USPRE Featured Equestrian Fiesta at 2012 Global Dressage Festival

Lendon Gray puts young riders through their paces demonstrating the elegance, rideability, and versatility of the USPRE.

Wellington, FL - The USPRE Party was a vibrant night of fun-filled celebration of the PRE horses at the new Patrons Club on Wednesday.  A host of the Spanish horses, young and old, led the festivities with exhibitions in the new arena at The Stadium section of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) where the competitions for the Global Dressage Festival (GDF) are held.  Dressage Olympian Lendon Gray enlightened the spectators in the stands and the capacity filled Patrons Club about the PRE horses while four of them demonstrated dressage movements with young riders aboard.

"The evening was a success," said Gray. "Many different types of PREs, big and little ones, with riders as young as 13 to 15-years-old, came here just to have this opportunity under the lights. Some of the horses were overwhelmed by the atmosphere and party at times, but this is a great place for them to learn."

Chef Fredo's Paella a featured dish at the international buffet during the USPRE Party.

Chef Fredo served Paella on two enormous paella pans along with other Spanish food delights while music with a strong steady beat accented the piaffes being performed in the arena.

Laurie Jolliffe, a trainer from Bucks County, PA, training and showing here in Wellington for the 2012 season said, "It's so nice to see the Iberean Horse becoming more popular in the dressage competition arena.  After all, they are the epitome of the classical dressage horse."

Lily Zilo and Endel Ots passage with her USPRE mount

Mica Mabragana and Cuatrero IV, a 16.2 hand bay stallion owned by Hampton Green Farm, also took part in the USPRE exhibitions performing a Freestyle. The pair won at the first GDF competition in the FEI Prix St Georges and the FEI Intermediare I classes. Cuatrero IV is from the Adelante/Sevillano(Albero II) lines, half-brother to Grandioso and was the 2007 Champion Six-Year Old for Dressage Suitability at the Devon Breed Show.

USPRE was founded in 2007 to officially represent the PRE horse in the United States: to assist American breeders in their interactions with Spain and the Studbook, and to promote the PRE horse within the dressage community. USPRE is a non-profit organization dedicated to service and education, and is guided by a distinguished Honorary Board that includes many leaders in the American dressage community, such as Lendon Gray, Kathy Connelly, Robert Dover, and Dr. Timothy Ober.

The USPRE membership is continually growing, attracting breeders and riders alike. USPRE is intensely involved in the support of American PRE breeders, providing services and education through clinics, revision tours and tribunals, sponsoring annual Spanish-sanctioned breed shows, and recently introducing El Caballo Magazine in English. In its promotion of the PRE horse to the sport horse world, USPRE has initiated a number of events and national programs to support PRE riders and to provide education about the horse to the community where the PRE can excel. Dressage High Point Challenges have been held at major shows from California to New York, including here in Wellington,where a series of High Point Challenges will be held again this winter for its fourth year in a row. In 2008 USPRE established a USDF All Breeds Program, resulting in respectable numbers and high scores in its first three years.

To join USPRE or to learn more about the PRE Horse, visit www.usprea.com