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Saturday, December 22, 2007

Dressage Takes Center Stage in Central Florida at the Florida Horse Park
By Lynndee Kemmett for DressageDaily

Act Now! There’s Still Time to Enter the January Show

Ask Shelley Lambert what’s so great about showing at the Florida Horse Park and she’ll tell you it’s the footing. “We have the best footing. It’s fabulous stuff,” she said. And show organizer Lloyd Landkamer will be quick to give you a few good reasons why the Florida Horse Park is the ideal setting for dressage shows. “It’s such a nice venue for horses and riders because it’s such a relaxed atmosphere. It’s clearly a no-tension environment and that’s perfect riders and especially for young horses,” he said.

That superior footing is Polytrack, designed by England’s Martin Collins Surfaces and Footings. It was added to the horse park rings a year ago and while it’s clearly a good reason to show at the horse park, it’s not the only reason. This winter, the Florida Horse Park, located in Ocala, will host two big dressage shows, but dressage isn’t all that’s going on at the 500-acre horse park, and their website provides additional information on the facility and the area of Ocala, the

Two major dressage competitions will be taking place at the Florida Horse Park this winter. The Ocala Winter Dressage will be held January 19-20 and the Ocala Spring Dressage will take place March 8-9. The March show serves as a qualifier for numerous important competitions including the North American Junior/Young Rider Championships, the Brentina Cup, the USEF Intermediaire I Championships, the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program, the USEF National Developing Horse Dressage Championships, the USDF Regional Championships and the USDF/Dover Adult Amateur Medal Program.

Entries closed on Dec. 21 for the January show, but show secretary Lloyd Landkamer - DressageShowInfo.com, laughingly said that after years of running horse shows he’s learned that riders are great procrastinators. Hence, while he might scold a bit for missing entry deadlines, odds are that if you want to catch that January show, Landkamer will accommodate you. “Just tell people to give me a call.” His phone number is 612-290-8523 or e-mail dressageshowinfo@aol.com

Florida Horse Park Dressage Shows Continue to Grow in Numbers