MEDIA ADVISORY: Maryland Horse Industry Board to Recognize Equine Champions from Anne Arundel, Cecil Counties

ANNAPOLIS, MD – The Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB) will present its June Touch of Class Award to Linda Zang, an internationally renowned dressage rider and judge from Anne Arundel County, and Qredit, a 5-year-old Oldenburg stallion owned by Hilltop Farm in Cecil County. The awards will be presented Saturday, June 22, during the Dancing Horse Challenge at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center.

Zang, who operates Idlewilde Farm in Davidsonville (Anne Arundel Co.), was recently presented with the 2013 U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Pegasus Medal of Honor Award for lifetime achievement in equestrian sports. Her outstanding accomplishments include competing for the U.S. in the Olympics, Pan Am, and World Games. She has also served as an international judge, technical delegate, clinician and leader of national and world-wide organizations. She has officiated at dressage competitions in 21 countries, including the 1996 Olympics and eight World Cup Finals. She was the first inductee into the U.S. Dressage Federation’s Hall of Fame.

Qredit is the winner of the 2012 North American 70-Day Young Stallion Test. Last summer, Hilltop Farm shipped him to California to compete against stallions from the U.S. and Canada in a grueling competition which includes dressage, jumping ability and temperament over a 70-day period. Not only was Qredit the overall winner, but he came out on top in Dressage. This is the second Touch of Class Award for Hilltop Farm. Their foundation sire, Royal Prince, won a Touch of Class award in 2012 as the U.S. Dressage Federation’s leading sire of the year.

The award will be presented by Jim Steele, Chair of the Maryland Horse Industry Board; and Michele Wellman, owner of By Chance Farm, a licensed Maryland stable in Union Bridge, and chair of the Dancing Horse Challenge.

What: The Maryland Horse Industry Board Touch of Class Award will be presented during in the main arena of the Dancing Horse Challenge, which is part of a two-day Ride For Life competition sponsored annually by the Potomac Valley Dressage Association.

Who: Linda Zang, who operates Idlewilde Farm in Davidsonville (Anne Arundel County), the 2013 U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Pegasus Medal of Honor Award for lifetime achievement; and Qredit of Hilltop Farm (Cecil County), the winner of the 2012 North American 70-Day Young Stallion Test.

When: Saturday, June 22, at 7:15 p.m.

Where: During intermission of the Dancing Horse Challenge at Prince George’s Equestrian Center, 14900 Pennsylvania Ave, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772

For more information, contact Ross Peddicord, Executive Director, Maryland Horse Industry Board, at: 410-841-5798 or by email at: ross.peddicord@maryland.gov.
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