2012 IDA National Championships
The dressage team returned from Centenary College in New
Jersey late last night from the IDA National Championships. The team arrived in
New Jersey Thursday evening after a day of driving. Delaware Valley and
Cazenovia College also contributed to the horse pool and on Friday morning the
team observed all the horses being ridden for the horse selection committee who
designate the groupings of horses. Videos were taken of all the horses for
scrutiny after the horse draw. Friday afternoon was an opportunity to visit the Beval tack store to shop for
some bargains.
The IDA annual meeting and horse draw took place at the host
hotel that evening and the team was excited to draw horse group C. After
business and dinner everyone was entertained by a hypnotist who very tastefully
provided an excellent distraction from the gradually building tension of the
competition.
Saturday was an early start with the parade of horses at
7:30 followed by the Opening Ceremonies. First level rider Lindsey Agaliotis
had the third ride on her horse and had the opportunity of observing his first
two tests before mounting. Lindsey rode a solid test ending with an average
score from the two judges of 69.05%.
Next up was Lauren Parker for St. Andrews who had the second ride on her
horse. Lauren rode more conservatively than Lindsey for an average score of
66.6%. Paige Tillison drew the first ride on her horse turning in an average
score of 63.85%. Last to ride for St. Andrews was Jenna Marten who was also the
last ride of the day. Jenna rode beautifully to earn a score of 72.81%.
The competition is followed by a parade of teams for the
presentation of prizes. Lindsey, Lauren and Paige all knew their placings
within their divisions but Jenna’s division was not posted prior to the awards
ceremony so the tension built. The individual placings were awarded with
Lindsey placing 7th, Lauren 12th and Paige 10th.
The introductory level division started with the lower placings and the St. Andrews group became more and more excited as they were counted down. Finally
Jenna’s name was called for 2nd place! We found out later that she
was reserve high point champion for team day which earned her another ribbon
and additional prizes! There is no drop score at Nationals so at the end of the
day St. Andrews had 21 points earning them 7th place. “Mission accomplished,”
said Coach Dwelle, “our goal was 7th or better!”
Sunday’s individual competition started early and the only
rider that qualified as an individual was Lindsey Agaliotis riding at first
level. Lindsey drew an F.E.I level horse which was 17.2 hands and massive. She
was also the first ride on the horse. Her warm up went well but Lindsey who is
just 5’2” and had never ridden a horse trained to this level had a difficult
time with the large horse in the competitive arena when he became distracted
and spooky. Lindsey kept her composure through what was a very frustrating ride. The experience was another reminder of how
humbling horses can be. “I was very disappointed for Lindsey,” said Coach
Dwelle, “she has never ridden a horse trained to that level and in the 10
minutes of warm up it is very difficult to learn how to do that. Lindsey
handled the situation with exceptional grace and I am very proud of how she
represented us in what was an extremely trying situation. Had she drawn any of
the other horses she would have had a much stronger ride, but that is horses
for you, they can be very humbling and you have to be prepared to be dealt that
card once in a while. Lindsey showed yesterday how well she can ride, I am very
proud of her and all the team members they were wonderful ambassadors for St.Andrews.”
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