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Six weeks after its inaugural run, the United States Equestrian Drill Championship's "USEDC Ride of Champions" continues to create a positive 'buzz' within the world of competitive drill riding.
Open to teams that placed first, second or third in the open division of previous USEDC national championships, the Ride of Champions focused the full attention of participants, spectators, sponsors and the national drill community. Those present in the main arena of the Texas Rose Horse Park on Friday evening, June 27 immediately sensed that something was different. The intensity of the competition between five (5) accomplished drill teams representing differing styles, philosophies and artistic approaches was palpable, as team after team turned in outstanding performances.
"When we first approached the United States Equestrian Drill Association with the idea of a ride-off between the top teams, we knew that it would make for good and interesting television," says Melvin Cox, Managing Director of SportsQuest International. "What we did not know was the immediate and very positive effect that the competition would have on the sport as a whole. The drill community's acceptance of the concept has been beyond our wildest expectations. The quality of the rides, and the enthusiasm of the participants, clearly show that the sport is maturing in several important areas: horsemanship, coaching, choreography and musical interpretation. I can hardly wait until we do it all again, next year!"
Cox believes that equestrian drill is a sport that is truly ready for prime time, and says that it is "well positioned for mainstream acceptance by the public-at-large." The key, he stresses, will be in introducing more and more people to the sport via innovative clinics, demonstrations and top level competitions. "There must be an active outreach to untapped audiences. The sport must continue to try new things, just as in 2008 it embraced the United States Equestrian Drill Association All-Star Team and the USEDC Ride of Champions."
Victorious in the USEDC Ride of Champions were the Canadian Valley Rangerettes, from Mustang, Oklahoma, the 2007 USEDC Open Division National Champions. The Reserve Championship was claimed by the stylish Matagorda County Thundering Hooves of Texas. Third place went to the very classy Bellville Heritage Cowgirls, the 2006 USEDC Open Division Reserve Champions.
Video replays of competition highlights on the Internet have proven hugely popular, and reflect a nationwide interest in the sport. Super Ride coverage can be found on SportsQuest.tv, HorseGirlTV.com and on Blip.tv (search on "Super Ride VI").
In an encore to capturing the SportsQuest Cup, awarded to the victorious team in the USEDC Ride of Champions, the Canadian Valley Rangerettes successfully defended their USEDC Open Division Championship the following day, thus becoming the first team to capture the Open Division National Championship two years in a row.
The Rangerettes also captured the national championship in the USEDC Rodeo Division. The team was founded in 1969, and is comprised of 'women from every walk of life' ...students, teachers, housewives, grandmothers and business women.
In another clear succcess for Super Ride VI, the United States Equestrian Drill Association All-Star Team brought together top junior riders from each of the teams participating in the championship.
"The twenty riders participating in the first USEDA All-Star Team brought the crowd to its feet. One could easily see what drill riding is really about - TEAM WORK," says Gary Bonner, Executive Director of the United States Equestrian Drill Association. "Based on this very successful introduction, we plan to make the All Star Team a permanent part of each Super Ride Championship."
Super Ride VII: The 2009 United States Equestrian Drill Championship will be held June 23 - 27, 2009 at the Texas Rose Horse Park, near Canton, Texas.
Organizers of
Super Ride VI: The 2008 United States Equestrian Drill Championship (USEDC) have announced participants in the first United States Equestrian Drill Association (USEDA) All Star Team, and have launched an on-line contest for VIP seating at the event and other valuable prizes.The USEDA All Star Team will feature top juniors and young riders drawn from teams participating in the 2008 National Championship. The event will be held June 25 – 28 at the
Texas Rose Horse Park, near Canton, Texas.The USEDA All Star Team will perform in the event's closing performance on Saturday evening, June 28
th. The evening will also feature the 2008 USEDC National Open Drill Championship.Riders selected for the
2008 United States Equestrian Drill Association (USEDA) All Star Team include:-
Sara Bass, Ghostriders Rodeo Drill Team, Texas
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Amy Murphree, Matagorda County Thundering Hooves, Texas
Ray Smithey
of the Matagorda County Thundering Hooves Drill Team will coach the 2008 USEDA All Star Team. He will be assisted by Lisa Lewis of Finisimo, as well as Kelly Jayroe and Pam Bonner of the Ghostriders organization.“USEDC Contest of Champions”
A special on-line contest has been launched in support of Super Ride VI. The contest is open to members of the General Public, and features a number of valuable prizes including a $100.00 gasoline card, VIP and General Admission Tickets to the United States Equestrian Drill Championship, etc..
Persons wishing to enter the contest are asked to visit:
http://www.superride.us.Entries in the USEDC Contest of Champions close on Sunday, June 22, 2008. Only one entry submission per person is allowed.
The United States Equestrian Drill Association
is the national sanctioning body for Mounted Drill, Quadrille and Color Guard competitions.The
Texas Rose Horse Park is a 1,700 acre facility opened in 2006. The multi discipline venue features four permanent barns that can stable up to 400 horses.Video coverage of Super Ride VI: The United States Equestrian Drill Championship will be coordinated by
SportsQuest International.Full details on the competition, sponsorship and merchandising opportunities are available upon request. Kindly contact the United States Equestrian Drill Association on 1-972-679-0770.
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The event will be held June 24 – 28 at the Texas Rose Horse Park, near Canton, TX.
“The move to the Texas Rose Horse Park has already paid major dividends” says Gary Bonner, Executive Director of the United States Equestrian Drill Association and Coordinator of the Super Ride competition. “Since announcing the new venue in early January, we have seen a dramatic increase in interest from within the drill community and from the general public. This year's Super Ride will present mounted drill teams, quadrille and color guard units from around the country in a wonderfully well managed, easily accessible new facility.
“In these days of $4.00 a gallon gasoline, $75.00 baseball tickets and astronomically priced concert seating, the Super Ride offers an incredibly good value to individuals and families seeking first quality live entertainment.”
Led by the defending National Open Drill Champion Canadian Valley Rangerettes, from Oklahoma, the field for the 2008 Super Ride is highly competitive. Entries have been received from throughout the country and include several teams who will be making their first appearance in the national championship. Organizers have worked tirelessly throughout the past year to insure that the event is first rate in every respect.
“Sadly, there are a few individuals who, six years in, have failed to fully embrace the vision of a true national championship” says Bonner. “Rather than engage them, we have chosen to move forward in building the sport and the Super Ride competitions - in a cooperative, all-inclusive spirit. When they do finally choose to join us, we will welcome their support and active participation ”
The USEDC National Open Drill Championship will provide a dramatic climax to the Super Ride competitions on Saturday evening, June 28. “We expect to see the best of the best, as most of the 'serious' contenders have made plans to be here” says Beth McEnturff, a member for the Ghostriders Precision Drill Team. “Interest in drill is growing both nationally and internationally, as more and more people see it as a safer, more collegial, more affordable path into the upper levels of equestrian competition.”
Anticipation is growing as well for the inaugural USEDC Ride of Champions, a special competition that will showcase USEDC Open Division National Champions, Reserve Champions and Second Runners-up from the past five years in a special ride-off on Friday evening, June 27.
Qualified teams include: Latigo N Lace (Washington State), the Rebel Riders (Texas), the Easy Riders (Missouri), the Matagorda County Thundering Hooves (Texas), Stars N Steeds (Missouri), the Visalia Rockettes (California), the Cowgirl Express Rodeo Drill Team (Ohio), the Bellville Heritage Cowgirls (Texas), the Canadian Valley Rangerettes (Oklahoma) and the Ghostriders Precision Drill Team (Texas).
A perpetual trophy, The SportsQuest Cup, will be awarded annually to the winning team in USEDC Ride of Champions.
The United States Equestrian Drill Association is the national sanctioning body for Mounted Drill, Quadrille and Color Guard competitions.
The Texas Rose Horse Park is a 1,700 acre facility opened in 2006. The multi discipline venue features four permanent barns that can stable up to 400 horses.
Video coverage of Super Ride VI: The United States Equestrian Drill Championship will be coordinated by SportsQuest International.
Full
details on the competition, sponsorship and merchandising opportunities are
available upon request. Kindly
contact the United States Equestrian Drill Association on
1-972-679-0770.
#
The championship will be held June 24 – 28 at the Texas Rose Horse Park, near Canton, Texas (USA).
Proceeds from the event will be donated to a coalition of organizations fighting cancer, including:
The United States Equestrian Drill Championship brings together mounted color guard and drill teams from throughout the United States. The 'Super Ride' is the showcase event of the United States Equestrian Drill Association and its sister organization the United States Equestrian Drill Competition – a registered charity.
The event will be highlighted by the inaugural USEDC Ride of Champions, to be held on Friday evening, June 27 and the USEDC National Open Drill Championship, on Saturday evening, June 28.
The USEDC Ride of Champions will showcase USEDC Open Division National Champions, Reserve Champions and Second Runners-up from the past five years in a special ride-off for the SportsQuest Cup(1).
The USEDC National Open Drill Championship will feature America's very best mounted drill teams vying for top honors and an invitation to the 2009 Ride of Champions.
Other competitive divisions at Super Ride VI will feature mounted color guard teams, a 'rodeo speed' drill team category and classes open to youth, novice and challenged riders.
Video coverage of Super Ride VI: The United States Equestrian Drill Championship will be coordinated by SportsQuest International.
Popular television host, rodeo and equine sports announcer Alan Moorhead has been confirmed as the principal announcer
Full details on the competition, sponsorship and merchandising opportunities are available upon request. Kindly contact the United States Equestrian Drill Championship on 1-972-679-0770.
The entry deadline for Super Ride VI: The 2008 United States Equestrian Drill Championship is
Monday, May 5.#
(1) The SportsQuest Cup, a perpetual trophy awarded to the winning team in the USEDC Ride of Champions, is being donated by the proprietors of SportsQuest International and SportsQuest.tv.
Quotes:
Quest 4 the Cure is an opportunity for the Ghostriders Equestrian Drill Teams toshow our support for these 4 cancer organizations. They desperately need fundsfor research for treatments and, especially, a cure! Please join us in this endeavor and we would like to encourage other drill teams to join us as well. These cancers are all too prevalent in today's world. Let's work together to help find that cure!
Pam Bonner,
Drillmaster, Ghostriders Equestrian Drill Teams
Equestrians throughout the United States have a proud and dedicated history of helping others in need. For instance the ongoing "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" cancer research campaign was started in the rodeo arena, and now stretches into many corners of society, and equestrians have been a big supporter of Saint Jude's Children's Hospital research foundation for many, many years. It is fitting that USEDC carries on those traditions by creating "Quest 4 the Cure" to support four worthy causes. I am confident that drill teams throughout the US will want to lend their support to "Quest 4 the Cure".
Bob Lorbeer,
Captain Sacramento Sheriff's Posse Mounted Drill Team & Chief Judge, United States Equestrian Drill Championship
Popular television host, rodeo and equine sports announcer
Alan Moorhead has been confirmed as the principal announcer for Super Ride VI: The 2008 United States Equestrian Drill Championship (USEDC). The event will run June 24 – 28 at the Texas Rose Horse Park, near Canton, Texas.“The Super Ride Competition requires a Super Announcer”, says
Gary Bonner, Executive Director of the United States Equestrian Drill Association (USEDA) and coordinator of the Super Ride.“This year, our goal was to bring in the 'best of the best', and Alan Moorhead is going to be a great asset to the show. Alan's high energy, experience and event knowledge will thrill the audience, and keep the teams excited during the entire competition”.
For the past fourteen years, Moorhead, a resident of Beech Island, South Carolina, has been the voice of the
National Barrel Horse Association's World Championship, held annually in Augusta, Georgia.Since 2000, he has been the announcer for the
Sharon Camarillo Classic, and has also manned the microphone, since 2001, at World Championship events sanctioned by the Barrel Futurities of America.As the host of
HorseCity.com TV on RFD-TV, and via a memorable, albeit unscripted, appearance as the rodeo announcer in the popular 2006 film, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”, Moorhead's voice and persona are familiar to film and television audiences around the world.The United States Equestrian Drill Championship's inaugural “Ride of Champions” will be held on
Friday evening, June 27, 2008, at the Texas Rose Horse Park, near Canton, Texas (USA).The USEDC Ride of Champions will be a featured competition at
Super Ride VI: The 2008 United States Equestrian Drill Championship, held at the horse park from June 24 through 28.The Ride of Champions will showcase USEDC Open Division National Champions, Reserve Champions and Second Runners-up from previous Super Ride competitions in a highly anticipated ride-off.
Super Ride VI: The 2008 United States
Equestrian Drill Championships (USEDC) will be held June 24 through
28 at the Texas Rose Horse Park, near
The Ride of Champions will be
contested under a special set of rules (teams not to carry flags) and will be
judged by a nationally recognized panel, led by Robert Lorbeer, a
Teams competing in the national open championship division or ‘Super Ride’ represent the very best in ‘Xtreme Drill’ presentation. Speed, precision and most importantly sound fundamental horsemanship are the hallmarks of a winning combination.
A television documentary produced by SportsQuest International has been well received at its premiere screening in Florida.
"A Life of Equestrian Substance: Conversations with Major General Jonathan R. Burton", was completed in November for Phelps-Hathaway Enterprises, Inc., with production support from The Dressage Foundation and Offield Farms.
A two-time Olympian, military leader and a major figure in the development of equestrian sports in the United States following the Second World War, General Burton (at 88) is a 'living legend' in the American equestrian community.
The documentary was warmly received in its inaugural screening at the recently concluded United States Dressage Federation Annual Convention in Orlando [see DressageDaily.com article].
An excerpt from the program is currently available for preview on-line (requires QuickTime).
SportsQuest International is a privately held multimedia production company specializing in the development and promotion of sports related programming that presents positive, informationally rich themes. The company is based in Oakland, California (USA), and is widely known for its coverage of national and international level equestrian events.
SportsQuest International has announced the worldwide availability of its SportsQuest.tv -Equestrian Channel [Hi-Res Edition] via Apple, Inc's popular on-line iTunes store.
The Uniform Resource Locater (URL) for the SportsQuest.tv podcast is: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=263655759
The SportsQuest.tv - Equestrian Channel presents news and documentary features highlighting important national and international competitions. Special editorial focus is given to issues, trends and personalities shaping the development of horse related sports activities throughout the world.
Persons subscribing to the SportsQuest.tv - Equestrian Channel will have the option of playing broadcast quality video content a) on their computer, b) on a video enabled iPod or c) on a television set (via Apple TV).
SportsQuest.tv is an interactive service of SportsQuest International.
Open 24/7, the iTunes Store features more than 6 million audio recordings, 125,000 podcasts, 30,000 audiobooks, 600 TV shows, 500 movies, and iPod games. iTunes is the number one (#1) on-line music store in 22 countries. Over 600 million copies of iTunes have been distributed.
To date, over 110 million iPod media players have been sold(1).
iTunes, iTunes Store, iPod and Apple TV are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.
SportsQuest International is a privately held multimedia production company specializing in the development and promotion of sports related programming that presents positive, informationally rich themes. The company is based in Oakland, California (USA), and is widely known for its coverage of national and international level equestrian events.
SportsQuest International is a member of the iTunes Affiliate Program.
For further information, please contact SportsQuest.tv via email at: info@sportsquestinternational.com
(1) Source: Apple, Inc.
The SportsQuest.tv - Equestrian Channel has launched in a 'pre-release beta', and is now available online (www.SportsQuest.tv) and as an RSS enabled Internet feed accessible via Miro, iTunes, FireAnt and other popular media players.
SportsQuest.tv's equestrian oriented programming is also available via blip.tv (http://SportsQuest-equestrian.blip.tv).
The SportsQuest.tv - Equestrian Channel presents news and documentary features highlighting important national and international competitions. Special editorial focus is given to issues, trends and personalities shaping the development of horse related sports activities throughout the world.
When fully deployed, the SportsQuest.tv web portal will feature multiple Internet video channels, each targeting a specific sporting tradition. A searchable on-line calendar of events is an important facet of the project.
SportsQuest.tv is sponsorship based and offers revenue sharing opportunities to the content producers whose news stories, features and documentary presentations are exhibited within the incorporated 'niche channels'.
Current sponsors include the United States Equestrian Drill Championship, Tal-Y-Tara Tea and Polo Shoppe and ERM Ventures.
The equestrian channel is the first service launched under the SportsQuest.tv banner. SportsQuest.tv is an interactive service of SportsQuest International.
SportsQuest International is a privately held multimedia production company specializing in the development and promotion of sports related programming that presents positive, informationally rich themes. The company is based in Oakland, California (USA), and is widely known for its coverage of national and international level equestrian events.
For further information, please contact SportsQuest.tv via email at: info@sportsquestinternational.com