Canadian Olympian Evi Strasser Wins Custom Saddlery MVR Award at Adequan Global Dressage Festival
Wellington, FL (March 21, 2017) — For Olympian Evi Strasser, competing in the sport of dressage is ultimately about having a good time – and the more, the merrier. Strasser, whose philosophy is echoed in the name of her training facility, Good Tyme Stables, has been competing at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival since its inception and returns every year with a large group of clients as part of her endeavor to bring horses and riders successfully up through the levels of dressage. Despite the long trip from their home base in Ste-Adele, Quebec, Strasser and Good Tyme Stables returned to Wellington this year with a total of 19 horses.
“We always have a great amount of fun,” said Strasser. “This is also a very inspiring group for me, because they all try very hard.”
Because of her contribution to the success of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival and the dressage community in general through inspiring and motivating her many clients to become actively involved in competition year-round, Strasser was presented with the Custom Saddlery Most Valuable Rider (MVR) Award at the show series this past weekend. She received a Custom Saddlery MVR Award ribbon as well as a golf towel and embroidered saddle pad from this premier manufacturer of world-class saddles and accessories.
Strasser, who typically purchases her horses at three years of age and trains them through the levels herself, has competed at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival with many of her top mounts. When she accepted the Custom Saddlery MVR Award, she was showing one of her most promising rising stars, 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding Rigaudon Tyme, by Rosano.
“Rigaudon Tyme is a horse that we brought along as a three-year-old,” said Strasser. “He is a big horse for me, so I took a long time to make sure that he was sensitive and calm in his mind. I really enjoy riding him and am very proud of his progress. His recent performance really showed that he is maturing – he was absolutely consistent in his rides and really settled into the ring. Right now, he is competing in the Intermediate I, but by next year, he is going to be at the International Grand Prix level.”
Rigaudon Tyme will join a long list of successful horses that Strasser has developed to the international level over the course of her career. Strasser, who began riding dressage at just five years old in Germany, got her first horse at age 11. She emigrated to Canada in 1988 with her Hanoverian mare, Lavinia, and became a Canadian citizen in 1994, the same year that she founded Good Tyme Stables and was first selected to ride for Team Canada. “I grew up with dressage, so this is a lifestyle that I am used to and love,” she said. “It’s my way of living, and I wouldn’t change a single thing.”
Strasser also brought up her daughter, Tanya Strasser-Shostak, riding dressage from a young age. Now an outstandingly successful young dressage athlete herself, Strasser-Shostak was awarded the inaugural Orion Cup in 2016 as the highest-scoring Canadian rider at the Under 25 Grand Prix Level. She earned this coveted title for her qualifying scores with Action Tyme (Aktuell x Aleksander), Strasser’s 17-year-old Oldenburg gelding. At the 2017 Adequan Global Dressage Festival, Strasser-Shostak is showing Action Tyme as well as Strasser’s 14-year-old Grand Prix Oldenburg Renaissance Tyme, who has been shown by Strasser in Canada and the U.S. as well as abroad in Slovenia, Austria, and France. Strasser-Shostak is also showing two of her mother’s newest horses, Disney Tyme and Story Tyme, that she is helping to bring up the ranks.
Strasser was especially excited to receive the MVR Award from Custom Saddlery, as several of her clients ride in Custom saddles. “I love Custom saddles – they are absolutely wonderful,” she said. “I find that they fit perfectly, especially for amateur riders, who can need a lot of support. They also fit the horses very well, and they do a great job!”
Custom Saddlery, a premier manufacturer of world-class, customized dressage saddles, provides premium-quality saddles and accessories and offers expert saddle fitting services around the world. With more than 20 innovative saddle models and a wide variety of customizable options, Custom Saddlery can provide a myriad of choices and strives to find the perfect fit for horses and riders. For more information about Custom Saddlery, visit www.mysaddle.com or call 1-800-235-3865.
