Wellington local Melissa Taylor came to the Gold Coast Dressage Association’s Shade I & II shows held at the Palm Beach Equine Complex to gear up for a bid to become national champion.
Taylor rode Nicole Polaski’s 13-year-old gelding Ansgar to victory in the Prix St. Georges with a score of 71.765 percent. The goal of this show was to get in one final tune up before Taylor and her student Codi Harrison left for the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions held Aug. 21-26 at the historic Lamplight Equestrian Center. Taylor and Ansgar are going in to the Intermediarie I Championships ranked seventh with a qualifying average of 68.779 percent, which was accomplished at the highly competitive Adequan Global Dressage Festival.
Getting to this point has been no easy task for this pair. “He is a little bit of a firecracker, and we have come a long way. We have developed quite a relationship,” said Taylor of their journey.
Being a horse on the smaller side, Ansgar has a lot of movement, which helps obtain the big scores necessary to make it in the Wellington circuit and to succeed at the national championships. Winning the TheraPlate Peak Performance Award for their outstanding ride hours before the horse hit the road for Lamplight, Taylor and Ansgar have proved that they are ready to contest the very best. By winning the award, Taylor will get a month-long trial of a TheraPlate with her husband, Olympian Lars Peterson, in their home barn of Legacy Farms. She is highly anticipating the trial of her TheraPlate once she returns home from the national championships.
Along with being the official therapy plate of U.S. Equestrian, TheraPlate is also a proud sponsor of the Gold Coast Dressage Association.
TheraPlate Revolution is a leader in the conditioning of equine athletes, providing increased circulation and pain reduction, enhanced muscle tone and overall improvement in the quality of warm-ups and cool-downs during training.
Learn more about the TheraPlate Revolution and why top riders and horse care teams choose it as part of their winning strategy at www.theraplate.com.
