KENNEBUNK –The New England Dressage Association recently named nationally-ranked dressage competitor Susan Jaccoma as the 2008 award recipient of a $2,000 educational scholarship to further her riding education in training sessions with an Olympic coach this winter in Florida.
Jaccoma, who placed 5th at the 2008 National Intermediare Dressage Championship in San Juan Capistrano, California this season, was selected from a pool of finalists for this prestigious honor. Intermediare is one of the top levels of dressage -only Grand Prix is higher. With her eye on the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, Jaccoma will utilize the funding to train intensively with renowned Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) trainer Lars Petersen of Denmark with her two horses Wadamur and Donatella. Petersen, a 5-time Danish National Champion, has competed in an Olympiad, two World Cup Finals, and three World Equestrian Games and was recently ranked #2 in the world.
“I am so excited to have this wonderful opportunity to further my education and work toward my competitive goals; I can’t wait!” Jaccoma said. “Lars possesses an amazing depth of knowledge in training Grand Prix horses and riders and has a program that is in sync with my own. When he recently helped me at the national championship our personalities just clicked and the chemistry felt right.”
The mission of the 15-member New England Dressage Association (NEDA) Scholarship Committee is to provide educational opportunities to its members who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to and excellence in the sport, as well as service and ambassadorship within the association. The program exists to further two specific objectives - to provide the widest possible range of dressage education to the greatest number of members, and to support the development of dressage in the field of international competition. Scholarships are awarded to professionals and amateurs alike.
“Our committee looked very hard at numerous objective criteria regarding each individual application, from the competition level of the rider, their length of time with the organization and their degree of volunteerism,” NEDA President Paul Cormier said. “Sue fit the criteria extremely well.”
That sentiment was echoed by Scholarship Committee Chairwoman Sue Edelen.
“Sue is a wonderful rider who has an exciting and successful young horse coming along. While our selection of candidates is strictly objective based on points awarded for factors we weigh, Sue is the type of person and professional we like to help if we can,” Edelen said.
Jaccoma heads to Florida in December and will invest her time into both of her horses in four sessions with Petersen a week. Her California partner is the superstar Wadamur, an 8-year-old Hanoverian gelding by Weltmeyer and Sandro Hit. Six-time US Olympian Robert Dover calls “Moe” a “world-class horse” who showed Grand Prix potential right from the start. This past season the young horse competed in the high performance classes and qualifiers at the United Equestrian Team Headquarters at Gladstone in the Pan-Am Selection Trials and at the Intermediare championships. They are currently named on the United States Equestrian Team Developing Young Horse list, and are ranked third on the high performance list for Intermediare with a score of 68.583%.
Her second horse Donatella, 9, is an Oldenburg mare by Donnerhall out of Nina Ricci. As her established Grand Prix partner, Donatella is ranked 12th in the country by the United States Dressage Federation this year.
“It is extremely exciting to have two young Grand Prix horses poised to advance and compete at Grand Prix in this stage of our careers together,” Jaccoma said. “I feel blessed.”
About Susan Jaccoma: Susan Jaccoma, a native New Englander, has competed at the highest FEI levels in the sport of dressage, winning numerous championships at many levels up to Grand Prix on horses she has trained herself. She has been on the United States Equestrian Team long list since 2000 and is a United States Dressage Federation Gold Medalist. Over the years Jaccoma has represented the United States in Sydney, Australia at the Nation’s Cup in 2000, earning team and individual gold medals; has successfully competed at several Can-Am Challenges; and competed as a member of the US Team Quadrille for the Challenge of the Americas to benefit breast cancer. When not competing, Jaccoma shares her knowledge and experience by coaching other horses and riders from Maine to Florida.
Caption: Susan Jaccoma on her horse.
