DressageDaily: Zada Enterprises, LLC Committed To Promoting Dressage At The National

Sunday November 16, 2003

Zada Enterprises, LLC Committed To Promoting Dressage At The National

Well-known sponsor of equestrian events and riders, Joe Zada and his sponsorship corporation Zada Enterprises, LLC, has taken a leadership role in the production of the dressage show held for the second consecutive year in conjunction with the 120th National Horse Show at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, Florida. This year’s event is titled the 2nd Annual Zada Enterprises, LLC Dressage at the National and is scheduled for November 28-30, 2003. The show features classes from Training Level through Grand Prix and offers more than $10,000 in prize money and awards.

A resident of Michigan with a winter home in Wellington, Joe Zada is a businessman and amateur rider who competes and trains in dressage and adult hunters and jumpers. His corporation also sponsors events at the Winter Equestrian Festival and horses for top professional riders David O’Connor, Robert Dover, and Robert Ross. “It’s because I believe in and love what I’m doing. The motivation is to promote the horse and to promote the beautiful relationship that a rider and a horse have,” Zada explains, and forthrightly adds, “It certainly isn’t to make money. It does cost, and that’s why I feel that I basically put my money where my mouth is. I just love the sport. I love what’s happening within our community here in Wellington, and I want to be a part of that. I want to try to support that.”

At the upcoming 2nd Annual Zada Enterprises LLC Dressage at the National, Zada has also launched a namesake class titled Zada Enterprises Take Your Own Score. Adding a bit of fun to the competition, riders will predict their score prior to their ride and the winner is the one whose prediction is closest to the judges’ actual score. Zada credits Show Secretary Mary Silcox for conceiving of the class. “I thought it was a fantastic idea and we discussed it in great detail,” explained Zada. “I said, ‘Absolutely, put my name to it!’ because we’re always thinking of ways, especially for dressage because it is not as spectator-friendly as watching horses jump over fences, to draw more attention to it in different ways.”

Zada cites musical kurs and the annual $25,000 Windsome Farms Dressage-Showjumping Spectacular at the Winter Equestrian Festival (in which dressage and show jumpers compete in each other’s sports) as competitions that highlight dressage for spectators. “Anything that I see that can add a positive impact and draw attention, I like to support it,” Zada states.

Committed to backing the 3rd Annual Zada Enterprises, LLC Dressage at The National next year, Zada plans to help grow the show through additional incentives for riders. “Definitely. I want to get behind it big,” Zada says and notes that he intends to “see if I can draw all my colleagues and gain some more prestige to the show itself.” He points to increasing prize money and qualifying for national awards as two goals for Dressage at the National in 2004.

While in the equestrian community Zada Enterprises, LLC sponsors riders of all levels in three disciplines (dressage, show jumping and eventing) as well as horse show events, the company also contributes to organizations for terminally ill AIDS patients, riding for the handicapped, therapeutic riding, and law enforcement industries throughout the United States. “We do a lot of sponsorships in a lot of different areas and we also do a lot of charity work,” Zada explains. He notes that he is careful to keep his sponsorship of equestrian events fun and in perspective, and that it is “very important to me that we all appreciate and realize how lucky we are to get up every day and just have these incredible horses to ride and compete and be in such an incredible environment.”