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Articles: Press Release
Tracey Winter Wins Grand Prix Championship
at GAIG/USDF Region 3 Championship Show
Photo by ©PhelpsPhotos.com
Conyers, GA- Tracey Winter and her 13-year old Trakehner gelding,
Martailo, won top honors at the recent GAIG/USDF Region 3 Dressage
Championships when they were awarded the tri-colored neck ribbon for
the Grand Prix Championship. This coveted win would be an exceptional
victory for any dressage competitor, but for this pair the victory
was the culmination of a dream that spanned more than a decade.
Winter acquired Martailo as a weanling and has trained the gelding
herself over the past 13 years. Before she was even able to ride
him, he succumbed to founder and was almost lost as a riding horse.
With perseverance, Winter nursed the gelding to health and began
training him to ride. In 2000, the pair secured their first USDF
Region 3 victory, taking the Res. Championship in First Level. That
began their exciting trek through the levels, using the annual GAIG/
USDF Region 3 Championships as a mirror of their climb up the
training scale. In 2001, Winter and Martailo won the USDF Region 3
Championship at Second Level. In 2002, the pair won the USDF Region 3
Championship at Third Level, That same year they finished Res. Grand
Champion to Carol Lavell at Fourth Level. Their climb continued and
in 2003, they won the USDF Region 3 Championship at Intermediaire-I
and the Res. Championship in the Prix St. Georges. In 2005, they won
the USDF Region 3 Championship at Intermediaire-II. And then this
past October, Winter and Martailo topped their best and won the USDF
Region 3 Championship at Grand Prix.
Their ride through the levels is a rare journey and Winter's story
is not only one of victory, but of hard work and dedication.
Martailo had another bout of founder just as the pair began Second
level work, but Winter never gave up and again beat the odds to bring
back Martailo as a champion.
Winter, who trains at her, Tranquillity Dressage in South Florida,
said, "The Grand Prix win was so exciting. We would have been happy
just to be in top half of the pack considering the competition." But
the pair was destined to be on the top that day and sporting the GAIG/
USDF Grand Prix Championship Cooler and Jacket they strode back to
the barn and left a wake of inspiration in their trail.
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