STRIDE Dressage of Ocala, FL

08/31/2026

Thank you everyone for coming out to the 2025-2026 STRIDE Dressage banquet!
For those who missed it, the program is posted on our Website! 🏆
Our Golden Oates Essay winner, Lonni Bechen, is also featured on our website. Be sure to check out the amazing essay! 📝
Congratulations to all and we hope to see everyone in October! 🩷🐴
Please, if you have more pictures, feel free to comment them below or send them to us and we will update the post the best we can. 📸

08/31/2026

As our 2025-2026 season officially comes to an end, we wanted to give a big thank you to everyone who made the season and our Banquet possible.
A big thank you to our Banquet Committee who helped make the event possible! 🏆 🐴
Also a big shout out to Beth Iovanna for our wonderful centerpieces, Diane with Eastgate Engraving for our prizes, and Action Awards for our ribbons. 🥇 🌺 🐴
And a huge thank you to Louisa with The Horse Talk Show for being our wonderful MC! 🎤
Our banquet couldn’t have happened without all hands on deck! 🐴✨
Be on the lookout for more posts regarding our Banquet! If you have any more pictures, feel free to share them and we will try to update the post as best as we can! 📸

08/19/2026

As we get ready for the STRIDE Awards Banquet, this is a good reminder!!!

I’ve read a few posts recently from riders who have come away from their Championship qualifiers feeling really disappointed.

I get it.

You’ve worked your ass off, put the training in, prepared properly and done everything the good book says… then something doesn’t go to plan. Your horse gets tense, you make a mistake, or quite simply the judge didn’t like what you showed that day.

It’s deflating.

But while you’re looking at your score sheet disappointed, someone standing at the side of that arena may have been watching you in absolute awe.

They might have thought your riding looked effortless. Loved the partnership you have with your horse. Admired your communication. Or simply thought, I’d love to be able to do that one day.

We measure so much of our sport by percentages, placings, rosettes and qualifications. But some of the biggest wins never appear on a scoreboard.

A happy horse. A clap from a stranger. Your family and friends supporting you. Getting down that centre line when once it felt miles away.

Qualifying is a win… but being there is a win too.

So if your qualifier didn’t go to plan, don’t let one test take away everything you’ve achieved to get there. ❤️

👇 What was YOUR small win at your last competition?
Forget the score, tell me something you walked away proud of.

08/16/2026

08/16/2026

One last friendly reminder TODAY is the LAST day to register for the banquet!!! Don’t miss out on celebrating STRIDE and our member’s accomplishments this season! Please reach out to us or Nikki if you have any questions or concerns! We look forward to seeing everyone there!

08/16/2026

So many educational opportunities are available through USDF.
Do you have a suggestion for a topic or and idea for a program?
Either contact Nikki or contact Tashina directly!
Tashina writes:
As your Regional Representative of the Adult Programs Committee, I would like to share our mission and highlight the educational benefits available to USDF members. Our Mission is: To encourage, increase and enrich adult participation in dressage by providing educational opportunities and recognition of achievement. Through outreach to GMOs, we hope to strengthen engagement and support while also gaining valuable feedback regarding additional educational opportunities and member needs.
GMO Members are encouraged to share ideas and suggestions with the committee. This collaboration allows us to better identify the resources and programs that will most effectively serve our members. For example, the USDF Virtual Education Series offers both live and on-demand programming. Most recently, the May 12, 2026, presentation, “Common Mistakes in the Show Ring with Joan Darnell and Jodi Lees, will be available on demand soon. Additional topics, such as “Inflammation and Fatigue in Performance Horses,” are also currently accessible on demand. Virtual Education can be found here: https://www.usdf.org/education/university/virtual-education-series.asp
In addition, the Education Library provides a wide variety of resources, including articles, audio content, and videos. USDF members also have access to online educational courses that offer continuing education credit opportunities. The Education Library can be found here: https://www.usdf.org/education/university/kb/
While USDF members already have access to a substantial range of educational resources, we are actively seeking input to help expand and diversify the topics offered to better meet the interests and needs of our members.
Please feel free to share this information with your members. You may contact the Adult Programs Committee at: [email protected]. The Committee Chair, Vice Chair and regional representatives can be contacted directly by accessing their information at: https://www.usdf.org/about/about-usdf/councilscommittees/adultprogram.asp
Thank you,
Tashina Heiser
Adult Programs Committee
Region 3 Representative

08/13/2026

We’re just around the corner from our 2025-2026 STRIDE Year End Banquet! 🥂🐴

Tickets can be purchased through the STRIDE Dressage website. Please reach out to Nikki with any questions at (727) 301-6065 ! 🎟️

RSVP AND PAYMENT DEADLINE IS SUNDAY, AUGUST 16TH
Please make sure your RSVP and payment are completed by the deadline! ✉️

We’re also excited to have Louisa Barton with The Horse Talk Show joining us as our Banquet MC! 🎤 🐴

Golden Oates Essay Reminder:
Entries are due Monday, August 17th. Please email your essay to [email protected] so all entries have time to be read and judged. 📝

We can’t wait to celebrate another wonderful year of STRIDE Dressage with everyone! 💕🐎✨

08/08/2026

Stride is considering adding in-hand young horse classes to our Schooling shows. Is there interest in this?

08/07/2026

August President’s message from Nikki:
I can’t believe it’s August already. There is no general membership meeting this month as we have the banquet, so September is going to be the next general meeting. Sandy has also been working on getting a symposium with Natalie Lamping early November to introduce the new dressage tests (USDF). Once I have more information, I will happily share it. But just be aware that the new tests will be used at our December show and shows going forward after that.

Membership

Now is the time to renew your membership, don’t forget you can use vouchers and I’ll be happy to accept them at the banquet if you don’t want to mail them. The STRIDE membership year runs from 1st September through to 31stAugust.

I have also spoken to Tack Shack, and they have a new system which means that they are asking for the email address for every member. I haven’t sent them across yet as I want to give you all the opportunity to ask me not to send your email address across. I know I would personally be angry if someone handed over my email without asking me first. Please let me know ASAP if you don’t want your email address shared.

Banquet

Don’t forget our year end banquet is being held at the Hilton (3600 SW 36th Ave, Ocala, FL 34474) on 29th August 6pm – 9pm and it will be a buffet this year. That way people can eat what they want and how much they want. The Hilton is also providing a cash bar. We have a lot to celebrate at the banquet, there are a lot of award winners, we also have the Emily Butler Trophy and all the new TIP awards to present. We also have an MC for this year! Louisa Barton from The Horse Talk Show, we are very excited to have Louisa!
If you plan on coming, please register on our website ($50 per person) or mail me your vouchers (Nicola Horton 407 Spring Time St, Spring Hill, FL 34608) I have a locked mailbox so there is no chance of them going missing from there.

The last date to RSVP is August 16th. I personally can’t wait to see everyone there and celebrate all our year end award winners.

Door Prizes
We have a selection of door prizes already but if anyone wants to donate something or has someone in mind that you think I should reach out to please let me know. Also, donating door prizes is a great way to start to earn your volunteer hours for the 2026/2027 show season.

Golden Oats Essay

I have already had a few entries in but would love more! The deadline for entries is August 17th, to give enough time to read through them all.

Horse Shows 2026/27 Show Season

October 18 2026

December 6 2026

January 3 2027

February 28 2027

March 21 2027

STRIDE looks forward to seeing you all there! And don’t forget we have a costume class at the October show, and I would love to see a large amount of you showing off your best costumes! And our February show will be the pink show, so start gathering your pink shirts, saddle pads etc. The omnibus will be shared soon, and I will send out updates when entries open and when they are near to closing. There will also be reminders on our pages and the website.

We have also given the dates to BNB Photography and Bobbi will be at each of our shows, if you are looking for competition photos please check her out as she takes fantastic photos!