Live From Lexington!

The World Equestrian Games (WEG) is coming to Lexington, KY this fall. This huge event will feature riders from all over the world competing in dressage, eventing, driving, jumping, vaulting, reining, and endurance. This year, and Purina has teamed up with Active Riding Trips and Equisearch.com to run a contest where two winners are chosen to be blog-o-spondants for this international competition.








Since I would completely be in heaven at the WEG, I decided to enter the contest. I think this blogging at a horse show thing is right up my alley. There are two components to the entry - a video entry and an essay portion.

Here is a link to my video entry -


And here is my essay portion -

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Sheri Israel is Dressage Mom, and wants to be A World Equestrian Games Blog-O-Spondant!

EXPERIENCE WITH HORSES

I've been riding since I was 12 years old, and have shown Arabian horses English, Western, equitation, halter and side saddle. Although I’ve only owned two horses, I’ve ridden dozens more, and each has given me experience for which I will be forever thankful. For the past 14 years I've concentrated exclusively on dressage training, and my horse (FM Kaswyn+//) and I have had great success at the FEI levels, winning three National championships, three Reserve National Championships, several National Top Ten Awards , United States Dressage Federation All Breeds Awards, and Arabian Horse Association Year end awards. This riding and showing experience gives me extensive knowledge of the true sprit of the WEG - the partnership between horse and rider as a team.

CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET HORSE COMMUNITY

I write about my horse experiences on my blog, www.dressagemom.com, where I have been blogging since 2006. I have hundreds of visitors to my site daily, and many followers. Oftentimes it’s a "slice of life" blog, where I explain the struggle to fit in family, a full time job, and riding and still try and keep my house clean (I confess that my tack is usually cleaner than my kitchen floor!) Sometimes my blog is all about horse information, most recently about the persistent lameness issues of my horse and how I am dealing with them. I have also written several in-depth stories in which I include photos and video (much of which I shoot myself) to illustrate my experience. My 2009 trip to the Arabian Sport Horse Nationals in Lexington, KY is a good example; I wrote a post every day and included commentary and videos of my rides at the show, plus my show results. Dressage Today features my blog on their web site, and I was invited to be an Equestrian Collections Facebook Team Member, where I also publish blog posts.

POINT OF VIEW

As an FEI dressage rider who has shown dressage through Intermediare I and has trained Grand Prix movements, I have perspective on higher levels of competition. I actively seek to better my riding with my trainers help through lessons, frequent phone calls, and by reading classical dressage texts and good dressage magazine articles. However, I'm not a professional, and can look at world class riding from a different point of view. I blog about this as I see it, through the eyes of an adult amateur. My insight, along with my ability to blog on the go, will make the WEG come alive for those horse lovers who want to know what it's really like to be at an international competition.

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So that's it! In June they will pick four semi-finalists, and at that point the internet public gets to vote on their favorite semi-finalist. The two people who get the most votes will win trips to the games and blog live from the World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park.

I hope I can win this and win a trip to the World Equestrian Games! So if I make it to the semi-finals, vote for me, huh?
Visit livefromlexington.com for more information.