Dr. Cesar Parra and his Piaffe Performance Farm is continuing to reward accomplished adult amateur riders at the 2016 Adequan Global Dressage Festival with the Piaffe Performance Adult Amateur Achievement Award. This past week, during the show series’ Palm Beach Dressage Derby, Susan Jones of Walton, Kentucky was the Adult Amateur Achievement Award winner.
Parra, an Olympian who has trained many amateur and professional riders during his illustrious career, loves honoring adult amateurs for the hard work and dedication they put in with their horses. Susan Jones accepted the Piaffe Performance Adult Amateur Achievement Award after competing throughout the weekend with her horses Reliance, Connaisseur, and Lindor’s Finest.
Parra presented Jones with the Piaffe Performance Adult Amateur Achievement Award after her performance in the Prix St. Georges with Reliance, a 13-year-old sired by Rhodimont and out of Gesstine, a Classiker mare imported from Germany. Jones bought the 2003 dark bay from Kathy Priest around seven years ago. A highlight of their career so far was their 2011 win in the GAIG/USDF Region 2 Championships amongst 33 other horses at First Level.
Jones and Reliance have climbed the ranks together, and Friday marked their first Prix St. Georges test at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. After that test, Jones commented, “We're just going to continue getting better. I'm going to be here the rest of the weekend trying to perfect our test.”
Sure enough, the pair did just that and improved by almost two entire percentage points when they captured the blue ribbon for the week’s Sunday FEI Prix St. George Adult Amateur class.
Jones fits riding into her successful career as CEO, President, and Founder of the consulting firm Seed Strategy, which works with many Fortune 500 companies and other recognizable world brands. As a 1986 alumni of Indiana University, Jones earned her Bachelor of Science in Advertising and Marketing and currently serves on the Dean’s Council in the university’s Kelley School of Business.
When Jones is at home, she can be found spending time with her family or riding her dressage horses Reliance, Connaisseur, and Lindor’s Finest at her farm, Flyaway Acres, in Northern Kentucky. “Dressage is my oxygen,” Jones said. “I need it to live. To be on a horse and to continue to master being the best you can be and riding in harmony— there's nothing better than that.”
Dr. Cesar Parra and the entire team from Piaffe Performance was proud to reward Jones, as she shares Piaffe Performance’s strong love for dressage and dedication to excellence in the sport. Piaffe Performance will continue presenting the Piaffe Performance Adult Amateur Acheivement Award throughout the 2016 Adequan Global Dressage Festival, where Piaffe Performance is also the sponsor of the International Rider Lounge and the Hospitality Tent by the National Arenas. The Piaffe Performance Rider Lounges provide drinks and snacks for all levels of riders to enjoy as they relax before or after their tests.
Piaffe Performance, founded by Olympic dressage rider Dr. Cesar Parra, has locations in Jupiter, Florida, and in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. Parra and his team provide full-service training based on the Classical German Training Methods. Dr. Parra has worked with such masters of dressage as Herbert Rehbein, Siegfried "Bimbo" Peilicke, Hans Rueben, Herbert Kuckluck, and Hubertus Schmidt. Learn more about training and sales prospects at www.GKHorsesatPiaffePerformance.com.
by Johnny Robb - Photos © Dieter Busse, Johnny Robb
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