Dorie Forte & Froelich 2012 Equiery Perpetual Dressage Award Winner
her the upper-level movements. Instead, she happened upon a green broke three-year-old who, with time, would become the horse of a lifetime.
The Horse of a Lifetime A good friend and her trainer at the time,
by Carly Weilminster
Dorie Trapp Forte exemplifi es the extraordinary qualities numerous amateurs strive to achieve during their riding careers. Not only has she served as the Financial Director of Maryland Shock Trauma for the past 32 years, she is also known as “Mom” to 18-hand Froelich, a registered Oldenburg gelding who has become a shining star in the dressage arena. Dorie, not originally a dressage rider, has struck gold with her big chestnut gelding and was thrilled to accept T e Equiery’s Perpetual Dressage Award for 2012.
A Diverse Start Dorie taught herself
to ride on a pony her grandfather got her when she was very young. She did not receive any formal instruction until she was fourteen, when she began actively competing show hunters.
Froelich as a foal
It was not until 1998 that Dorie was fi rst exposed to the world of dressage after watching a local competition. “Dressage is beautiful. I love watching it. I wanted to learn so much more, which is why I decided to try it,” she said. She fi rst competed on her homebreds but said they were much better suited for the hunter world and not the dressage ring. Her most successful homebred, Hallston, a pinto warmblood mare currently competing on the hunter circuit with Evan Crierie, has made her proud even though dressage was not her forte.
As Dorie gained more
experience and knowledge, she needed a more accomplished equine partner. She hoped to fi nd an experienced Fourth Level competitor to help teach
Evelyn Pfoutz, called Dorie after seeing Fro at a competition and recommended that she come to look at him. Dorie felt a instant connection. Even though Fro was the opposite of what she had intended to purchase, he made a lasting impression. With a little push from her mother, Dorie signed the check and Fro was hers. He is by Festrausch, a Westphalian stallion formerly standing at Hilltop Farm in Colora. “He is fun, honestly he is just a really fun horse,” said Dorie about Fro. Dorie took him home and that same month they were out competing,
scoring in the 70s
the move to Prix St. Georges when disaster struck. What seemed to be a common allergic reaction took a turn for the worse, ultimately threatening Fro’s life.
Road Block One evening while making her routine night
checks, Dorie noticed Fro hyperventilating in his stall and immediately phoned her vet. After two days of no improvement the decision was made to send him to the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg for further testing. After his departure from Leesburg following testing,
a
right off the bat. T ey qualifi ed for Nationals at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2006, competing in the Four-Year-Old championship class. T at same year, they were the highest- placing amateur pair at the Colonel Bengt Ljungquist Memorial Championships at Training Level. Fro’s fi ve-year-old season was “his year,”
Dorie says. Together, they competed in the USDF Materiale classes, blowing the competition out of the water. Fro averaged
Dorie and her show hunter Taylor Made competing in Middleburg at the WIHS Local Day at Paper Chase (now Fox Chase)
www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580
scores above 80% making him the highest-placed horse in the country for the division. T ey collected multiple USDF All-Breed awards including the Oldenburg NA at First Level as well as USDF Horse of the Year for four- and fi ve-year-old geldings competing in Materiale classes. He also won the 2007 Young Horse Championships with Teresa Butta aboard. By age six, Fro was competing at T ird Level with Dorie under the supervision of Scott Hassler. Dorie had met Susanne and Scott on the dressage circuit and enjoyed their teaching philosophy and style. With weekend trips to Hassler Dressage at Riveredge, Dorie and Fro continued their climb to the top. By 2011, they were
successfully
competing at Fourth Level and ready to make
Dorie and Froelich warming up for their fi rst show together
neck infection set in and he was sent straight back to the clinic. With help from Dorie’s closest friends, such as Shari Glickman, Fro was able to return home
infection-free after a long stay in Leesburg. Upon Fro’s discharge, Dorie took him straight to Shari’s GoodNess Ridge Farm in Mt. Airy
continued...
THE EQUIERY PERPETUAL DRESSAGE AWARD
is an annual year-end award given to the highest pointed, Mary- land-based amateur rider at Third Level or above. This rider must have an average mini- mum score of 50% earned by competing in at least half of the U.S. Equestrian Federation/
U.S. Dressage Federation recognized shows held in Maryland or sponsored by the Potomac Valley Dressage Association.
The award is meant to not only promote the sport of dressage through highlighting an individual, but also to encourage amateur riders to achieve high scores at a level dominated by professionals.
PAST WINNERS 2011 - Elizabeth Simmeth-Ensor/Liuteris Star 2010 - Pamela Owens/Gardes Grace 2009 - Anne Hurwitz/Nando 2008 - Beth Stambaugh/Lindern 2007 - Elizabeth Hattenburg/Chopin
SEPTEMBER 2013 | THE EQUIERY | 15
Jennifer Tingley
876941-091309
Trisha DeRosa
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