2011 Ride for Life - Please support this great event!

*** Donate Online to Ride for Life ***

On June 25-26, Katchi and I will be at PVDA's Ride for Life (R4L) for the 5th consecutive year. Ride for Life - what's that?? It's a dressage show! But not just any dressage show! It's a silent auction, gala dinner, and dancing horse challenge - and it's one of the 2 most special days of the year for me. R4L is a benefit for the Johns Hopkins Breast Cancer Center, and each year I collect donations and ride in memory of Joy Court - my first dressage instructor who lost her battle against breast cancer in 1997. I am certain that my love for dressage - the harmony, unity, and perfection - is all because of Joy. She taught me to try-try-and try again. And she taught me to get off, walk to the end of the field and back, and then try again - I guess they call that patience?! Or persistent humility. Anyhow, she taught me to love the sport and love my horse. Her horses gave her hope through years of chemotherapy, recurring cancer, and a bone marrow transplant - her tremendous strength and optimism inspire me still today. And it's such a wonderful feeling, over 10 years since Joy's passing, to still be up on a horse, thinking about all the things I learned from her!

Joy with Monty & Allie

So, in Joy's honor, I ask you to support this year's Ride for Life! Come to the show - not just to see me and Katchi - come experience the event! See the smiles of survivors and current victims as they compete with the horses that give them motivation! Watch all the "scrappy" eventers go elegant and kick some DQ tail! Donate something or (even more fun!) buy something at the silent auction! Submit a tribute for the show program ($25 minimum donation). Eat and drink at the Gala dinner (limited tickets, $100 each). Watch the Dancing Horse Challenge ($20 general admission) - cheer on my instructor, Silva Martin and her Grand Prix OTTB! Welcome Ann Romney, Debbie McDonald, and Courtney King-Dye as the event's special guests! Donate online - Cash/check donations are welcome too (please be sure to write "Cherie Chauvin" as the rider you are donating for). Email me at cheriechauvin@hotmail.com if you have any questions or want to get involved!

Last year, I won a high pledge award, and this year I'm hoping to make donations in my name (and in Joy's memory) even more bountiful! This year, I'm trying to branch out my donation efforts to include some of my favorite horse products in the silent auction and rider raffle - and I've already had some success! I'd like to thank The Sport House for donating a bunch of WEG DVDs (Dressage highlights and day tapes) and The National Academies for donating a copy of the 6th edition beautiful hard copy book - Nutrient Requirements of Horses.

Katchi & me at the 2010 Ride for Life

However you can - please support this wonderful event!

Event Details:

PVDA Ride for Life
June 25-26, 2011
Prince George's Equestrian Center
Upper Marlboro, MD

** Donate Online Here **


R4L Links:
My R4L page on my website
Official R4L website
Silent Auction donations
Show Program Tribute Form (due by June 1)
Cash/Check Donation Form