It’s never too soon to plan for Dressage at Devon, Sept. 26-Oct.1 at the Devon, Pa., showgrounds.
The open breed show Sept. 26-Oct. 1, the largest in the world, is offering a new class for Dales ponies. They are one of the United Kingdom’s native mountain and moorland breeds, known for its strength, hardiness, stamina, courage, intelligence and good disposition.
Sadly, this breed’s population is low, so it is considered “critical” by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and “threatened” by the Livestock Conservancy.
Also featured during the breed show is a thoroughbred class. Don’t forget that Keen, Hilda Gurney’s great U.S. dressage team horse, was a thoroughbred.
The Breed Show features the future stars of the dressage world, from colts and fillies born this year and young horses up to 3 years of age. Horses age 4 and older are shown in hand and under saddle as well.
“We are very proud to be able to continue to host the largest open breed show in the world,” said Melanie Sloyer, chair of the breed show.
“In addition to our age-based classes, our popular individual breed classes showcases more than 20 breeds with a wide variety some lesser known and rare breeds seldom seen in other venues. Plus this year we are happy to welcome the Dales Pony.”
Other breeds in the 2017 line up include Akhal-Teke, American Saddlebred, Andalusian, Appaloosa, Arabian (both purebed and half Arabian), Danish Warmblood, Drum Horse, Friesian, Georgian Grande, Haflinger, Hanoverian, Iberian Horse, Irish Draught Horse, ISR-Oldenburg, Knabstrupper, KWPN-NA (Dutch), Lipizzan, Lusitano,Oldenburg (GOV) and Paint.
For more information, or to enter, visit www.dressageatdevon.org.
In addition to watching the competition, there are other things to do at the show. Visit the vendors or enjoy a gourmet meal.
Want to be a part of things? Volunteers are always needed at the show. To volunteer for one or multiple shifts, sign up at www.dressageatdevon.org under Volunteers. If you have questions, email Penny@thehorsewriter.com.
Those who interested in competing at Dressage at Devon can look at the prizelist at http://dressageatdevon.org/pdf/DADPrizeList.pdf.