Wellington, FL – During week seven of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, Adult Amateur Amanda Lopez exhibited the hard work and commitment necessary to compete among the best-of-the-best in Wellington, Florida. From Second Level through Prix St. Georges, Lopez piloted three separate mounts earning several blue ribbons and no less than a third place finish in all of the classes she entered.
For her success in the ring and the perseverance Lopez shows in balancing a busy life both in and out of the arena, GK Elite Sport, a returning sponsor this year at the 2018 Adequan Global Dressage Festival, honored Lopez, from Sarasota, Florida, with the GK Elite Sport Adult Amateur Award. Showcasing the successful amateur’s ability to campaign so many horses – at such a high and successful level while raising two children–the GK Elite Sport Adult Amateur Achievement Award was presented to Lopez by Dr. Cesar Parra, owner of Piafffe Performance, and who partners with Nicoletta Ghribi, president of GK Elite Sport.
Lopez appears to be a master at multi-tasking, and is doing a fantastic job of balancing her love for riding with family commitments and running a farm. “I do soccer and baseball and I have a farm in Sarasota, so I have many babies coming up and basically live the whole mom, farm, wife thing,” she explained.
“Yesterday I had three really great rides; I have three really great horses here. I have Quantum, he’s a Swedish Warmblood turning 13; I’ve had him for eight months. We are just bringing him back up and learning a little bit and building a connection. I have an 18-year-old Dutch Warmblood, Taranco is his name, and he didn’t start showing until he was 15 so we are working through everything with him, and then I have a young Westfalian horse, turning nine, named Rubitanos Dream. We have been together for five months and he is my avatar, so I cherish every moment I can be on him.”
While the bulk of dressage riders are adult amateurs, no amount of advice or well-wishes can be too much to those with high aspirations. When asked what she would say to other amateur riders who aspire to climb the levels of dressage, Lopez said, “Stick with it; master the basics. Love any and every comment that you get. And even if you lose, you learn.”
Dr. Cesar Parra added his thoughts to the idea of amateurs progressing in such a challenging sport, saying, “I think it is fantastic to see them enjoy the sport that I love so much. And especially our sponsor, Mrs. Nicoletta Ghribi (GK Horses president) is also an amateur rider, and we feel that sometimes they are a little bit unappreciated for all the effort that they do because we know that it is hard work; we know that it is a very difficult sport, and we really appreciate them making an effort to come here and be part of this season with us,” commented the Pan American games dressage team gold medalist.
Lopez was honored to be recognized for her efforts, and was rewarded for her accomplishments with an engraved photo frame and commemorative GK Elite Sport Adult Amateur Award ribbon.
GK Horses operates exceptional horse and rider training facilities in Jupiter, Florida and Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, and is proud to recognize outstanding horse-and-rider combinations with the GK Elite Sport Adult Amateur Award throughout the Global Dressage Festival 12-week series which runs until the end of March.
To learn more about GK Elite Sport and the outstanding horses owned by the organization, visit http://www.gk-horses.com/. To learn more about Piaffe Performance and the show ring successes that Piaffe trainers Cesar Parra and Katie Riley have with GK Horses and Adult Amatuer riders, visit https://piaffe-performance.com/.

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