Dressage Canada is pleased to announce that Faith Berghuis has been chosen as the 2007 Dressage Canada Owner of the Year.
Berghuis, the owner of Franklands Farm, has been an avid supporter of equestrian sport in Canada for many years. Owned by the Berghuis' family since the 1920s, Franklands Farm was named after her great-uncle, Frank Jones.
Running the farm for the past 25 years, Berghuis has been actively supporting dressage in Canada by starting two very prominent syndicates, The Dressage Collection Inc. and more recently The Firelight Group.
Berghuis currently co-owns the Canadian-bred Raffles, sired by Reipo, with Olympian Gina Smith of Brockville. With rider Andrea Bresee, of Uxbridge, ON, Raffles has been steadily moving up the international ranks of dressage, culminating with the duo being members of the 2007 Pan Am Games silver medal team and an overall individual placing of seventh in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"I was so pleased that Faith was named Dressage Canada Owner of the Year. She is very deserving of this honour as she has been such a long time supporter of horses with Gina, and most recently myself with Raffles," remarked Bresee. "I enjoyed being a part of the Franklands team for the last 11 years, and I am so thankful for her support and encouragement in helping me reach my goals."
With The Dressage Collection Inc., Berghuis purchased the very talented Dutch warmblood gelding Faust, sired by Saluut, in 1993. With Smith riding, Faust represented Canada at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, GA.
Berghuis also owned, Fledermaus, a Dutch warmblood gelding sired by Purioso, who was also trained by Smith. The duo represented Canada at the 2000 World Cup Final. Smith and Berghuis' Dutch Warmblood Dutch Treat were members of Canada's gold medal winning team at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba. Smith and Berghuis currently co-own Frappuccino, a promising eight-year-old Westphalian gelding by Florestan I.
"I could say so much about Faith and her involvement," noted Smith. "It is pretty rare to have support like this for so long-not just with the great team at Franklands Farm, but all the horses."
Recently, Berghuis started another syndicate called The Firelight Group that owns two young dressage horses, Flamboyant, a four-year-old Westphalian gelding, and Delight, a six-year-old Hanoverian gelding by De Niro.
"I would have never been so involved in dressage without the enthusiasm and expertise of Gina Smith," reflected Berghuis. "Gina has been at Franklands Farm for 18 years. That kind of commitment and loyalty is unheard of in the horse industry."
Berghuis was presented with the 2007 Dressage Canada Owner of the Year award at the Dressage Canada "In Celebration of Dressage" reception held November 8th at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, ON.
Past winners of the Dressage Canada Owner of the Year Award include Karen Soupcoff (2003), Deryol Andrews (2004), Evi Strasser (2005) and Doug Leatherdale (2006).
Photo copyrighted: Cealy Tetley
Related Links
Doug Leatherdale, 2006 Dressage Canada Owner of the Year
Evi Strasser, 2005 Dressage Canada Owner of the Year