Diane Creech and Diana C Make a Perfect Pair

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Wellington, FL – January 21, 2014 – Canadian Grand Prix dressage rider Diane Creech and Diana C, Leatherdale Farms’ young Hanoverian mare, are attracting attention not only for their style in the show ring, but also for their matching names.

Diane Creech and Diana C. Photo by Susan Stickle.

“People ask me, ‘Did you name the horse after yourself? Are you that conceited?’” Creech laughed. “It’s the name she came with! It’s so funny that it’s not only Diana, but Diana C. She was meant to be, and I’m really excited about having her.”

Creech and Diana C showed they work well as a pair in the mare’s 2014 debut in the show ring on Jan. 18. They earned a score of 67.297 percent to take second place in Fourth Level Test 2 at the Gold Coast Opener national show, held at The Stadium at PBIEC in Wellington, FL.

“I’m ecstatic,” Creech said after her ride. “I just rode her quietly through. There’s a lot more power in there. She’s a very, very special mare. I really love her, and she’ll be something really good.”

Diane Creech and Hallmark 3. Photo by Susan Stickle. 

Diana C, a bay Hanoverian mare by Leatherdale Farms’ stallion Damsey, will turn 7 this year. Doug and Louise Leatherdale purchased Diana C after seeing her in Germany in 2010 at the prestigious Herwart von der Decken-Show, where she was named champion dressage mare. Creech has been training the mare for about a year.

Diana C has competed lightly thus far, so the Gold Coast Opener was a good opportunity for her to gain some experience. Creech was impressed with how well the young mare handled the atmosphere and the challenge of shipping in to compete at an unfamiliar venue.

“I’m really glad that she stayed focused and with me,” Creech said. “That was my main goal. I know she can do all the movements – that is not a problem for her. So all I wanted was for her to come out here and be happy and relaxed, stay focused and stay with me. She was super. I’m very excited about her.”

“I know Doug and Louise [Leatherdale] will be too,” she added.

Creech plans to keep working at Fourth Level with Diana C and give her time to get completely comfortable before moving up.

“She’s still so young,” she said. “We’ll work on making her stronger and confirming where she’s at now. Once she’s really confirmed in that kind of work, going into the small tour is not going to be hard for her. It’s just taking her to shows and getting some experience.”

Creech also rode Hallmark 3 in his Intermediaire II debut at the Gold Coast Opener. The pair earned a score of 66.382 percent and finished fourth in a large FEI Test of Choice class. Hallmark 3, who will turn 10 this year, is a black Hanoverian gelding by the Leatherdales’ late stallion, His Highness.

“It was very exciting to ride him in his first Intermediaire II,” Creech said. “He did some beautiful work. He was a happy, good boy.”

She said the pirouettes and half-passes were highlights for Hallmark 3, and she was pleased with his positive effort in stepping up a level.

“I don’t want to push him too early to get into the Grand Prix,” Creech said. “I like the Intermediaire II test and it’s a good challenge for him. He’ll be a great Grand Prix horse.”

Creech will continue competing her lineup of top horses owned by Leatherdale Farms throughout the show season in Wellington.

Diane Creech Makes Strong Debut in Wellington Season Opener

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Diane Creech and Devon L in the Grand Prix Freestyle at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival 1 CDI-W , sponsored by MTICA Farm and Everglades Dressage. Photo by Susan Stickle. 

Wellington, FL – January 17, 2014 – Canadian Grand Prix dressage rider Diane Creech was pleased with the two horses she brought out at the start of the 2014 show season for the Adequan Global Dressage Festival 1 CDI-W, sponsored by MTICA Farm and Everglades Dressage.

Diane Creech and Devon  L. Photo by Mary Adelaide Brackenridge.

“He was quite spectacular,” Creech said. “It was a beautiful, big atmosphere. Devon is starting to like the freestyle. He really gets into it now. I took very calculated risks on the movement and it all paid out. He was really with me and, with the difficulty built into the pattern, it was very well executed.”

She was pleased with the electric atmosphere and the large crowd at the first Friday night freestyle. She was especially grateful to her local friends who came to support her.

“After x/halt/salute, they were yelling and screaming and so happy for me,” she said. “It’s really cool to have friends here. I don’t see them all year, but they all come.“

Her fan club will be there en force when she rides Devon L in the Adequan Global Dressage Festival 3 CDI-W later this month. She has mapped out a training strategy for the show including studying the video of her freestyle, focusing on where she can make things better and visualizing the test.

“It’s a very good training tool to visualize,” she said. “You can’t keep riding the horse through the freestyle, so you visualize it. Then, you ride it and improve it.”

She was also pleased with Chrevis Christo’s debut in his first Intermediaire II.

“It was his first show since last summer,” she said. “He’s ready to be at the level. He just needs a bit more mileage and a bit more experience, but he’s the real thing!” 

Creech and her trainer, Lars Petersen, brought the horse up through the levels and they are looking forward to watching him develop. Petersen intently watches her competition and rides every stride from the ground.

“He is an incredible trainer and person,” she said. “It is wonderful to work with him because he’s engaged and enthusiastic.”

Essential to the team are the horse owners, Doug and Louise Leatherdale of Leatherdale Farms. Creech said she sent them the videos of her rides and they were ecstatic over the outcome and the progress the horses have made.

“Without them I wouldn’t be anywhere,” she said. “They are the first ones after the show to congratulate me.”

Creech plans to show two other Leatherdale Farms horses this weekend at the Gold Coast Dressage Opener Festival CDI*: Hallmark 3, a 10-year-old Hanoverian by the Leatherdales’ late stallion, His Highness, and Diana C, a 7-year-old mare by the Leatherdales’ top Hanoverian stallion, Damsey. She finds the frequent shows in the Wellington area make it ideal for her to compete her horses and then give them a rest before they begin again.

‘They all get to have their turns and have the experience and then get a break and then go out and do it again,” she said.

“The horses always come first,” she said about Team Leatherdale/Creech/Petersen. “It’s really teamwork and I’m so fortunate to be part of the partnership between all of us.”