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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Olympic Selection Trials for Dressage at the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions

Junior Rider Ashland DeGroot Continues the DG Bar Tradition with Jasper

Ashland DeGroot, 14, has grown up riding horses at her grandparents DG Bar Ranch in Hanford, California where she has followed the instruction and tutelage of DG Bar’s trainer, Willie Arts.  Many horses pass through DG Bar Ranch as sale horses and breeding stock.

A few get to stay, be trained and become part of the family. Jasper, a 17-hear-old KWPN gelding by Wolfgang, is one of those.

Jasper had been Arts' successful Intermediaire I horse, and then became DeGroot’s cousin, Stephanie Hamar’s team gold medal Young Rider horse in 2004. So, in 2006, when Arts offered Jasper to DeGroot, she was delighted.

Although she had a problem in one of her simple changes in the test Saturday, she was happy with the horse. “He is a great teacher. He knows so much and is sensitive to the aids, which makes him challenging.”

Although no stranger to big shows and performing before big crowds at the DG Bar shows, DeGroot admitted she was a little nervous at the Festival of Champions. “Once I got on the horse though, I was no longer nervous.” Jasper, the pro, helped her focus on her job: riding a good test on a great horse. 

Hong Kong Lion Dancers Wish Competitors Good Luck as the Top Three Riders in Saturday’s Grand Prix Use Second Horses for Honor Round Ceremony