Lexington, Ky. - Nineteen promising dressage athletes took part in USEF Dressage Observation and Strategy Sessions over two weeks in November. As Big and Small Tour combinations worked with USEF Chef d’Equipe/ Technical Advisor Robert Dover at the USET Foundation Headquarters in Gladstone, N.J., November 3-4 and at Epona Farms in Thousand Oaks, Calif., November 12-13.

"These back-to-back sessions were a huge boost to my certainty that America is growing infinitely in its depth of top, world-class combinations in both the Small and Big Tours,” said Dover. “There is an obvious feeling of optimism and excitement in the air across our nation as we head into 2015 and the Pan American Games, as well as the Olympic Games in 2016.”

The following combinations took part in the Gladstone Sessions:

Heather Blitz (Medfield, Mass.) and her own Paragon
Allison Brock (Loxahatchee, Fla.) and Claudine Kundrun’s Rosevelt
Jane Hannigan (Harvard, Mass.) and Ruling Cortes LLC’s Ruling Cortes
Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (Reston, Va.) and her own Rassing’s Lonoir
Silva Martin (Unionville, Pa.) and the Rosa Cha W Syndicate’s Rosa Cha W
Cesar Parra (White House Station, N.J.) with Michael and Sarah Davis’ Van the Man and Simply Nymphenburg
Sara Spofford (Watertown, Va.) and her own Lagrima
Alice Tarjan (Frenchtown, N.J.) with her own Elfenfeuer

The following combinations took part in the Thousand Oaks Sessions:

Beth Ball (Cardiff, Calif.) and Cadence LLC’s Liaison and Avanti
Jan Ebeling (Moorpark, Calif.)and Ann Romney, Amy Ebeling and Beth Meyer’s Rassolini
Leslie Morse (Hidden Hills, Calif.) and her own King’s Excalibur and King’s Ruby
Allison Nimmo Dechant (Littleton, Colo.) and Deborah Carter’s Rufus
Shannon Peters (San Diego, Calif.) and Jen Hlavacek’s Weltino’s Magic
Steffen Peters (San Diego, Calif.) and Four Winds Farm’s Legolas 92 and Rosamunde
Michelle Reilly (Encinitas, Calif.) and Sharon Roberts’ Umeeko
Rebecca Rigdon (Encinitas, Calif.) and Tessa Matheson’s Versace
Guenter Seidel (Cardiff, Calif.) and Erin Boddaert’s Zero Gravity and his own Rey del Mundo
Nick Wagman (San Diego, Calif.) and Beverly Gepfer’s Don Johnson
Dawn White O’Connor (Cardiff, Calif.) and Carla Hayes’ Aristo