Last weekend sixteen riders from eight countries came to Bear Spot Farm in Concord, MA for the Children of the Americas Dressage Invitational (CADI) to benefit the Bear Spot Foundation for Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy. Held every year, CADI gives riders age 12-14 the opportunity to represent their countries, develop their horsemanship and make new friendships. For the first two days of the event riders received training on their own or borrowed horses and then competed in a Children’s Preliminary Test and Freestyle on third and fourth days. Phoebe Serpell of the Cayman Islands finished on top for riders on borrowed horses and Hannah Irons of the United States won the overall championship for riders on their own horse.
Here are some pictures from the event:
The riders pose for pictures together after the awards ceremony with their flags. This year riders from Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Ecuador, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States came for CADI.
The riders who qualified for CADI to represent Dressage4Kids (D4K) stand together after the final awards ceremony. D4K’s Youth Dressage Festival is a special qualifier for CADI, sponsoring a group of riders each year.
Hadley Rahael is congratulated by her CADI trainer and family after her test. Most riders come with their entire families for the week of training and special events that surround CADI.
Jake, one of Bear Spot Foundation’s therapy horses and a borrowed horse for CADI, waits by the ring for his ride time. CADI benefits the Bear Spot Foundation (bearspotfoundation.org) for Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy in Concord, MA.
From left to right, Caroline McConnell of the USA, Kenzie Manning of Barbados and Anja van Genderen of the Cayman Islands celebrate their new friendship and third place finish in the team competition. While CADI is a competition, one of the big goals is for the riders to learn about one another’s cultures.
