For the second year in a row Friesian horses from all over the United States converged at the very center of the country in beautiful Lake St. Louis, MO. One horse and rider, Bernhard and Christiane Henrichs even traveled all the way from Germany to compete in a variety of classes, winning among others, the Prix St George test in dressage.
This year the event was held in honor of International Friesian Show Horse Association (IFSHA) founder and longtime breeder Dr. Genevieve de Montremare who passed this year after a long and brave battle with cancer. It was indeed a sad year for IFSHA and its members as within a few short months we lost several friends in a short span of time. Classes at the show were held in memory of Jim Mosebrook, Pamela Jackson and Anita Mellott. All were great supporters of the breed and will be sadly missed.
Among the top patrons and corporate sponsors of the event were Sandra Surber, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), Horsedigests.com and Ramardinc.com, who through their generous donations made the show possible. IFSHA is happy to announce that despite the current economic status that the show was actually bigger by five horses than last year.
The Honorable Mellissa Creswick officiated for dressage and the dressage sport horse breeding in-hand portion of the show on Wednesday, which for the first time had its own day and arena in the schedule. Creswick currently competes on a Friesian horse in United States Dressage Federation competition, and her positive comments were truly appreciated.
Thursday began the National and World competition in the performance and in-hand divisions with the Honorable Suzanne Perkins, Joanne Crockett and Richard Obenauf officiating. Cecile Hetzel-Dunn made sure everyone followed the Federation rules while special guest Karen Homer-Brown represented USEF and all its programs.
American Driving Society driving judge Lore Homer was the call judge in all carriage driving classes and graciously answered all related questions asked by competitors.
In what has become a tradition of sorts, the Friday night exhibitor’s party was hosted by Lance Bennett and Joan Fernandez of Friesian Focus with Annika Bruggeworth and Kim Deola of Siren Song Stable hosting festivities on Saturday night.
A great addition this year to the World Show was the performances on Friday and Saturday nights of the “Lords of the Ring” exhibition directed by Susan Dyer-de Boer. Spectators packed the seats each night to watch both the competition and later the spectacular exhibitions.
Saturday afternoon brought the membership together in a very informative and successful annual membership meeting where much was discussed. The new Board of Directors were introduced and they are: Sandra Surber, Lance Bennett, Tammy Hildreth, Deb Goldmann, Gareth Selwood, Regine Brockway and Karl Hirshhorn. Following the general membership meeting the new officers were elected by the board and they are: President—Tammy Hildreth, Vice President—Lance Bennett, Treasurer—Deb Goldmann, Secretary—Regine Brockway. Gareth A Selwood will again be the manager of the World Show in 2009. Locations for the 2009 show are now being considered and the chosen location will be announced in early December. For more information, please visit www.friesianshowhorse.org.