Tanya Strasser-Shostak and Her Mother Turn Lemon into Lemonade at 2021 CDI-W Devon

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2021 CDI-W Devon

Canadian young Grand Prix rider Tanya Strasser-Shostak, daughter of 1996 Canadian Olympic team rider Evi Strasser, was surprised to have the challenge and opportunity to ride two horses this weekend at 2021 Dressage at Devon CDI-W.

Her mother had planned to compete and Tanya travelled along with her from Canada to Devon with three horses. Sadly, their plans were foiled by a tangle of Covid-19 regulations.

Stopped in Their Tracks

The mother-daughter duo reached the Canadian-U.S. border with Tanya’s mount, DiCaprio Tyme, and two of Evi’s mounts, Disney Tyme and Déjà Vu Tyme in the trailer. At the border officials told them that Evi could not make a land border crossing into the U.S because she had recently traveled to Europe.

Evi had travelled to Europe to shop for horses, attend the CDIO Aachen as a spectator and visit her family in her home town Inzell in Bavaria, Germany. She returned to Canada at the end of September, back for business.

Customs officers assured Evi she could enter the country by air, so Tanya continued the journey with a trailer full of horses for another 12-hour drive to Devon, while Evi jumped in a taxi to the airport and bought a ticket to fly to Newark. Unfortunately Strasser was again stopped in her tracks at the airport, where she was told needed specific PCR test documentation to continue her journey, but could not obtain it on time.

Lemonade

Evi and Tanya on Renaissance Tyme at 2019 CDI-W Devon

With that turn of events, Tanya was quick to “turn lemons into lemonade” and make her international senior Grand Prix debut in Devon aboard her mom's 13-year old Oldenburg gelding Disney Tyme (by Diamond Hit x Weltmeyer) and 14-year old Hanoverian gelding Déjà Vu Time (by Dauphin x Werbellin).

Evi encouraged Tanya to pilot her two horses through their paces at Dressage at Devon. Tanya's last CDI start dated back to March 2020 when she rode her now 18-year old Oldenburg gelding Renaissance Tyme (by Royal Diamond x Dream of Heidelberg) in the Under 25 division.

“I want to emphasize how grateful I am because I know how much it would have meant for my mother to ride them," said Tanya after a roller coaster week in Devon. "My mother said, ‘Do it. You can.’”

Tanya first rode at Dressage at Devon CDI as a pony rider in 2011 winning the national level North American FEI Pony Championship on Cappuccino Tyme w. In 2021 she returned as a young rider aboard D'Artagnon Le Noir (by Don Cardinale) at did her first international Devon. The young professional kept returning for four consecutive years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016), then had a break, but was back in 2019 with Renaissance Tyme.

Senior Grand Prix Debut

Evi was right to have confidence in her daughter Tanya, with whom she runs the sales and training facility Good Tyme Stables in St. Adele, Quebec. Aboard Déjà Vu Tyme, co-owned by Evi and Erika Murphy, Tanya danced to second place in the Grand Prix for Special with a score of 65.130% and to a fourth place in the Speciak wiuth 62.447%

Tanya with Dejavu and Disney Tyme in Devon

Aboard Disney Tyme, whom Tanya describes as “super-extravagant and flashy,” she was 12th in the Prix St Georges (63.529%) and 11th in the Intermediaire I (64.215%). Her usual mount, the 8-year old Hanoverian DiCaprio Tyme, she rode in the national classes.

Tanya attributes her success at Devon to a team effort, including the helpfulness of the Dressage of Devon staff who switched entries as necessary and other riders who supported her. One even lent her a tailcoat. Her mother coached her via FaceTime.

"She had no groom nor trainer there for her first international CDI in Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special, a test she had never ridden before on a horse she doesn't show," Evi told Eurodressage. "That is definitely stepping up the game. I'm very proud of her to achieve this and that she stood her ground."