Katharine Kouba of Wellington will be inducted into special group of senior dressage riders and horses on Sunday, Feb. 5 at the White Fences Equestrian Center in Loxahatchee.
The ages of Katharine and her horse, Ojala, qualify them to become members of the Dressage Foundation’s Century Club.
The Century Club recognizes dressage riders and horses whose combined ages total 100 years or more. Katharine is 73 years old, and Ojala is 29.
In addition to having ages totaling 100 or more, horse and rider perform a dressage test of any level at a dressage show and are scored by a dressage judge.
The Dressage Foundation provides a Century Club ribbon and wall plaque to each horse and rider team. Meanwhile, local dressage clubs, family and friends help to make the ride into a celebratory event.
The Century Club was formed by the Dressage Foundation in 1996, at the suggestion of noted dressage judge and instructor Dr. Max Gahwyler. The intent was to encourage older dressage riders to remain active in the sport. Since that time, the Century Club has grown into a meaningful and popular endeavor. The group has more than 275 members to date.
Dressage is a word drawn from the French verb for “to train.” Dressage is both a method of training horses and a competitive sport, and is designed to develop correct movement in the horse.
The Dressage Foundation’s Century Club is sponsored by Platinum Performance. Horse health is the mission at Platinum Performance. Since 1996, Platinum Performance has been committed to providing high quality equine nutritional supplements that are developed, tested and made with care to ensure results. Visit www.platinumperformance.com/equine for more information.
For more information about the Dressage Foundation or the Century Club, call Executive Director Jenny Johnson at (402) 434-8585.
The Dressage Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt, donor-driven organization that is dedicated to supporting and advancing the sport of dressage. The organization solicits contributions, appropriately allocates the donations, and awards grants and scholarships to dressage riders of all ages and levels.
For more information, visit www.dressagefoundation.org.
