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Founder
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Officers
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Giving Back
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Our Sponsors
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Gallery
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The Lower Puget Sound Dressage Club
(LPSDC), Chapter of Oregon Dressage Society (ODS) is located in the
Gig Harbor/Port Orchard area in Western Washington State, although
our members
 hail from areas beyond these boundaries. The club is
dedicated to the education of its members and the promotion of the
harmonious development of horses and riders in the finest tradition
of equitation. Our average membership of 60 consists of Juniors,
Adult Amateurs and includes many equine professionals and several
L judge graduates.
LPSDC was formed 1989 and was a chapter of ODS as there was no other
organization who could offer our members the array of benefits. At
the time there was no real organized focus on dressage in our area.
The Gig Harbor Horsemen did stage a few shows in the previous decade
however they announced that they would not be offering any dressage
shows in the future. So in stepped Gene Dueber, (at the age of 90+
continues to be a member of our club), who gathered together a group
of dressage enthusiasts and the Lower Puget Sound Chapter of the
Oregon Dressage Club was formed.
In 1993 the Club determined it would best serve our members to
become a chapter of Equestrians Institute mainly due to location as
they are a Washington based organization. That relationship
continued until early 2011 when EI determined they needed to
reevaluate chapters and for the time being would not include
chapters in their organization. ODS graciously took us back into
their fold.
Back in the day, class fees were $8, and our early awards banquet
was a potluck at the Kitsap Saddle Club.
.png) Finding a venue for
meetings was an ongoing search and the never ending need for
volunteers was a consistent theme.
From the early days of 1 to 2 shows a year LPSDC now sponsors 5
schooling shows and has added clinics to its schedule. LPSDC offers
members reduced fees for its shows and clinics and offers classes
from Intro to FEI, Freestyle and as we have a contingent of Eventers,
we also offer the Event Dressage Tests. We have a great Year-End
Awards program for our members and our shows are also Washington
State Horseman B system rated. Awards are presented at our Annual
Banquet, which is also our major fund raising event. Event attendees
dine, dance, visit and bid on a generous collection of donated items
from local tack stores and other businesses as well as national
recognized manufacturers.
Over the past 10 years LPSDC has sponsored 50 shows and 30 40
clinics. Typically our judges are USDF L graduates, however, we
now have one show a year with a big R or even S rated judge.
This additional exposure for our riders to the more seasoned judges
eye is very helpful. Our clinicians have included Sonja Vracko S,
Diane Royce R, Jennifer Schrader-Williams, Erin Jorgenson L,
Peggy Cummins, Gerd Zuther, and Ulla Boysen, to name a few.
We have watched some of our junior riders go from bouncing around on
ponies to becoming some of the Northwest Regions top riders and
dressage instructors. Others headed off to college and graduated to
become teachers, veterinarians, nurses, marketing manager to name of
few. Several are now parents. Our horses have gone up the levels,
earned us our bronze and silver medals and are now school masters to
the next generation of riders.
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