Piaffe-Performance: It’s a Family Affair
Whitehouse Station, NJ (June 27, 2013) – The father/daughter dance is a high school tradition, but for Michael Davis and his 15 year-old daughter, Bebe, their dancing is with horses. Both are part of the Piaffe-Performance dressage team, training under Olympic and Nations Cup Dressage veteran, Dr. Cesar Parra, and with nearly identical dressage scores and finishes, in separate shows on the same Father’s Day weekend, well, it’s safe to say: Like father, like daughter.
“Mike, Bebe’s father, only started riding three years ago and now he’s competing and finishing in the ribbons at Prix St. Georges,” said Parra proudly. Over the June 15-16 weekend at the ESDCTA and USDF/USEF-recognized Level 2 Dressage at the Ranch Show, at Hawk Hollow Ranch in Beminster, New Jersey, Davis debuted in his first Prix St. Georges and brought home third-place honors for his nearly 67% score on Synergy’s Cincinnati.
Daughter Bebe, who closed her 2012 season setting a new American record (75.90%) for the best dressage score attained in the USEF Pony division, is preparing for the Adequan/FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships, July 17-21, in Lexington, KY, as a member of the Region 1 team. The only annual FEI event on the North American continent, the talented teen will join junior and young riders ages 14-21 from the U.S., Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean Islands to vie for team and individual medals in the Olympic disciplines of show jumping, dressage, eventing and World Equestrian Games disciplines of reining and endurance.
The same weekend that her father was showing at Hawk Hollow, Bebe and her Rotano were competing at the Centerline Events Dressage Show and official qualifier for FEI North American and USEF National Junior and YR titles, June 15-16, at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, NY. She won her FEI Junior Team-NAJrYRC/USEF Qualifier, earning 68.514%. And – just like Dad (on Father’s Day weekend no less) – she was third, in Junior Individual, with a 67%, nearly mirroring her father’s score that same afternoon in Bedminster. The Davis prove that it truly is all in the family. Thanks to fortuitous circumstances and ride times, Bebe was even able to make it to see her father’s late afternoon ride on Father’s Day.
“It’s so much fun to compete together and really bring the family aspect into what is normally a very individualistic sport,” said Mike Davis. “We work very hard and enjoy dressage. It’s a lifestyle for our family and being able to compete along side, and maybe even one day against, my daughter is a true gift.” The Davis family, in addition to winning in the juniors and adult amateur divisions, also have a hand in the international arena as the own a slew of top horses: Van the Man, Simply Nymphenburg, Borett, Linder, and Fiderhit OLD. Under Cesar Parra all of these horses have competed successfully: Van the Man is currently campaigning at the Grand Prix level in the northeast and won the Grand Prix Freestyle at the Global Dressage Festival Nations Cup CDI3* during the Florida winter circuit. Fiderhit OLD has recently been in the ribbons with scores over 80% in the young horse classes.
Become a part of the Piaffe-Performance family. Learn more about its programs, instructors, and horses for sale at www.piaffe-performance.com.
Photo: Michael and Bebe Davis. (Photo courtesy of Michael Davis)
Dr. Cesar Parra Piaffe-Performance Farm (410) 977-8352 www.piaffe-performance.com
