Young Dressage Rider Takes Top Honors at Major Competition Event in Kentucky

Isabelle Leibler

Isabelle Leibler, 16, Earns Two Gold Medals and Highest Overall Score at the North American Junior/Young Rider Championship

GREENWICH, CT — Isabelle Leibler, who began riding dressage when she was just five, attained a new level of success recently when, now 16, she finished first in two categories as an individual rider, and won a third medal as a member of a dressage team at the North American Junior/Young Rider Championships held in Lexington, Kentucky.  She also was presented the prestigious Fiona Baan Pursuit of Excellence Memorial Trophy for attaining the highest overall score in the competition.

Isabelle, who trains at Sunnyfield Farm in Bedford, NY, from June to September, won the Gold Medal in both Individual and the Freestyle and was a member of the team that took the Bronze Medal in the championships event held at the Kentucky Horse Park.

This was the first time the Greenwich resident had competed at the NYJYRC. The NAJYRC’s Young Rider Division is for riders between 16- and 21-years-old.

Her achievements were on board, Watson 108, a 14-year-old Westphalian she acquired from Performance Sales International (P.S.I.) in Germany in August 2010, and she attributes much of her current success to him.  “He’s a really special animal and I feel lucky to have found him,” she says.  “He’s so understanding that he sometimes seems half human.”

The daughter of Renee and Guy Leibler, Isabelle began her career as a show rider in the 16-21 age group in January, making her success at the Lexington event that was held the last week of July, all the more impressive.  Just last November, she and Watson won the first event they entered, the Adult Amateur Prix St. Georges dressage test at the Gold Coast Dressage Association event in Wellington.

Her parents are strong supporters and are there to cheer her on at each competition.  She said she feels fortunate to be able to pursue her interest as a family.  “That’s very special,” she said.

Isabelle said that in addition to Watson and her parents, her trainer, Marcel van der Burgh, along with Lendon Gray and Robert Dover who help her prepare for competition, deserve a great deal of credit for her success.  “You don’t succeed in this sport alone,” she explains.  “The horse and rider have to have a strong team backing them up, and I am very lucky to have a great team.”

In addition to her trainers, she says she could not succeed without her veterinarian, Dr. Bill Patterson, farrier, Ira Green, Sal Salvetti, Watson’s equine massage therapist, and Marlene Whitaker, who works with her to choreograph her freestyle performances, as well as friends and teammates.  She also points to the importance of the sponsorship support she receives from Hermes and Peak Performance Nutrients.

Because of her extensive, year-round training schedule, Isabelle works with Private Tutoring Services, a tutoring group that enables her to keep up with her studies and have the necessary flexibility in her schedule.  She takes her academic studies very seriously, and this fall will begin her junior year in Indiana University’s high school honors diploma program, with an interest in international relations and national security.

As this summer winds down, Isabelle is preparing to continue her studies and her participation top-level dressage competitions.  “Hard work, focus and working with talented people are the recipe for success,” she says.  “With Watson and the support team I have, good things are possible.”

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• Tagged Fiona Baan, Isabelle Leibler, Sunnyfield Farm
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