Within the past month, The Dressage Foundation awarded a total of $3,800 in grants to provide support to young riders. A grant of $1,800 was given to young rider Arianna Barzman-Grennan (CA) and $2,000 was provided to Dressage4kids, for the Emerging Dressage Athlete Program.

The Renee Isler Dressage Support Fund provided an $800 scholarship to Arianna, and the Foundation also provided a $1,000 general grant to help defray the costs of participating as a demonstration rider in the USDF Symposium, held in Del Mar, California on December 3rd-4th. Jeremy Steinberg, USEF Youth Coach, invited Arianna to ride in the symposium after working with her at the Region 7 USDF Jr/YR Clinic.

Arianna was the youngest participant in the symposium, and also the only one riding a Quarter Horse. She rides and competes Red Alert, owned by Summer Hensley, at First Level. "Being invited to participate in a symposium like this is something I never dreamed I would get the opportunity to do," said Arianna. "I had never ridden at a venue so large or in front of so many people, but I was eager to attend. Getting to ride at the symposium was an amazing opportunity. A thank you is very much in order to The Dressage Foundation for their help with the grants."

The Renee Isler Dressage Support Fund also awarded a $2,000 grant to Dressage4kids, for this week's Emerging Dressage Athlete Program National Horsemastership Clinic, being held in Wellington, FL. This is the first National Clinic for the program, which was developed by Lendon Gray, with help from Robert Dover and Courtney Dye, to help find, educate, and develop talented youth to become the international riders and trainers of the future. Lendon said, "This clinic is a first of its kind for the dressage world and we hope it is just the beginning of a great program for the dressage youth of America."

"We continue to have the ability to provide funding support to dressage riders because of generous donors," said Jenny Johnson, Administrative Director of The Dressage Foundation. "We simply cannot thank our donors enough for allowing us to give financial help to deserving individuals and groups."

For more information about The Dressage Foundation and the Renee Isler Dressage Support Fund, please contact Jenny Johnson at (402) 434-8585 or visit www.dressagefoundation.org.

The Dressage Foundation

The Dressage Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, tax-exempt, donor-driven organization that is dedicated to supporting and advancing the sport of dressage. The organization solicits contributions, appropriately allocates the donations, and awards grants and scholarships to dressage riders of all ages and levels. For more information, please visit www.dressagefoundation.org.