Saturday, November 24, 2007

Mica Mabragana and the YR World Cup

It is with great excitement and pride that I can tell you that a three time competitor in the Youth Dressage Festival has been invited to compete in the FEI Young Rider World Cup in Frankfort, Germany, December 13 – 16. Micaela Mabragana from Buenos Aires, Argentina has been chosen to represent Central and South America. For the past two years Mica has trained at Gleneden. She will be riding the 11 year old Swedish gelding Granada owned by Sam Grunkorn of Mt. Kisco, NY. Sam has often volunteered at the Festival.

Mica first came to the US when she was 13 with the Argentine team invited to compete at the Youth Dressage Festival in Darien, CT. At that time she rode Last Scene my retired Connemara/TB Grand Prix “pony” and placed 7th and 8th individually in Training and First Level . She returned in the summer of 2004 for two months as a working student. Actually it was her summer vacation from school – the middle of our winter – it was quite a shock to her. As soon as she graduated from high school she moved to Gleneden. In the past two years she has become a popular young trainer and instructor here. Last year she competed successfully on my Connemara stallion Ballywhim Ardan Mor winning the FEI Young Rider at the Festival. This year due to her consistent good scores she was given special permission to compete in the North American Young Rider Championships held in Lexington, VA with him. And at the Festival she won Fourth Level and FEI Young Rider again.

For the past year Mica has been teaching Sam Grunkorn with his two Swedish horses. Sam has been one of my clients for almost 20 years. Sam offered her the opportunity to take Granada to one show where they finished first with top scores. Sam then agreed to let them compete in two CDI’s (international level shows) in Saugerties, New York. At these shows Mica won 5 out of six YR classes with scores up to 71%. With these excellent scores she had the highest average of any rider from Central and South America and was given the invitation to the World Cup. She will join 13 other riders from the US, Canada, Australia, Latvia, Portugal, Germany, France, Holland, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, Norway, and Austria.

As a means to help raise the nearly $15,000 needed for this trip Mica and I are writing a journal of the preparations and the actual competition. We offer this journal to anyone who helps with a check of $25 or more – every little bit helps. Anyone wanting to aid in Mica’s Quest may send a check made out to Mica Mabragana and mail to 25 Lake Avenue, Bedford, NY 10506. Make sure to include your email address.

Mica is the second YDF competitor to go to the YR World Cup. Last year Laura Noyes from Maine represented the US, but had a soundness issue with her horse after her arrival. And of course one of our long time supporters, Courtney King represented the US at the (Adult) World Cup this spring. I hope that the thoughts of what these three young women have accomplished will sustain everyone through the cold winter. I can guarantee that none of them, when they were not yet teenagers, believed that they would be lucky enough to have not only the talent but the right horse and the opportunity to have such an experience. You never know if the rocky path that you are now on will lead to a super highway! I guarantee that when both Mica and Courtney first came to me straight out of high school I had no idea that they would turn into the riders they have become. I am so proud of them.

Thursday, November 22, 2007