The Rider
One might
say that she was born to the task.....
Elisabeth rode a Prix St Georges test
in utero (she kicked). After she was born she was put on a
horse at the age of two weeks (she smiled ). She
practiced one-tempis, piaffe, passage and pirouettes in the
saddle in front of her mother at nine months (she giggled and
tried to steer). She was given her first pony, Mrs. B, at age
one-and-a-half and has been riding ever since. Winning her
first recognized dressage competition at age six, Elisabeth has won numerous
awards on a local, national and international level. She has
successfully trained three horses to FEI (international levels),
started young horses under saddle, trained client’s
horses and through retraining, turned unrideable horses around.
Elisabeth has been trained by her mother and mentor,
Madeleine Austin, for all of her riding career. Madeleine is a
highly respected dressage trainer and rider, as well as a United
States Dressage Federation Silver Medalist. Because of Elisabeth's
talent and promise as a rider, she was chosen to participate
in the United States Dressage Federation's Advanced Young Rider
Program. Through this program, she was able to ride in clinics
with such prestigious trainers as Conrad Schumacher (trainer
of Olympic medalists) and United States Olympic bronze medalist
Sue Blinks. Elisabeth has also had the opportunity to ride with
a number of other outstanding dressage riders, including Lendon
Gray, Carol Lavell, Robert Dover, Jennifer Baumert, Ulla Salzgeber, Lisa Wilcox,
Michael Poulin, Jane Savoie, Ingrid Klimke, Michael Klimke, Steffen
Peters, Klaus Balkenhol and Caesar Parra. Most recently
Elisabeth has been working with Michael Barisone who represented
the USA at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong.
Elisabeth first traveled to Florida in 2004 to be a working student for
Grand Prix rider Jennifer Baumert, and spent 6 months in 2005 as an
assistant trainer for Lendon Gray. These were positive experiences,
which only fueled Elisabeth's desire to make a career in dressage. She
will spend part of 2009 at her mother's facility, Imajica, in
Williston, Vermont, and will be taking horses in for training. In the future, beyond her
international competition aspirations, Elisabeth hopes to train and
sell horses. She is especially gifted in working with young horses and
giving them a positive, confident start to their under saddle careers. In addition to her busy schedule, Elisabeth has also attended
six semesters at the University of Vermont, and will graduate
with a Small Business Degree (Agricultural focus). Elisabeth is also a very talented writer and has been published in several books and magazines.
Competitive Achievements
2009 Dresssage at Equestrian
Estates FEI High Score
2009 Dressage at Equestrian
Estates Grand Prix 1st place with a 72%
2009 Welcome Back to White Fences
Grand Prix 1st place with a 70%
2009 Welcome Back to White Fences
Grand Prix 1st place with a 68%
2009 Apple Valley Dressage Show
Grand Prix 1st place with a 72%
2008 Earned USDF Gold Medal 2007 Devon CDI Grand Prix 2nd place Grand Prix Freestyle 2nd Place 2007 NEDA CDI GP Freestyle 69% GP 67.5% 2007 CDI Saugerties GP Freestyle 71.4% 2007 King Oak Dressage Grand Prix and GP Special 71+%
2007 CDI Raleigh Intermediare 2
and High Score FEI 72.195%
WEF Dressage Classic Grand Prix
71.25%
2007 Palm Beach Dressage Derby
Grand Prix 66.25%
2006 Champion- USEF/Collecting
Gaits National Dressage Championship Brentina Cup
2005 Champion- Youth Dressage Festival (Young Rider division)
2004
Individual Silver Medalist- NAYRC (Junior Olympics)
2004 Champion
Youth Dressage Festival (Young Rider division)
2003 Young Rider
Champion CDI Blainville
2004 NAYRC Team Member (Qualifying Average
67%)
2003 NAYRC Team Member (Qualifying Average 66%)
2002 NAYRC Team
Member (Qualifying Average 65%)
(For additional achievements,
please contact Elisabeth)
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