search.noResults

search.searching

note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
Ann earned her silver and gold USDF medals in 2006. “I kept going. It gets more and more contagious. You just keep going with it since you constantly want to improve.” Donatello was her next memorable partner. She started


showing the Hanoverian in 2013 at Prix St. Georges. “He was good at Intermediate II and Grand Prix. I think he got the blue ribbon every time he went into the ring,” she says. “And here in Florida, we have some pretty nice horses and good riders.”


“He was a superstar last year. I felt like I was more


successful with him. He had all that big energy. Once I got it collected and in front of my leg, it was pretty awesome,” she adds. At 18 hands, Donatello was a sizable horse—espe- cially for a rider in her sixties. “A horse that big and power- ful, that is quite a feeling. He gives quite an exciting ride.” She was aiming to


compete Donatello in the 2016 US Dressage Finals in Kentucky. Unfortunately, a week before the trip east, Ann’s horse wasn’t sound. “He came out of the stall three-legged lame. He couldn’t put any weight on his left hind. Robert Dover saw us the week before that and said we would win [in Kentucky].” “At the California championship I had my lowest score, despite our winning,” she continues, looking back. “He was really pulling and really strong. I couldn’t let go. I think he was really hurt- ing. Again, these horses try so hard. He knew me so well, and he knew the test.” Anne says she was then concerned about going to the


Prix because of the canter zigzag, and with Donatello, my favorite test is Intermediate II. On Baron I could handle the canter zigzag easily. Donatello is so large, to fit that move- ment in was really tricky. The Intermediate II doesn’t have that. That suited Donatello so nicely, the canter half-pass to X and then the pirouette.”


In Florida 2017 In January, Ann was living in Wellington, at the barn Tierra


Contenta. “I’m riding every day. I’m really riding five days and then giving horses two days of walking, under saddle one day and hand walking another.” She’s in Florida through the first week in March. “It’s nice


for me to actually be with the horses. The horses are just downstairs from me.” She describes how horses bring her joy. “It’s the second I put my foot in the stir- rup. They are so powerful. You get so you know them and love them. Even walk- ing, I have to make sure they are listening to me. I start working right away— and the world completely dissolves around me. I think only about riding. It’s such a magical place. I never get bored of it. I can’t believe I never get tired of it.” Jan is also based at


Ann competing Donatello at Intermediare II at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in 2016. To the left is her coach Jan Ebeling.


Tierra Contenta, coach- ing Ann through the chal- lenges. “If I’m having any difficulty, he gets on and fixes it in three strides. ‘I hate you,’ I’ll say. ‘What did you do? Boom, you’re done.’


finals. “Three days later he was really hurt. That’s when you wish they could talk.” He had stifle surgery, and veterinar- ians also repaired a small tear in his tendon. They opted for doing stem cell therapy and at this point Donatello is just walking. “He was going to show Grand Prix this year,” she says.


“We will wait and see. I don’t know if I will ask for so much collection again. He is 18 this year. His age is finally catch- ing up.” She and trainers Jan and Amy Ebeling will see how Donatello recovers and if he’ll return to competition. “I’ll make sure he’s really comfortable and happy. He’s such a good horse,” Ann adds. When asked about her favorite test to ride, she


compared Donatello with Baron. “Having Baron at Grand Prix and Intermediate II—with Baron, my favorite is Grand


50 March/April 2017


He does it much faster and more effectively. We all need to learn how to do that. It’s a millisecond, you feel it before it happens.” About feeling the horse, she says, “The other thing is,


they are working to figure you out. They want to figure out the OUT button. They aren’t always working with you. They think, ‘Can I do this and fake her out and then I don’t have to work so hard?’ They are clever.” Ann’s newest horse is Diomedes (Belissimo M x Flemi- ingh), a 2005 Swedish Warmblood she found in Germany and brought to Florida. She describes him as sensational. “I love his breeding. I love this horse so much. I rode him twice in Germany and so far three times here. He is very much a big-hearted horse who will work for you. He’s powerful with gorgeous gaits,” she says. She remarks that she’s learned you really need a partner-


ship before going in the show ring. “I will school him here [in Florida]. I doubt I will get him in the show ring in the


susanjstickle.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92