WINTER EQUESTRIAN FESTIVAL 2009 -- Wellington, FL

Wow, what a trip it has been!

To start out with, thank you all around to all the parents, grandparents, husbands, wives, brothers, and sisters who made WEF happen for all of us in 2009. Especially in these tough times, to have almost twenty horses and customers in Florida really blew us away. Thank you all very much! Your hard work and effort is really appreciated by all of us. Special thanks goes out to Lou, Annie, and Chuck for getting us up and down the East Coast safely and on time. Lou, your Top of the Line trucks and trailers are the best! Thank you to Samuel, David, Chico, Efrain, and Juan for all your long hours and hard work.

A special thank you to Paige Rassas for all your efforts in riding, showing, teaching, and helping out around the barn, you are truly amazing. Thanks for riding all those “hunters” (yes, I said hunters!) as well as the jumpers you rode. There were quite a few hunter ribbons on the board thanks to you!

We would also like to thank Todd Minikus, Alan Korotkin, and Colin Siquoia for coming up with some great horses for Lisa, Ellen, and Sarah throughout the circuit.

And last but never least, thanks to all the staff at Top of the Line for holding down the fort through what seemed to be the longest winter in years.

It was truly a long but impressive season. Congratulations to everyone for some great riding. It is always inspiring to the trainers when they see the hard work and effort come to fruition.

Some but not all of the highlights were…
Lisa Zimmer: Congratulations on her numerous Reserve Championships in the Children’s Jumpers on Kaniny-H and a championship in the last week on Todd Minikus’ Bonjour. On her wonderful L.A., Lisa had numerous ribbons in the Children’s Hunters and Taylor Harris Children’s Equitation. Towards the end of the circuit, she and L.A. moved up to the Junior Hunters and placed there as well. Congratulations as well on her placings in the Children’s Jumpers on Jaxson 5.

Lindsay Werner: Congratulations on her numerous placings on her Otto and Dexter (the “Dueling Paints”!) in the Adult Jumpers and Adult Hunters.

Gabriella Guido: Congratulations on her numerous placings on her Milo in the Low Children’s Hunters and even a blue ribbon! Thanks again Paige.

Tom Watts: Congratulations on his numerous placings on his Lord, Mador, and Lupin in the Adult Jumpers, as well as moving up to the Masters Jumpers, with the highlight being 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place     finishes in one class during week 8.

Sarah Porter: Congratulations on her  successful showing in the Low Adult Hunters.

Ellen Zimmer: Congratulations on her numerous placings on Griffin and La Luna in the Low Adult Hunters

For all you ribbon watchers out there, look on our Results page for a more accurate accounting of all the ribbons won by Top of the Line riders.

Needless to say, we are very proud of all of you! Thank you for putting in such a great effort. It is always nice to see the progress that all of you are making.

For those that stayed home and bore the brunt of the winter, we heard nothing but great things. Thank you for being patient through the long winter. Everyone seems to be looking great and ready to go for the spring and summer show schedule.

We would like to issue a big welcome to Diego Ormedilla, who has joined the Top of the Line staff. Diego comes from Argentina but holds dual citizenship in both Argentina and Ireland. During the 1980s, he represented Ireland at many international horse shows such as Hickstead, Dublin Horseshow, and Millstreet, just to mention a few. In the 1990s, he relocated to Mexico to work for the Mendocino breeding farm, where he rode and showed horses at the international level. In 2000 he moved to Colorado where he worked as a trainer and a rider. We are so glad to have him as an addition to our team!

Looking forward to a great 2009 show season, best of luck to all!

Leslie Ward, Joe Sorce, Diego Ormedilla, Meagan Cote, and Paige Rassas
Top of the Line Stables

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