Whirl With Merle

One aspiring equestrian includes sponsored rider Catherine Kwasnik from Queens who has been accepted into the prestigious Dressage4Kids’ Winter Intensive Training Program.

Catherine is a 15-year-old student at The Mary Louis Academy in Jamaica, NY and has been training and competing with Messina for a little over a year now. The two met in the spring of 2017 when The ARK was looking for a new home for Messina. Messina was introduced to The ARK family in 2016 when owner, Susan J. Bruns, took a job managing the Export Barn. Tragedy struck when Susan suddenly passed away in late February of 2017 from an aortic aneurysm. The ARK knew they had to find a good home for Messina as well as an enrichment and exercise program.

Come Spring 2017, The ARK found Messina a home at Blue Ribbon Farm, a dressage training facility in Calverton, New York. Young rider, Catherine Kwasnik, was chosen to train and compete with Messina through a sponsorship by The ARK. This January, the two will head off to Wellington, Florida to train and compete in one of the most prestigious and intense equestrian programs in the country.