“There is no doubt in my mind that if you have a good team, with members that support one another, each individual member performs better than he or she would otherwise…”
going to Betsy, Bruce and Jen Hlavacek of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Elma Garcia-Cannavino and Jim Cannavino of Thermal, California, and Hailey, Idaho. “It used to be that people like Margaret Duprey, Akiko,
Jane Clark and the Browns were the main people who kept the top riders mounted,” says Betsy, a member of the Dres- sage Owners Task Force. “Now the eventing world has shown us that ownership can be successfully done with multiple owners, even with non-horse people, who can have the joy of watching their horse compete.”
Team Approach In companies like Betsy’s LMI, team work is critical and she feels it is the same in dressage, odd as this may seem in a sport where competitors are individuals, heading down centerline on their own. “Something magical happens when a team comes
together. There is no doubt in my mind that if you have a good team, with members that support one another, each individual member performs better than he or she would otherwise, and therefore the outcome in team competition will be better than it would have been,” she explains. “There is something intangible, something important about the team communicating together, training together.
Today, every single one of the riders who are short- and long- listed for our Rio team will be an excellent team member. They know one another and support each other already. That sportsmanship and team work will elevate us to the next level when it really counts.”
Juggling Act If Betsy’s life seems a bit peripatetic, it is. Living in two places, running a prosperous company while being devoted to her animals and devoted to the sport of dressage takes organiza- tion and drive. “I always feel like I’m not organized, but I must be more than I think,” she says with a laugh. “I’m pretty estab- lished in both places now, though I still take an extraordinary amount of stuff with me from place to place. From Florida, I might travel north in the winter and need winter clothes. You have to be prepared for anything, especially down here.” Most of the time, she says, she can run her business from
Florida. “I do go back up once a month or travel to confer- ences or to see clients. I use my technology a lot, my iPad, my phone. Even when I’m meeting, say with Debbie, every once in while we all look at our phones. You have to do that when you have animals.” Note how the animals are a major priority. She’s a typical, and generous, horse person.
22 May/June 2016
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