Dressage At Devon: Will I See You There?

FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS Dressage at Devon (DAD) has attracted top horses, riders, trainers, and judges. The entire experience is pure excitement for me; you work and compete to qualify, you work to be there, and then you arrive…

DAD is like nothing else. The shopping, the food, the beautiful arenas, seeing old friends, and making new ones. You find your stalls and head to the show office which is mobbed. On the way you see the arenas are already alive with the riders and their gorgeous horses, the shops, the restaurants are all already buzzing with people, the bar is busy, everyone is happy.

Kaytee Mountain (Tee) just loved that show. He lit up, ears were pricked and I swear he got taller! He took every moment in, walking around watching everything that was going on around him.  He was on fire the entire time we were at the show and it was pure joy riding him there.  Fürst Henning (see photo) and Express Charge also love the show, they are excited and full of energy, soaking up everything around them.
​
The warm up arena is a force to be reckoned with and not for the faint hearted, so exciting and so nerve wracking at the same time. All the beautiful riders and their beautiful horses around you, everyone looks gorgeous, every horse looks magnificent, it can be quite intimidating.  Warming up and waiting for your turn to ride through the entrance into the one and only Dixon Oval to compete is the greatest feeling…with your coaches’ last words of encouragement in your ears and your friends and family and colleagues cheering you on...it is such a very special place, filled with fond memories to be treasured forever.

__
Susan Gallagher with Fürst Henning; photo © Stacy Lynne Photography.