By Phelps Media Group
The program was created by friends and family of Burr to promote and perpetuate good horsemanship in younger equestrians in 2002, and has been held at the USEF Pony Final National Championships solely until now. Children participating take a written horsemanship test, based on their age group. The winners of the written test in each age group then take a hands-on horsemanship test. The four winners, one from each age group, receive a monetary grant towards furthering their education or offsetting equestrian related costs.

Barbara Cherry, who will chair the program, with the aid of volunteers from the Fairfield County Hunt Club, said, “We are very proud that the Fairfield County Hunt Club June Horse Show was selected by the USEF for the Emerson Burr program. Emerson influenced so many young lives, and old, for over fifty years at the Club and across the equestrian sport.”

Those who knew Emerson knew that horsemanship always came first. The children he led to victories, the ponies he led with a gentle hand and the countless people whose lives he touched, can testify to the legend he created in his own time. Awarded the USEF Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999, he was an outstanding equestrian whose lifetime experiences and accomplishments exemplified uncommon devotion to the sport and whose equestrian career and horsemanship continually elevated the sport’s excellence.

The USEF Emerson Burr Horsemanship Awards Program has been a grant recipient of The EQUUS Foundation since the inception of The EQUUS Foundation, an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit fund raising organization, founded in August 2002, to promote the positive use of the horse for the benefit of the general public and the equestrian sport as a whole. In just three years, EQUUS has awarded over $350,000 in grants, benefiting thousands of horses and people, thanks to the generosity of its many individual and corporate donors.

The EQUUS Foundation will hold its Benefit Luncheon and Silent Auction on Saturday, June 24, 2006, in conjunction with the $25,000 Fairfield Grand Prix, the culminating event of the five-day horse show.

EQUUS President, Lynn Coakley, said, “This will be the fourth Luncheon at the Hunt Club to benefit The EQUUS Foundation, and we hope for great success. The funds raised will be awarded to 28 worthy charities and help thousands of people and horses.”

In order to raise funds, The EQUUS Foundation is seeking individuals and businesses throughout the equestrian community to assist with their gracious generosity, either through cash donations, in-kind donations, auction donations or sponsorships. Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

For additional information on the The EQUUS Foundation Benefit Luncheon & Silent Auction on Saturday, June 24, 2006, contact The EQUUS Foundation, Inc., 168 Long Lots Rd., Westport, CT 06880, or call (203) 259-1550, or e-mail [email protected].


~~~