Earlier this month, Karen Pavicic was named one of six Canadian dressage athletes to receive financial support from the Canadian Dressage Athlete Assistance Program (C-DAAP) as she declares for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. C-DAAP, which was created in 2012 to promote the advancement of Canadian dressage in the world rankings, awarded Pavicic funds to help her prepare to qualify for the Olympics with her Oldenburg gelding Don Daiquiri. Pavicic also received funds from C-DAAP last year, which enabled her to further her skills and international presence in dressage.
“It is an incredible honor to have been selected for additional funds from C-DAAP,” said Pavicic. “The expenses to travel and compete at the International levels are extremely high, and I am grateful for the support from C-DAAP to help offset some of these costs.”
Last summer, Pavicic trained in Europe and competed at the World Equestrian Games in France with C-DAAP funds. “C-DAAP funding opened up amazing opportunities for me that I otherwise would not have had,” said the Grand Prix rider. “Because of the generosity of C-DAAP, I had the opportunity to travel to Florida and then to Europe to compete and obtain qualifying scores to represent Canada at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in France.”
Since 2012, C-DAAP has awarded $210,000 to help Canada’s high performance dressage athletes offset the costs of training and competing. The organization takes a step even further than funding to promote the sport of dressage— any rider who receives funds from the C-DAAP program is asked to host a “Give Back” event. Past recipients Jamie Irwin and Jacquie Brooks all supported the “Give Back” portion of the C-DAAP program, and last year’s recipients, Chris Von Martels, Britney Fraser, Megan Lane, and Belinda Trussell, are all working on upcoming events.
To give back to C-DAAP for funding her 2015 European tour, Pavicic hosted a clinic at the beautiful High Point Equestrian Club in Langley, BC, which generously donated its facilities for the event. Pavicic will also be hosting a fundraiser on Thursday, August 27, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the High Point Equestrian Club. Partial proceeds will be donated to C-DAAP.
Pavicic’s “Give Back” fundraiser will include a wine sampling, silent auction, and Grand Prix Freestyle demonstration. The wine tasting will be sponsored by La Viex Pin and Swirl Wines. Sponsors and donors for the silent auction include Equinety XL, Comfort Equestrian and BR, Asmar Equestrian, The Gaitpost Magazine, Bates Saddlery, Equipe Saddlery and Saddle Solutions, Bell Wether Nutrients, and High Point Equestrian. Pavicic herself has also donated a dressage lesson to auction. The Grand Prix Freestyle demonstration will be performed by Shelley Lawder and her horse Lotus to Brazilian themed music in honor of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The music was arranged by Karen Robinson from Applause Dressage Freestyle Design.
Deborah Kinzinger, founder and chairman of C-AAP, is proud of the work that Pavicic and other past award recipients have put into making C-DAAP a continued success. “Karen is not only one of our top Canadian dressage riders, she is truly a wonderful Ambassador for our sport,” said Kinzinger. “She, like several top Canadian riders before her, have not only used the funds to benefit their goal to compete with the best in the world, but also truly exemplify the purpose of the program I created by supporting the C-DAAP ‘Give Back’ program. Banding our top Canadian Dressage riders together to help other up and coming riders reach their potential to compete at the top of this sport is why this program is so successful.”
Pavicic says that she and her Grand Prix mount Don Daiquiri have plenty of training and competition ahead of them in preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games. “We had the privilege of receiving an invitation to the Central Park Horse Show in New York in September again this year to compete against some of the best horses and riders in the world!” she enthused. “We will then be competing at the Dressage at Devon CDI-W in October before heading down to Florida to prepare for the Adequan Global Dressage Festival winter series. These competitions will be qualifiers for the Olympic Games in Rio.”
For more information about C-DAAP, visit www.cdaap.ca and view C-DAAP’s Facebook page.
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