Wellington Classic Dressage and DressageClinic.com will welcome an all-star cast of clinicians, lecturers and panelists to the first annual Global Dressage Forum North America, Jan. 28-29, at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Dressage trainers, riders, officials and serious dressage enthusiasts from around North America will gather at this first annual educational festival, immediately following the CDI***** World Dressage Masters/Wellington Classic Sunshine Challenge CDI***.

Andreas Stano, the Executive Director and founder of DressageClinic.com, is also the creator and founder of the Global Dressage Forum North America. Stano and Florida organizer, Noreen O’Sullivan, Managing Partner of Wellington Classic Dressage, are putting together what is expected to be the highest profile educational gathering ever held in the U.S. and Canada. The duo will present a program schedule featuring top international dressage professionals from the U.K., Germany, Holland, Denmark and Canada.

“I wanted to create an educational event that was large, extremely educational and beneficial, but still lots of fun and in a warm climate,” Stano said. “The inspiration came to me as a natural ‘next step forward’ for the development of dressage education. The concept of one or two clinicians addressing an audience has now developed into the creation of the GDFNA presenting, in a time frame of two full days, 22 of the top dressage educators from around the world. To witness all these people working together on stage and sharing their life-long experiences is very exciting to any serious dressage rider.”

“This is so thrilling for the dressage community,” O’Sullivan said. “We are bringing together some of the top names for two days of fun and educational opportunities.  And with the Global Dressage Forum North American scheduled immediately after the World Dressage Masters and Wellington Classic Sunshine Challenge, this is a can’t miss opportunity for every dressage fan.”  

Ingrid Klimke, Steffen Peters, Wolfram Wittig and Rudolf Zeilinger will present and demonstrate their theories, philosophies and methods on the training and development of dressage horses and riders, while Arthur Kottas will demonstrate work in hand and Bo Jena will demonstrate the double long lines. 

Dr. Hilary Clayton will explore maintaining soundness in the dressage horse, Dr. Grant Moon, a six-time World Champion farrier, will explain the science of shoeing the competitive dressage horse, and Dr. Ina Gosmeier will discuss natural medicine and acupuncture for the sport horse. Dr. Juan Samper, a leading authority on breeding, will explore the art and science of breeding a dressage horse.

Panelists will include Christoph Hess, Stephen Clark, Wim Ernes, Gary Rockwell, Lendon Gray, Sue Blinks, Anne Gribbons, Kathy Connelly, Betsy Steiner, Leslie Reid, Jan Ebeling and Felicitas von Neumann Cosel.

All in all, six clinicians, four lecturers and 12 panelists will be featured in the intense, two-day educational event for every dressage enthusiast. Receptions, shopping opportunities and fun in the sun will also highlight the event. For a schedule of events, go to: http://www.globaldressageforumna.com/event-program. For information and tickets, call 561-227-1525 or visit WellingtonClassicDressage.com or DressageClinic.com.