Photo: Denielle Gallagher-Legriffon’s (right) enthusiasm for dressage earned her the first Draper Therapies™ Best Foot Forward Award of the 2015 Adequan Global Dressage Festival

Wellington, FL (January 16, 2015)– Riding down centerline with a smile on her face and a horse as large and in charge as her 17.1-hand gelding, Zazou, not only assured Canadian rider Denielle Gallagher-Legriffon a great first impression in front of the judges, but also the first Draper Therapies™ Best Foot Forward Award of the season. As the Adequan™ Global Dressage Festival opened in Wellington, Florida, Draper Therapies was happy to congratulate Denielle on a great start to the winter show season.

“I’m always happy riding my horse. We had a very clean test and I can’t wait to use my Draper products,” Gallagher-Legriffon said as she received the Draper Therapies Best Foot Forward Award. The upbeat rider and her bay Dutch-bred Zazou (OO Seven x Kimbel), co-owned with Evi Strasser, also achieved a pair of Fourth Level reserves and a strong seventh out of 29 entries in their Prix St Georges/CDI during Week 1 of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival.

“I think it’s much easier to give an eight to a smiling rider than to a frowning one,” said the season’s inaugural Best Foot Forward Award winner about the importance of a positive attitude. “It’s important to exude good sportsmanship— to show judges that your horse is happy, you are confident, and the test feels easy.” Originally from New Brunswick, Gallagher-Legriffon is making competing in Florida look easy as she balances her time in the ring with launching a new 36-horse facility, Brilliance Farm, in Loxahatchee, Florida.

Gallagher-Legriffon’s winning attitude made her an obvious choice for the Draper Therapies Best Foot Forward Award. “She and her smile embodied putting a Best Foot Forward,” explained Draper’s product manager Becky Shipps said. “We are looking forward to recognizing more people who bring a positive spirit and attitude to these dressage rings and share that with those around them.”

This is the first season Draper Therapies, which traditionally sponsors Best Foot Forward Awards at the Winter Equestrian Festival, is presenting at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. Best Foot Forward Awards present horses with a Draper Therapies saddle pad and pair of polo wraps, and riders with a pair of Celliant®-infused socks and a scented eye pillow.

Draper Therapies’s innovative products include scientifically-proven therapeutic horse blankets, boots, wraps, and saddle pads; dog beds and mats; and clothing and products for their owners. All products are made with Celliant®, the world’s most technologically advanced fiber and a proprietary blend of minerals extruded into polyester fiber. Celliant technology alleviates pain and negative symptoms in humans, canines, and equines by improving the body’s natural systems and increasing blood flow to affected tissue.

More Draper Therapies Best Foot Forward Awards will be presented throughout the 2015 Adequan Global Dressage Festival, which runs from January 8 to March 29. The show series will feature four CDI-W’s, a CDI 4* and 5*, and the Western Hemisphere’s only non-championship CDIO.

Among the leading equestrians serving on Draper Therapies’ Advisory Board are dressage competitors familiar to the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, including Steffen and Shannon Peters, Katherine Bateson Chandler, Susan Dutta, Susanne Hassler, and NY Times best-selling author and rider, Tami Hoag.

Learn more about Draper Therapies products and its support of our equestrian communities at www.drapertherapies.com or 781-828-0029.