Have something worth crowing about? Drop the webmaster a note, and we'll add it here. Complete show results for the German Dressage show team are available on the German Dressage web site; only highlights (High Point Awards, Sweepstakes wins, Debut performances, and Ribbon sweeps) listed here (or you'd be reading for days <big grin>).

January 2008

Jennifer Hoffmann and Susan Walker's Farinelli are ranked #1 on the USEF Developing Young Horse list at PSG after his first outing at the Dressage Getaway at Indio. Jennifer also scored wins there on Georgia Griffiths' Petit Danseur at Grand Prix and her own Delacroix in the FEI 6 year-old classes.

December 2007

Jennifer Hoffmann and Susan Walker's Farinelli were First in the Westphalen Section of the USDF All Breed Awards at Prix St. Georges for 2007.

November 2007

Jennifer Hoffmann and Larry Campbell's Ricci1 were Open High Point for the entire show at The Del Mar Classic CDI***. It was only Ricci's second show, and his debut at First Level, yet he scored 76%+ and caused more than a few jaws to drop with his steady head and impressive gaits. Ricci, a Riccione son, is coming 5.

September 2007

Jennifer Hoffmann and Susan Walker's Farinelli finished Fourth in the USEF Developing Young Horse Prix St. Georges Championships held at the Kentucky Horsepark in Lexington, KY, impressing spectators and judges alike with his steady performance and expressive gaits. We were particularly proud of both horse and rider since he only debuted at PSG in May, and had a mere 9 PSG's (over 4 shows) under his belt prior to the show.

August 2007

Pik's Pride's offspring, Pik's Primus and Pik's Promise impressed everyone at the ECI San Marcos Dressage Show. Under Bereiter Alena Kempkens, 5 year-old Primus won both of his First Level classes, with scores of 70% and 71.333%, and with 14 year-old owner Emma Rose Ransom, he won his Training Level Test 4 with a 68%. Pik's Promise, also 5, was ridden at Training Level by Bereiter Birthe Laufer. She began the weekend with a score of 68%, followed by a 70% and on Sunday, laid down the Open High Point for the show at 74.4%! This was only Promise's third show. Pik's Promise is owned by Gay Walker.

July 2007

Jennifer Hoffmann and Pik's Pride were Intermediaire-1 High Point Champions at the Pebble Beach Dressage Show, and Susan Walker and Endor were Junior/YR/AA Intermediaire-1 High Point Reserve Champions in their debut performance at that level at the Pebble Beach Dressage Show. The Pebble Beach Dressage Show was a CDI-W***. Jennifer Hoffmann qualified Susan Walker's Farinelli for the Developing Young Horse Prix St. Georges Championships to be held at the Kentucky Horsepark in Lexington, KY in September. Pik's Pride's 2004 daughter, Pik's Eternity, (owned/bred by Gay Walker) was awarded a score of 7.4 at the German Oldenburg Inspection, tieing that awarded to Site Champion, and was named Reserve Site Champion at the Inspection, outscoring the full-sized mares present. A petite 14.1 hands, the mare out of Prada (Pikadero x Absatz) received the following comment: Pik's Eternity enters into the Main Mare Book with very high marks. She is a little different than some of the other ponies because she has more freedom and has retained more of the horse characteristics, which we think is very very nice.

June 2007

Jennifer Hoffmann and Georgia Griffiths' Petite Danseur competed at in the Grand Prix at the United States Equestrian Federation/Collecting Gaits Farm Festival of Champions in Gladstone, placing 7th in both the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special, and finishing 8th overall in a field of fifteen horses. CONGRATULATIONS Jennifer, Georgia and coach Jürgen!

Rancho Los Amigos also ran away with the ribbons at the ECI San Marcos show on June 2. Pik's Primus, owned by Emma Rose Ransom and ridden by Alina Kemkens won both of his classes and was high point for the show. Buenos Aires and Pik's Promise, both ridden by Birthe Laufer and owned by Jeri Bonesteele and Gay Walker, respectively, picked up wins in the Training Level classes they did not place second to stablemates, and G2 Rondo, ridden by Birthe Laufer, won his 4th Level Class. Pik's Primus, Pik's Promise and Buenos Aires are exciting five year-olds that were started by German Dressage, and Pik's Primus and Pik's Promise were bred on the farm, and are by Pik's Pride.

May 2007

Susan Walker and Kalibre WON their second Prix St. Georges EVER at the prestigious DG Bar Dressage Show Jr/YR/Adult Amateur Class, and placed second by a narrow margin on Day Two. Kalibre is showing that he can be a consistent little Prix St. Georges horse. Jennifer Hoffmann rode Susan's other horse, Farinelli, in his debut performance at Prix St. Georges at that show in a very large open class, and won the class! She will be showing him at Prix St. George and competing in the Developing Horse Prix St. Georges classes. The DG Bar show also saw Pik's Pride return to the show ring after a prolonged absence due to injury--and he showed that he was ready to reclaim his place in the spotlight. He placed 3rd in the Prix St. Georges with a score of 66.250%, then 2nd in the Intermediaire-1 with a score of 67.000%. Jennifer also competed Georgia Griffiths' Petit Danseur in the High Performance Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special, placing 2nd and 1st respectively with scores that place her in good stead towards qualifying for Gladstone.

April 2007

Leslie Morse and TipTop qualified for and competed at the World Cup at Las Vegas (after having placed 2nd and 3rd at the League Final in the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle, respectively), finishing 10th overall and besting their placing from 2 years ago by several placings. Jennifer Hoffmann received the opportunity to compete in the Invitational event at the FEI World Cup and placed 5th with Georgia Griffiths' Petit Danseur. Congratulations to both!

March 2007

Rancho Los Amigos was proud to host Leslie Morse and TipTop while she prepared for her bid to qualify for and compete at the FEI World Cup in Las Vegas under the coaching of Jürgen Hoffmann. We found Leslie to be a delightful addition to our Rancho Los Amigos family, and a regular member of the team at shows--right down to helping with the last minute spit-shine for other team members before entering into the ring. We hope this is the beginning of a long and lasting relationship!

At the Dressage Affaire in mid-March, we cheered Leslie to 1st Place finishes in the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special. It was her first show with TipTop after a nice long rest from the World Equestrian Games in Aachen last August. Susan Walker and Farinelli also had a great show, winning both of their Fourth Level classes, as did Susan and Kalibre, winning their Fourth Level Test 3 classes. Larry Campbell and Estate had their steadiest show yet, with ribbons in all 4 classes ranging from 1st to 4th.

January 2007

CDS-San Diego has posted the final circuit standings for the 2006 season, and Rancho Los Amigos can boast a RECORD NUMBER of CIRCUIT CHAMPIONS! Here is a list of our winners:

• Gay Walker/Tequila Sunrise: 1^st Level/Adult Amateur
• Sara Hunt/Fawnledge Magnifique: 1^st Level/Junior-Young Rider
• Jan Dickieson/Dow Jones: 2^nd Level/Adult Amateur
• Birthe Laufer/Coupon: 3^rd Level/Open
• Susan Walker/Endor: 4^th Level/Junior-Young Rider

And receiving ribbons:

• Jennifer Chong/Juillard: 3^rd at 2^nd Level/Adult Amateur
• Susan Walker/Farinelli: 2^nd at 4^th Level/Junior-Young Rider
• Susan Walker/Endor: 2^nd at FEI/Junior-Young Rider
• Susan Walker/Kalibre: 3^rd at FEI/Junior-Young Rider
• Jennifer Hoffmann/Petit Danseur: 3^rd at FEI/Open

(FEI-Jr, PSG, Int-1, Int-2 and Grand Prix were all combined into “FEI” for the purpose of circuit points.)

November 2006

USDF Final Award Standings (and Preliminary All Breed Award Standings) have been posted, and Rancho Los Amigos did quite well this year! Jennifer Hoffmann was not eligible for awards with any of her amounts (not having shown in the required combination of classes), so it's no surprise not to find her on the list... but every member of the show team that DID show in enough classes made the list! Susan Walker and Farinelli achieved Horse-of-the-Year honors in USDF's Jr/YR Division, and also in the Open Division of the Westphalian All Breed Section. Susan was also 8th at 4th Level with Endor in USDF's Jr/YR Division, and won 4th Level in Jr/YR Division of the American Hanoverian Association All Breed Section, and was 2nd at Prix St. Georges in the Jr/YR Division of the American Hanoverian Association All Breed Section. Jan Dickieson and Dow Jones were 5th in the USDF Adult Amateur rankings at 2nd Level, 4th in the USDF Vintage Cup rankings (which includes professional riders), and won the Adult Amateur Division of the German Oldenburg All Breed Section. Gay Walker and Tequila Sunrise were 4th at First Level in the Adult Amateur Division of the German Oldenburg All Breed Section. Fabian Janda and L'Esperanza were 5th at First Level in the Open Division of the Westphalen All Breed Section. Birthe Laufer and Coupon were 4th at Third Level in the Open Division of the German Oldenburg All Breed Section. And Pik's Primus (ridden by Fabian and Jennifer) was 2nd in the 4&5 Year-Old Materiale Class in the Rheinland-Pfalz-Saar All Breed Section.

October 2006

We're a stable of CHAMPIONS! Jennifer Hoffmann and G2 Software Systems/Georgia Griffiths' Petit Danseur won the CDS Horse-of-the-Year at Grand Prix (in Petit Danseur's first year of Grand Prix competition, no less!), and were Reserve Champions in the Grand Prix Musical Freestyle. She also won the Keen Memorial Perpetual Trophy for the highest combined average in the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle. Susan Walker and Farinelli are GAIG/USDF Region 7 Champions at Third Level (and also USDF Jr/YR Champions at Third Level--USDF just announced the final results for the Year-End Awards), and Jan Dickieson and Dow Jones (better known as Lopaka around the barn), finished 5th in the (huge) CDS AA Horse of the Year class, and 8th in the GAIG/USDF Region 7 Class at Second Level. Congratulations to all! Jürgen was also presented with a framed photo of the Juniors and Young Riders at an official presentation during the evening gala in thanks for serving as Chef d'Equipe for the Region 7 Team at the NAJYRC, and a copy of the hard bound photo album from the girls' trip. An electronic version of the album is available here (.pdf). Jennifer Hoffmann and Petit Danseur leave October 26 for Europe, for training and competition purposes. They have already received an invitation to represent the United States at the prestigious CDI***W Stockholm, and we expect other opportunities will follow. They plan to return in January.

Earlier in the month, Lisa Blaufuss had her return to the show ring for the first time in far too many years. She was more than ready for the challenge, winning her First Level Test 1 class on Khaos with a 64.815%. Champagne and cheers were waiting for her when she returned to the stabling area.

September 2006

German Dressage attended the Creek Hollow Fall Show on September 9 - 10. Jeri Bonesteele's young stallion, Beaugraff, had his showring debut under Bereiter Fabian Janda in Fabian's farewell performance in the United States (he returned to his native Germany on September 11), scoring 71% on 9/9, and then 73% on 9/10 at Training Level. Birthe Laufer rode Coupon for new owner, Linda Williams, winning Third Level Test 3 with a 69%. Four year-old gelding Pik's Primus had a superb debut with his new owner, 13 year-old Emma Rose Ransom, scoring 66% at Training Level. Susan Walker and Endor put in personal bests at Prix St. Georges with a 68%--and a lovely ride that had the many observers oohing and aahing. Gay Walker and Tequila Sunrise put in a personal best at First Level Test 4 (and equalled an overall personal best), with a 68%.

August 2006

Susan Walker and Kalibre competed at the North American Continent Junior/Young Rider Championships in Lexington, VA during the first week of August, coached by Jürgen Hoffmann, who also served as Chef d'Equipe. They had a super show, placing 5th overall against the top 30 Juniors from Canada and the United States, with a 4th in the FEI Junior Individual Test and a 5th in the FEI Junior Freestyle, with scores of 68.350% and 68.900%, respectively, representing personal bests.

July 2006

Susan Walker was the Reserve Champion Jr/YR High Point Winner for both Upper Levels and FEI Levels at the CDI*** Woodside on Farinelli and Endor, respectively. Jennifer Hoffmann rode her GP Freestyle on Georgia Griffiths/G2 Software Systems' Petit Danseur for the CDI*** Grand Prix, winning the class and the accolades of the judges and spectators, as evidenced by an enthusiastic and prolonged ovation. Her scores from Pebble Beach and Woodside have qualified her for the League Final to be held in Los Angeles in Spring.

Susan Walker and Kalibre won Team Silver and place 7th individually at USEF FEI Junior Dressage Team Championships in Pebble Beach, open only to the top 12 horse/rider pairs in the United States.

Jennifer Hoffmann sweeps her classes at Pebble Beach CDI***, winning the CDI*** Grand Prix and CDI*** Grand Prix Freestyle with Georgia Griffiths' Petit Danseur, and winning the Open Intermediaire-2 (including High Point and Perpetual Trophy) with Herzberg.

June 2006

Former boarder Tiffany Silverman, and veterinarian Mark Silverman became proud parents of a son, Caleb when Tiffany on June 23, 2006. TIffany trained out of Rancho Los Amigos while their farm was being finished, and was returning to train on a regular basis until her pregnancy prevented her doing so. We hope to see more of her, and the new addition to the family, in the very near future.

Rancho Los Amigos hosted the keuring for The Oldenburg Horse Breeders Society of North America (a.k.a. GOV) and presented two foals: Elfie's Legacy by Herzberg out of Elfentanz (Figaro x Goldstern) and Flashdance by Facet out of Pregelsong (Pregelstrand x Smoothway XX). Jürgen and Jennifer Hoffmann were the breeders of Elfie's Legacy, an orphan filly. She received a Verband's Premium and was Reserve Champion for the keuring. Flashdance received high praise from the inspection committee but was not eligible for a premium because her dam is PreMare Book.

Jennifer Schrader and HS Wistar placed 4th at the inaugural Brentina Cup (Intermediaire 2) Championships.

German Dressage Show Team (Adult Amateur Gay Walker, Jr/YR Sara Hunt, Open Riders Fabian Janda and Birthe Laufer) sweep the ribbons at the June Dressage Under Cover Show at Creek Hollow at Training, First and Third Level on mounts Tequila Sunrise, Fawnledge Magnifique, Pik's Primus, Vintage Dutch and Coupon, braving the 100º+ heat on the weekend of June 24 - 25. No one suffered heatstroke in the process.

May 2006

Jennifer Schrader and HS Wistar, here for over two months training with Jürgen and Jennifer, have qualified for the Brentina Cup in Gladstone.

The German Dressage Show Team had a successful outing at DG Bar. Highlights included scores on gaits of 9's for both Vintage Dutch (owned by Janet Round) and L'Esperanza, and a win in the First Level Sweepstakes class for L'Esperanza. Both horses were ridden by Fabian Janda. Pik's Primus, ridden by Jennifer Hoffmann, also had his debut and scored 68%+ at Training Level.

Lisa Blaufuss' mare Khaos had her show ring debut (since motherhood) at the Memorial Day weekend Creek Hollow, and earned the Open High Point for the show for her efforts with rider Birthe Laufer. Julianna Newell won both the First Level Test 1 and Test 4 classes on Pik Prasad, and the Adult Amateur High Point, and Jennifer Chong and Juilliard placed second to Julianna in First Level Test 4, and first in First Level Test 3. Rancho Los Amigos sweeps the ribbons again!

Jennifer Schrader and HS Warado competed at Dressage at Flintridge at Training Level and First Level, with scores above 72% in all three classes, winning 2 out of 3.

April 2006

Susan Walker and Farinelli were the Jr/YR High Point at the Del Mar CDI***/Del Mar National Horse Show. Paula Helm and Rubesco had their horse show debut at this show, and posted a score of 71.111% at Third Level Test 1, winning their Adult Amateur class. German Dressage fielded a record show team including Adult Amateurs Jan Dickieson, Paula Helm and Gay Walker, Jr/YR Susan Walker and Open riders Alison Dechant, Jennifer Hoffmann, Fabian Janda, Birthe Laufer and Jennifer Schrader on horses Dow Jones, Rubesco and Phirst Solo, Tequila Sunrise, Endor and Farinelli, Fabulous and Regulus, Petit Danseur, Entre Nous and L'Esperanza, Coupon, and HS Wistar.

March 2006

The German Dressage Adult Amateurs and Juniors swept the top ribbons at the Creek Hollow dressage show, settling for second only when they'd already scored the first place ribbon in the very same class. Full results on the German Dressage website: click on the link for show results on the home page.)

Jennifer Chong is a published author! Her new book, To The Nines: A practical guide to horse and rider turnout for dressage, eventing and hunter-jumper shows is an “everything but the riding” guide to competition. It is published by Alpine Publications, 800-777-7257, www.alpinepub.com. Congratulations Jennifer!