FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
For Immediate Release

Hermès and Lendon Gray Saddle Up FEI Riders at the
Sixth Annual Youth Dressage Festival

Bedford, NY, May 3, 2004 – Lendon Gray and Dressage4Kids, Inc, announced today that Hermès, the world-renowned retailer of luxury apparel and accessories including a full line of saddles and equestrian products, would sponsor the 2004 inaugural CanAm Concours featuring FEI Pony, Junior and Young Rider Divisions at the Sixth Annual Youth Dressage Festival. Formerly known as the Northeast Junior/Young Rider Dressage Championships, the Festival is scheduled for August 27 through 29, 2004 and will be held at the HITS on the Hudson show grounds in Saugerties, New York.

“ I am so excited that Hermès has joined our family of sponsors!” Gray beamed as she shared the news with her event organizers. “Hermès sponsored all the World Cup qualifiers the year I was the US representative for the World Cup. I treasured the gift baskets I got each time I won a qualifier, and I still use the baskets because they remind me of that time.”

Gray’s connection to Hermès actually traces its roots to her childhood. “My mother adored her own Hermès saddle that she bought in Paris as an older teenager and used until her death at 74 in 1988. So I’m particularly gratified that Hermès will join Dressage4Kids, Inc. in providing American youth dressage riders competing at the upper levels with an important international competition.”

Since its inception, the Youth Dressage Festival has filled a void, offering competition and educational opportunities not previously available to youth riders in the Northeast. The event is a three-phase competition featuring a written test, a group equitation ride and an individual dressage test. Riders, divided by age, compete in divisions from Training through Fourth Level. In addition, a Prix Caprilli test (a dressage ride incorporating jumps), U.S. Dressage Federation Youth Team Championships and a Musical Freestyle competition are offered, along with a Leadline class for the youngest aspiring equestrians.

U.S. Olympic medalists Hilda Gurney, Michael Poulin and Dorothy Morkis will join other world-renowned judges and riders on hand to judge an expected 300 competitors from the ranks of Pony Club, hunter-jumper, combined training and dressage disciplines who have in the past come from 25 states and 10 countries on four continents to participate in this unique event. Gray herself is a former U.S. Olympic rider.

Offering competition at the FEI levels continues the progression that was started five years ago when the Festival was first held. “There are no FEI pony championships at all in the U.S.,” Gray explained, “and the FEI Junior National Championships are held in California, making it difficult for Northeast riders to attend. Although there are plenty of FEI Young Riders in the Northeast, only those with the highest quality horses have a chance of qualifying for their international competition goal – the North American Young Rider Championships.”

Once again, Gray stepped in to fill the void and did it in her usual high style. She devised a challenging trio of FEI-level divisions featuring competition in four phases: the FEI Individual and Team dressage tests, the group equitation ride and the written exam. “FEI youth tests tend to be more intricate than the comparable US Equestrian Federation tests, with more emphasis on the rider’s ability and less on the brilliance of the horse,” Gray explained. Then she contacted foreign dressage federations to inquire about their interest in an international competition for FEI youth riders.

The response was immediate and positive. “Canada is sending at least three teams and bringing their Junior coach, who is from Germany,” Gray reported. “An FEI-rated judge from Canada will join the two American FEI-rated judges in forming an impressive international judging panel. Thanks to the generosity of Hermès, we can now provide international team competition experience and, especially for the youngest riders, role models whose presence says ‘This is what FEI looks like and what you can achieve if you too work hard!’”

For more details on the Hermès CanAm Concours and the Sixth Annual Youth Dressage Festival, visit www.Dressage4Kids.com.

Submitted by:

Theresa Davidson, Publicity Coordinator, Dressage4Kids, Inc.
Ridemom@yahoo.com, Cell: 203-912-6653; Home: 203-869-0740;
Fax: 203-661-1878