Dressage mostly. Of course, I jump all of them as part of their training, but never competitively.

8. Where do you buy the horses you take to Texas ? What are your criteria ?

We don’t normally buy. Breeders send their horses over, sot hey can be exposed to potential clients. I look for the good movers and potential horses that my clients will like. I’m not concerned about the looks but about a  horse that has the natural balance, extensions and will that will make him

become either a champion or an intermediate Dressage level horse, who will be the perfect companion for amateur riders, the majority of my clients.

We have some contacts with several breeders in Spain that has sent us several horses already for sale. Mexico, California and Texan stud farms are most of our breeders.

9. You left Spain a few years ago, when you w

ere a successfull rider with a German horse. And now, I can only see you riding PREs on your website. What does it mean ? I have had the luck to compete PRE’s along my career. Their personality and ability for Dressage are just amazing.  I love one-bloods, I actually have 2 young Hannoverians who are my FEI prospects ! but since this business is a nich, we have focused on the breed that has the natural gaits so needed in Dressage and that comes from our home country.

10. What is you next challenge ? for 2013 and over ? My Dream would be to make it to the World Equestrian Games some day. As of now, I´m already competing CDI 3*. Once I have plenty of experience with them and my Grand Prix horse is more mature, I would like to think WEG as a possibility.

Isenbrant went with you there ? Did you compete with him ? Yes, I competed him in recognized shows in Grand Prix. He actually made me Gold Medal by the USDF (United States Dressage Federation). He’s almost 21 now and retired.

A NEW SPANISH HORSES DANCING EXHIBITION COMING UP!!

The day has come for you to be witness of a wonderful exhibition and gift for your eyes….

This free event will last 2 hours (3 p.m. – 5 p.m.) on Saturday, November 10th and will consist on: A Spanish Horses Quadrille based on the Royal School of Equestrian Arts of Jerez, Spain; A Spanish Horses Duo; Grand Prix Dressage Presentation; A Horse and dancer Exhibition ; Dressage/Jumping Demo, etc. with live music in some of the cases. There will be 20 business representing their services and donating and item/service for a raffle benefitting both Pin Oak Charity Horse Show and Snowdrop Foundation.

The exhibitions will be lead by the International Dressage Grand Prix Competitor Marta Renilla. This excellent athlete is United States Dressage Federation Gold Medal and 2011 and 2012 Region 9 Grand Prix Champion. Ms. Renilla is a former member of the European Regional Dressage Championships and is currently competing International Championships all over the US. Ms. Renilla is the Dressage Director and General Manager of Woodlands Equestrian Club, a Dressage Andalusians Training and Sales Facility in the North of Houston.

For more info Click here

THE GROWING PRESENCE OF THE P.R.E. IN THE DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Spanish horse in dressage can hold his own, as it has been shown in the Olympics and in a number of high level competitions all over the world. The P.R.E. Andalusians competing in dressage, present with elegance and ability in the areas of collection, piaffe and passage – areas which comprise a significant portion of the higher level dressage tests (FEI levels).

Especially in the favor of the Andalusians in dressage is the inherent temperament which permits them to handle both learning and the stresses of competition well.

The equilibrium and compression required for changes, pirouettes and the collected exercises of dressage are complementary with the spanish horse morphology, while their capacity for extensions becomes truly visible in the 6th year as the horse develops with correct training. The Spanish and Lusitano horses compete in the open horse world, against all other breeds, at all levels. There is a steadily growing number of PREs and Lusitanos presenting well in high level dressage where they are judged by International Rules, and at FEI levels.

Here in the US, a P.R.E. is a good example of FEI level presence. Under the direction of Marta Renilla, Presumido, from the training & sales facility Woodlands Equestrian Club in Houston, TX, has been ranked by the USDF (United Stated Dressage Federation) 3^rd nationally for his Grand Prix Freestyle results, showing the talent and sport abilities of the breed. At only 9 years old, this stallion has also shown internationally in CDI 3*, competing against outstanding European masters. Despite their natural ability, good training makes it key to produce competitive prospects and enjoyable schoolmasters, forward going andalusians, with soundly established basics.  More and more often, Dressage riders are realizing the ability of our breed and choose them to become their companion in the arena and as well as on the ground.

For more information on how to find Dressage Andalusians (from novice to FEI levels, visit Marta Renilla’s training & sales facility in Houston: www.WoodlandsEquestrianClub.com

Ana Renilla: ana@woodlandsequestrianclub.com

Marta Renilla & P.R.E. Presumido competing Grand Prix at the CDI 3* in Lexington. Summer 2012

WEC’s Dressage Director, Marta Renilla, will compete at the CDI3* Kentucky Show

Woodlands Equestrian Club is proud to have the outstanding Dressage competitor Marta Renilla as part of our team. Not only she has achieved the USDF Gold Medal but was also ranked 3rd in the Nation for her Grand Prix Freestyle results in 2011.

After the CDI 3* last month, another great accomplishment is on the way … Representing Spain, Marta will compete with the marvelous 9 year old Pure Spanish stallion Presumido in Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle at the 2012 CDI 3* Kentucky Show (at the Horse Park in Lexington, KY.)

We wish Marta and Presumido the best of lucks and in case you are around, here are their riding times!

MARTA´S RIDING TIMES:

CDI 3* FEI GRAND PRIX: 25 May @ 10:30 A.M.
CDI 3* FEI GRAND PRIX FREESTYLE: 26 May @ 7:30 P.M.

LOCATION: Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY

MARTA RENILLA, GRAND PRIX FREESTYLE CHAMPION AT INTERNATIONAL SHOW

Katy, TX. International Show… Marta Renilla showed up with Presumido, 8 yr old Pure Spanish stallion representing Spain and obtained the champion´s title in the Grand Prix Freestyle category. 

See the Awards Ceremony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFFIx_lRQaI

At the end of this month, the duo Marta-Presumido will compete in another CDI 3* in Lexington, KY. Good luck to both!