The Antigua and Barbuda Horse Society (ABHS) is hosting its first event of the new year this Saturday, Feb 20th from 8:00 to 11 a.m. at the Spring Hill Riding Club, Falmouth. This event is a national dressage challenge involving riders from both the Spring Hill Riding Club in Falmouth and the Rivendell Stables in Woods Estate, and the general public is invited to attend.

Dressage is the highest expression of horse training and is considered the art of equestrian sport, combining sport and art, showing the horse to the world in all its glory. The horse and rider are required to perform a series of compulsory movements executed within a rectangular flat arena. It is one of the three disciplines in competition at the Olympic Games, the other two being Jumping and Eventing.

This show is a collaborative effort between the two stables and in total 16 riders will be competing in four levels of dressage; elementary, preliminary, adults trot and children’s trot tests.

Further to the dressage tests performances to music will also be put on by the riders around 10:00 am. The Spring Hill junior riders will be doing a joint performance to music and young Spadicia Harris will also be riding a routine set to music. Spadicia is the sponsored rider in the ABHS’s riding for the disabled program.

The ABHS Riding for the Disabled Program was set up with funds from a private benefactor to promote horse riding in Antigua and Barbuda by showing that people of all walks of life and levels can participate and enjoy horse riding. Currently the only child sponsored is Spadicia but the President of the ABHS Max Freling stated the group would like to try to expand the program to include all types of disability".

The program is currently being undertaken at the Rivendell Riding Stables and being taught by Sarah Scott, who has been training riders and horses in Antigua for the past 20 years in many aspects of equestrianism including dressage, show jumping, cross-country and horseracing.