The American Morgan Horse Institute (AMHI) is proud to announce that Lucy Tidd of Germantown, MD, is the recipient of the 2009 van Schaik Dressage Scholarship.

The goal of the van Schaik Scholarship is to support and encourage equestrians of dressage to advance to the fourth level and above. The scholarship honors Dr. H.L.M. van Schaik who worked to preserve the classical art of horsemanship in dressage. To Dr. van Schaik, the classical art utilizes gentleness, psychology, and the horse’s innate qualities to develop a horse that is useful, willing, and correct in his work. To preserve and encourage the classical methods, Dr. van Schaik promulgated, the AMHI makes an annual award of $1,000 to a Morgan individual wishing to further his or her skill, knowledge, and proficiency in classically ridden dressage. The scholarship award is used to further the training and education of the recipient. Eligible expenses include instruction, travel, and living expenses directly related to receiving instruction. The recipient attests that he or she will continue to pursue dressage training on a Morgan for the duration of the scholarship.

Tidd has been involved with Morgans for more than 25 years. "I have always enjoyed the outgoing, enthusiastic attitudes of my Morgans. I strongly believe that they have the ability to be great dressage horses and would love to see them better recognized for these traits, especially in the upper levels," she said. Competing with GKB Coal Magic, Tidd and Coal’s highest score was 66.25% at Lexington in 2009.

Tidd will use the scholarship monies to continue her training with the ultimate goal to be competitive at grand prix.