Source:  News Release/Danielle Myers

Born in the USA Awards:
Celebrating US Born and Bred Sport Horses at Dressage at Devon

(Devon, PA) -- While Dressage has European roots that date back hundreds of years, the fact is that today, the USA is breeding top quality horses that can successfully compete with those born anywhere else in the world. “Born in the USA Breeders Awards (BITUSA) is the only program of its kind in the country. It was developed to recognize and reward the achievements of sport horse breeders in the United States,” said Lori Kaminski, President and CEO of Dressage at Devon.

The idea caught on. In recent years Sport Horse breed shows on the East Coast have joined in and in 2010 Born in the USA Breeders Awards have been presented at shows from New York to Kentucky.

A BITUSA award is a good omen for the winners. Many previous winners have gone on to be true champions.

Beatrice VDL, (Prestige VDL) a Dutch Warmblood and a 2012 BITUSA winner, was named the 2012 Devon Grand Champion at the Devon Breed Show. Beatrice is owned by Pieter Ruig from Shelter Islande NY. Osborne decided to put Beatrice in the mare class, and that’s when the magic started. “Well, she won and she won and she won. She kept winning! Beatrice redeemed both of them. She is an amazing mare, and is just adorable.” It was not an easy task, Osborne says. “She had to go in to compete the mare championship, and then she had to go compete against the champion stallion, then compete against the champion young horses.”

In addition to winning the breed championship, Beatrice was named Mature Champion at only six. The mare is now carrying a UB-40 (one of the stallions at Iron Spring Farm) baby.

Dazzle, a two-time BITUSA winner, is a KWPN ster-predicate mare by Broere Jazz x Special D, bred by Victoria Lamas Wanner of Greifenstein Farm. This mare has been very successful in the breed show division at Dressage at Devon, with expert handler Bruce Griffin of Griffin Performance Horses. Dazzle was the Grand Reserve Champion of the Dressage at Devon breed show in 2010, 2011, and 2012. She has twice received the Born in the USA award for being the highest scoring USA-bred horse in her class at Devon. Dazzle also became the 2011 Grand Champion Filly of the GAIG USDF Breeder’s Championship Series East Coast Final, and received the Reserve Grand Champion Mare award for this series in 2012. In 2011, Dazzle was the Young Horse Champion at Dressage at Devon, and the Reserve Mare Champion in 2012. Dazzle also was the 3rd place KWPN-NA Dressage Mare of the North American Keuring Tour in 2011.

Pikko del Cerro HU, by Pik L out of Rohweena and bred by Horses Unlimited was a 2005 BITUSA winner and has gone on to live up to the honor.  In 2007, he won both USEF 4-Year-Old classes at Dressage at Devon with scores above 80%. Pikko del Cerro HU was named the 2007 USDF All Breeds Award (AHS) 1st place 4-Year-Old Materiale Stallion. Pikko del Cerro HU was the top placed American bred at the 2008 Markel/USEF National Championships in the 5-Year-Old division. In 2009, he was named the 2009 Markel/USEF 6 Year Old National Dressage Champion as well as being awarded the prestigious Stallion Championship at Dressage at Devon. Under saddle he continued his Devon dominance winning all 6-Year-Old classes and scoring above 85%.

Born in the USA Breeders Awards are open to horses and ponies of any breed conceived and foaled in the USA. Cash prizes are awarded and divided among the highest scoring horse in each of the following categories provided the score falls within the top 50% of the class:

Fillies of the current year:
Yearling Fillies
Two Year Old Fillies
Three Year Old Fillies
Mares
¾ Year Old Filly/Mare Material
5 Year Old Mare Material
Colts of the current year
Yearling Colts/Geldings
Two Year Old Colts/Geldings
Three Year Old Colts/Geldings
Stallions
¾ Year Old Colt/Stallion Materiale
5 Year Old Stallion/Gelding Material

The highest scoring horse overall is declared champion.

Through the overwhelming generosity of the sponsors, more than $60,000 in prize money has been awarded since the program began. Several sponsorship levels are available for this prestigious class. For more information, contact Melanie Sloyer at msloyer@aol.com or Lori Kaminski at lori_kaminski@verizon.net.

To enter, to view the prize list, or for more information, please visit www.dressageatdevon.org.

About Dressage at Devon
Dressage at Devon, taking place this year from September 24 through September 29 at the Devon the largest CDI show in the US and the largest open breed show in the world, combines world-class international dressage competition and one of the world’s few complete sport horse breed shows with the family fun of an International Fall Festival, featuring food and shopping for all tastes.

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