Huntersville, NC; 04, February 2015: Do you remember as a child having a dream of doing something spectacular, something that would have meaning and would center around every aspect of your being? Well, Sandie Gaines-Beddard has done just that. She is living her passion.
Sandie has had a deep love for horses since the 4th grade and has been perfecting her talent of horsemanship and Dressage over many years, training side-by-side some phenomenal trainers. In 2011, Sandie began to realize that it was time to strengthen her craft and expand her horizons within the Dressage circuit. So she went to Germany accompanied by her husband and long-term trainer, Stacey Hastings in search an Oldenburg dressage horse that she would be able to compete in the FEI young horse dressage classes.
After spending days visiting several barns, Sandie began to feel discouraged and began to doubt her dream. She wanted so much to find the perfect horse. Then she appeared. A young, “nothing special” mare that they quickly realized was a true “diamond in the rough.” Her elegance, her presence, her attitude and her gait was breathtaking and Sandie knew she was the mare for her. She couldn’t help but think that perhaps this mare was passed over by many because she just wasn’t “a looker,” but to her she was perfect and together they could accomplish what many would consider the impossible. Her name was Flairance.
Over the next few years, Sandie worked closely with Stacey on developing Flairance for competition in all aspects of Dressage and Flairance took to it like a duck to water. She excelled and made her mark in the circuit through earning third place in 2013 at the German Oldenburg Class At Dressage at Devon, only to turn around and win the championship in 2014. She also received Horse of the Year in her mare division and with the German Oldenburg Verband and was also the USDF Horse of the Year in the mare division. This visibility quickly caught the interest of Olympic level rider and international trainer and coach, Michael Barisone who has offered to work with both Sandie and Flairance in reaching the international competitive level.
The opportunity for Sandie and Flairance to work with a trainer at the level of Michael Barisone is a dream come true. However, this costs money, and a lot of it. For 2015, training for both Flairance and Sandie will cost approximately $15,000, give or take, to prepare them for international competition, and Sandi will also be applying for some of the USDF grants offered to offset future costs in 2016.
Please help support this goal and vision by donating to the “Pink to Gold” Go Fund Me project. Together we can all be gold medal winners.
For more information, please contact Sandie Gaines-Beddard at [email protected] or at 980-230-9460
For Media Contact:
Sandie Gaines-Beddard
Phone: 980-230-9460
Email: [email protected]
http://www.gofundme.com/it1kq0
