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California Riding Magazine • July, 2010 Publisher's Notes |
Last month I was in Lexington, KY for American Horse Publications’ annual conference. Part of our tour included the Kentucky Horse Park as it is in its final days of preparations for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Two new stadiums, one indoor and this new outdoor one are just a part of the huge improvements going on at the Park. For more photos visit our Facebook page. July 10 has been declared Helmet Awareness Day by riders4helmets. Thankfully our California riders Guenter Seidel and Tiffany Silverman were both wearing their helmets when they both were bucked off by their mounts. San Diego-based three-time-Olympian Guenter Seidel was thrown from his World Equestrian Games prospect, UII, and fractured his pelvis. The incident took place June 13 during the pair’s first day of work in Germany with former U.S.E.T. dressage coach Klaus Balkenhol. Seidel was taken to a local hospital, then air lifted to Münster, where he was operated on and a plate was installed. Seidel’s long time sponsor Jane Brown reported that, fortunately, he was wearing a helmet, as per his normal practice, when the fall occurred. She explained that UII was a little too fresh on their first Tiffany Silverman, also based in San Diego County, was working her young horse at home when she got bucked off after something spooked her horse. She had a very severe injury to her pelvis but is well on the road to recovery. She was seen at the dressage show last month being driven to coach her team of riders. Tiffany hopes to be back in the saddle by the end of the year. Meanwhile, fellow Olympic dressage rider Courtney King Dye continues her recovery from serious brain injuries incurred in a fall in early March. She is well past her coma now and working hard to regain full use of her body, especially her weaker right side. She and her husband Jason continue blogging about the recovery process on www.courtneykingdressage.com. The rider’s steel nerves and bright spirit shine as she describes her gratefulness for having her memory intact, as well as her struggles doing things that once came so easily. She assures fans that she is not suffering from depression. Quite the contrary: she recently underwent a test to make sure her frequent giggling was not a neurological disorder. “It is hard for me not to giggle when I’m struggling to do something that was once easy for me, like walking, talking, or eating!” Thankfully these riders are recovering. Please wear your helmet! For more information on National Helmet Awareness day visit www.riders4helmets.com. I also want to thank everyone for their good wishes. I’m feeling well and hope to lease a horse. To see how that’s going find me on Facebook and I’ll keep everyone updated. Please let us know how we are doing and what news and stories you’d like to see in future issues. Next month we feature dressage and September is our annual artist issue. Happy riding everyone! Cheryl Erpelding
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