Congratulations to Danito, the March 2019 USEA Horse of the Month! Owned by Ruth Bley and ridden by Tamra Smith, Danito is a 10-year-old Hanoverian chestnut gelding (Dancier x Wie Musik). Danito won the CCI3-S at the Fresno County Horse Park on February 15, the first FEI event of 2019. No stranger to earning the blue ribbon, Danito has 12 wins to his USEA record including a win in 2014 at Lone Tree Farm’s Young Event Horse (YEH) competition with John Michael Durr in the irons.
Thanks to our friends at EquiRatings, we can share that Smith and Danito’s win at Fresno put Danito in a category with top event horses like Veronica and Mystery Whisper.
Smith explained what he’s like around the barn, his favorite treats, and described him as a horse with “a heart of gold.”
About Danito:
EquiRatings Statistic
Danito’s win at the Fresno County Horse Park gives him three wins from three international runs with Tamra Smith. This means they become only the 20th combination since 2008 to win their first three international runs as a combination. Two other combinations on this list are Veronica and Lauren Kieffer and Mystery Whisper and Phillip Dutton.
New in 2019, the USEA is recognizing an event horse each month on the USEA website and social media. The USEA Horse of the Month is determined based on statistics and event results and announced at the beginning of every month. The March Horse of the Month was selected based on the performance of the first FEI event of 2019, Fresno County Horse Park CCI. Danito and Tamra Smith won Fresno’s CCI3-S wire to wire, earning him the title of USEA Horse of the Month in March 2019!
From horse trials in her home state of California where she prepared herself and her horses to take on the best in the nation and around the world to five-star events overseas where she represented the United States on some of eventing’s biggest stages, Tamie Smith had a remarkable season and finished 2022 as the Bates USEA Lady Rider of the Year for the second year in a row.
TerraNova Equestrian Center in Myakka City, Florida, held its first CCI4*-S competition in the fall of 2021 and is now gearing up for the location’s third-ever FEI event and inaugural spring event this weekend during The Event at TerraNova which takes place March 30-April 2.
Are you following along with the action from home this weekend? Or maybe you're competing at an event and need information fast. Either way, we’ve got you covered! Check out the USEA’s Weekend Quick Links for links to information including the prize list, ride times, live scores, and more for all the events running this weekend.
Many riders across all levels have found that working with young horses has provided them with the most valuable experiences in eventing. The opportunities for young event horses have never been more exciting. The Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse East Coast and West Coast Championships continue to grow in profile as the culmination of a calendar of qualifying events is expanding to more areas of the country. More American riders and their young horses are aiming for the FEI WBFSH Eventing World Breeding Championships at Mondial du Lion in Le Lion D’Angers, France, particularly thanks to programs like the Holekamp/Turner YEH Lion d’Angers Grant. That’s become one of the most attended sporting events in the entire country. It’s given young event horses from the United States a chance to represent the growth of the American eventing community’s dedication to properly developing talent in the sport.