Archive 1

Barrington Hills Fundraiser at Laura Pedian's 2009

Allison told the gathered Equestrians that she is grateful she grew up in Barrington Hills. "The Barrington Hills Riding Club, Fox River Valley Pony Club and Fox River Valley Hunt Club made me the rider I am today."

On July 8th, the equestrian community in Barrington Hills gathered together in support of the competitive dreams of international eventer Allison Springer. Over 150 people gathered at Laura Pedian’s beautiful Uulke Farm to watch Allison and superstar Arthur perform the Rolex 2009 Dressage test followed by a jumping demonstration. Allison’s friends and family hosted the party to raise funds for Allison and Arthur to travel to Burghley, England to compete in the most challenging four star event in the world.

Local pony clubbers, dressed in “Riding For A Cure” shirts and hats, helped with Arthur’s grooming and tacking up prior to the demonstration. The United States Equestrian Federation notified Allison earlier in the day that she would receive a travel grant to Burghley, England and be representing the U.S. at the competition the first week in September. She will also be traveling to Pau, France in late October with Destination Known to compete in the four star competition there.

Arthur and Destination Known are strong candidates for the 2010 World Equestrian Games and the 2012 Olympic team. Stay tuned to Allison's blog from the time she leaves for Europe until the end of competition on www.AllisonSpringer.com . Go to the Community Event page for details and thanks to all of the residents and family who make it happen!

Photo: Allison Springer and Arthur perform their Rolex routine at Laura Pedian's Barn 2009 -
Fundraiser for Allison's European Tour in September and October
- Photo courtesy of Megan West at Offside Element Photography

Photo: Allison Springer and Arthur perform another Rolex routine at Laura Pedian's Barn 2009 -
Fundraiser for Allison's European Tour in September and October
- Photo courtesy of Megan West at Offside Element Photography

Photo: Allison Springer and Pony Club girls admire Arthur at Laura Pedian's Barn 2009 -
Fundraiser for Allison's European Tour in September and October
- Photo courtesy of Megan West at Offside Element Photograpny

Photo: Allison Springer and Arthur wtih Pony Clubbers at Laura Pedian's Barn 2009 -
Fundraiser for Allison's European Tour in September and October
- Photo courtesy of Megan West at Offside Element Photography

**************************************************************************************************

ALLISON SPRINGER SUPPORTS NARHA

HORSES FOR HEROES - January 2009

Allison Springer News - December 2008

SPRINGER SELECTED FOR USET TRAINING
Virginia-based Event Rider Collects More Titles in 2008 and Sets Her Sights on the 2010 World Equestrian Games.

Upperville, VA., December 3, 2008. 
The United States Equestrian Team has again selected international event rider, Allison Springer, for the Training List.  Springer, 34, and the 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, Destination Known, join a handful of elite riders who will benefit from training sessions conducted by USEF Eventing Coach, Capt. Mark Phillips in 2009.   Destination Known (Burger) has completed another successful year which culminated with the USEA Reserve Horse of the Year title following a 6th place at the Jersey Fresh Spring CCI*** Championship and 4th place at the Fairhill Fall CCI*** Championship.  In addition to having been named multiple times to the USET High Performance Training list, Springer has also been previously named to the USET Developing Riders list four times on four different horses.
 
"I am thrilled to once again be included on the USET Training List.  Burger had a fabulous year and deserves to be there," said Springer.  The combination are in great form as they prepare to head to Wellington, FL next month for intensive dressage and show jump training before moving on to Aiken, SC on February 1 to begin the competition season.  "Burger will most likely do one more three-star event in the spring season, possibly in Europe, before he contends his first four star event in the fall season."
 
Springer's other top horse, Arthur, a nine-year-old Irish Thoroughbred gelding, who finished 13th at the 2008 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event and was 3rd at both North American World Cup Qualifiers (Red Hills and The Fork CIC***-W), will return to Kentucky in the spring before heading for England to tackle another four star course at the prestigious Burghley Horse Trials in the fall. 

Arthur was the reserve champion in the USEA Gold Cup Series at the Advanced Level.  He was also the 21st ranked horse internationally in the HSBC Eventing World Cup following the HSBC World Cup Final in Deauville, France where he finished 20th. "My intention was to compete at Blenheim three star event in England the week before the World Cup Final but, unfortunately, the competition was canceled due to an extreme change in the weather after the dressage when Arthur was in 6th position on the leader board out of 100 entries," said Allison.

The next international team championship event will be the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky on which Springer has her sights set.  "I am thrilled to have two horses that are contenders for the team," she enthused.  "I will be very focused on producing them so I can compete for a place on the team."
 
Springer will be attending a training session this weekend in Charlottesville, VA with Olympic show jumping rider and trainer, Anne Kursinski, as part of Springer's concentrated training program, which benefits from expert coaching in all three phases of eventing.

ALLISON SPRINGER

Date of Birth: October 17, 1974
Hometown: Barrington Hills, IL
Training Location: Allison Springer Eventing, Upperville, VA
Occupation: Event Rider & Trainer
Website: www.allisonspringer.com

The focus of Allison Springer Eventing is to train international event horses to the highest level of competition worldwide. The ultimate goal is to represent the United States in Olympic competition.

In high school Allison pursued a rigorous Advanced Placement curriculum (A.P. Physics, Calculus, English, Spanish, etc.).  She was a varsity diver, alpine ski competitor, in student government and assistant editor of the literary magazine.  Allison earned her colors in the Fox River Valley Hunt at an early age and achieved the A rating of National Pony Club by the age of 16. She went on to graduate from the highly selective Bowdoin College where she was on the Dean's list and continues to be active in the Bowdoin community.

Career Highlights:
· Winner, American Eventing Championships (Pharaoh's Tale)
· Winner, Wayne Horse Trials, (Miz Varga)
· Reserve National Championship Young Event Horse (Folk Lore)
· Repeatedly named to both USET's High Performance Training and Developing Riders Lists
· "A" Rated Pony Club trainer and coach.
· Consistently Top Ten on the USEA Rider Leaderboard

DESTINATION KNOWN
aka Burger. Foaled 1998, 17.0 hand, gray American Thoroughbred gelding
Owner:  Allison Springer
Career Highlights:
2008
Fair Hill CCI3* 4th
Morven Park Adv 6th A
Maui Jim HT 3rd A
Jersey Fresh CCI3* 6th
Fair Hill International HT 6th OI
Red Hill CIC3* 7th
Jumping Branch Farm HT 6th N
Pine Top Spring Advanced HT 4th A-2
Pine Top Winter II HT 1st OI3
Full Gallop Farm HT 5th I
2007
Bromont CCI2* 2nd
Richland Park CIC** 1st
ARTHUR

**********************************************************************************************************

Allison Springer- Resident in the Spotlight

May 2008, the Communications Committee recommendations resulted in Allison Springer, a home grown equestrian who just competed in the Four Star Rolex Event in Lexington Kentucky in April to be the first person to be honored. Congratulations, Allison!

Photo: Allison Springer. Carolyn Springer, Allison’s Mom, is among the first to sing her praises; Google her name and
find an enormous number of articles and features which support her opinion. Photo courtesy of Shannon Brinkman.

Olympic Goals

Allison maintains a focus on her long term goals while teaching equestrian skills and working actively each day in Virginia. Her goals include the World Equestrian Games to be held in Kentucky in October 2010. The official website for the Alltech FEI Games 2010 is www.feigames2010.org. The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 are comprised of the world championships for eight equestrian sports – show jumping, dressage, eventing, driving, endurance, vaulting, reining, and para-equestrian.

The games started in 1990 and they are held every four years, two years prior to the Summer Olympic Games, and are governed by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FEI is the international governing body of equestrian sport recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

Her ultimate goal: the International Olympics. She has her sites set on 2012 working tenaciously with her horses to be sure both horse and rider are equally ready for the opportunity to compete and win.

Allison Springer: Role Model and Teacher

Taken from Allison’s home page www.allisonspringer.com: Written by her Mother Carolyn Springer: “But best of all, Allison has a truly loving heart. Not just for horses, but for people too and again an ability to bring out the best. There are many examples among her students but I will give just one. Several years ago, Allison had a teenage working student that did not talk; she had stopped talking in kindergarten. There was nothing physically wrong with her and she was home schooled because of this. After working with Allison for several months, she became a chatterbox.”

Allison’s Story: How It All Began

“I have been riding horses since age six. My infatuation with the animal had somewhat of an odd start… I was a thumb sucker! Yes, I sucked my thumb into the years my father considered “too old.” This was a concern because I had perfect teeth, and the dentist had told my parents that I had a 99.9% chance of not needing braces as long as I didn’t continue to suck my thumb. All sorts of attempts were made to end this terrible habit – positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement; Tabasco sauce on the thumbs (killed my eyes!) – To no avail. Exasperated my father went back to the dentist for more advice. The advice was simple… “Bribe her.” Genius!

I happened to be in a Barbie Doll phase and had been constantly begging for the newest doll out – I think the one I wanted at the time was something ridiculous like Malibu Barbie. I do think my dad was hoping it was going to be as simple as Malibu Barbie, unfortunately for him I had missed the bus home from school that day and went home with a neighbor who had a pony. I brushed the pony, fed the pony, and rode the pony… LOVED the pony. I remember thinking that was the most glorious day of my life. So that evening when my father came to me with his proposition -- “I will give you one thing, anything, as long as you quit sucking your thumb right now and never do it again.”—I needed no time to think. “I want a pony.” I remember his face and his response: “What? A real one?” I never cheated. I was so stricken with the pony disease, there was no looking back. My dad was a man of his word and I KNEW my having a pony was meant to be.”

Allison Springer Featured in “Chronicle of the Horse” April 18, 2008

Allison Springer Is Really Ready For Rolex Now
April 18, 2008 Issue, www.chronicleofthehorse.com

“Every setback she’s encountered is just one more learning
opportunity for this talented young professional.”

“Allison Springer began her eventing career with guts, ability and big dreams. She planned to go straight to the Olympics with her first big-time horse, Tenacity. But, like many young professionals, she quickly learned that anything can, and will, happen in eventing. Springer took those roadblocks in stride and used them to further educate and prepare herself, so that now she believes she’s more prepared than ever to break into the elite ranks. Springer, 33, has big plans for 2008. Aboard Arthur, her horse of a lifetime, she was named to the U.S. Equestrian Federation Winter Training List, and she’s headed to Rolex Kentucky with high expectations and the experience to back up those expectations."

“So far, Springer has placed third in every advanced outing she’s made this year with Arthur, starting with the Pine Top Spring Advanced Horse Trials (Ga.) and continuing at the Red Hills CIC***-W (Fla.) and the Fork CIC***-W (N.C.). “But there’s so much stuff I can do better,” said Springer. “There’s so much more I have to learn. I had a good dressage test at Red Hills, but I was thinking, ‘Man, I could have done so many things better.’ I’m so excited for the future. Not for a minute do I think I know it all or have it right yet.”

“Springer, started her eventing career in Barrington, Ill. She first rode with Helga Revenaugh, mother to a U.S. Equestrian Team veterinarian Mark Revenaugh. Lisa Anderson took Springer to her first one-star, and she continued on with Ralph Hill. “He teaches you how to kick around and get the job done,” said Springer. She also worked with Peter Gray. “I think Peter is amazing because he’s big into classic position. That’s what I teach a lot. You communicate clearly with the animal through good position,” said Springer.”

Post Spotlight 2008 Recognition

Allison Springer was in town this summer to support the Pony Club and do some local coaching for their recent events. Her parents Bill and Carolyn Springer hosted a welcome home party to celebrate her visit. She was featured in the July/August Quintessential Barrington Magazine ,the Northwest Quarterly Magazine, and our Village Fall Newsletter. Her star continues to rise.

Accomplishments

Based in Middleburg, Virginia, Allison Springer competes and coaches throughout the country. Recent accomplishments include:

• Winner, American Eventing Championships, Pharoah’s Tale
• Winner, Wayne Horse Trials, Miz Varga
• Reserve National Championship Young Event Horse, Folk Lore
• Multiple Ribbons at CCI*, CCI**, CCI*** Three Day Events
• Repeatedly named to USET's Developing Riders List
• Featured in USEA's 2006 Dressage Test Video
• "A" Rated Pony Club trainer and coach
• Allison & Arthur have been on the USEF High Performance List, receiving USOC Training
• Provides Training, Coaching, and Clinics