The Dressage Foundation (TDF) is pleased to announce that Laura DeCesari (AZ) is the recipient of its second annual $2,500 Patsy Albers Award presented on the West Coast, awarded at the recent USEF Heritage competition 76th Annual Del Mar National Horse Show managed by HITS.
Photo by Terri Miller
Since 2013, TDF’s Patsy Albers Award has been presented to the highest placing Grand Prix rider at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions who previously competed for the U.S. at the FEI North American Youth Championship (NAYC). In 2023, the award was expanded to Dressage at Devon and then to the Del Mar National Horse Show in 2024. The goal of the Patsy Albers Award is to highlight riders who transitioned from NAYC to competing successfully in the CDI ring.
Laura owns a boutique training facility in Tucson, AZ, and is a USDF bronze, silver, and gold medalist. Laura is the recent recipient of TDF’s $25,000 Carol Lavell Advanced Dressage Prize and is a past participant of TDF’s Dream Program.
Laura received the Patsy Albers Award after finishing third on her own Rossi in the CDI3* FEI Grand Prix at Del Mar.
Laura said, “Winning this award was both unexpected and incredibly rewarding. It brought back memories of my young rider years and reminded me of how far I’ve come since then. Being recognized for my hard work and dedication to the sport is truly an honor. Thank you to the donors of the Patsy Albers Award for their support of riders in Patsy's memory, and for giving us that extra boost to keep striving for excellence in our training and education. And thank you to The Dressage Foundation for continuing to offer this meaningful award!”
Patsy Albers was a longtime supporter and Chef d'Equipe of the North American Youth Championship Region 1 team. She was also very involved at the prestigious Dressage at Devon, where she served for many years as the FEI Event Director. Her expertise extended into management, officiating, and volunteering, for which she was honored multiple times. This award was established at TDF by Patsy’s friends and colleagues when she passed away in 2012.
Additional information about The Dressage Foundation’s Patsy Albers Award is available at www.dressagefoundation.org.
For more information about The Dressage Foundation, contact (402) 434-8585 or visit www.dressagefoundation.org.
About The Dressage Foundation
The Dressage Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, tax-exempt, donor-driven organization that is dedicated to educating, supporting, and advancing the sport of dressage. The organization solicits contributions, appropriately allocates the donations, and awards educational grants to dressage riders, judges, instructors, breeders, high performance teams, and nonprofit equestrian organizations. For more information, please visit www.dressagefoundation.org.
