The Dressage Foundation (TDF) is pleased to announce that Anna Buffini (CA) is the recipient of The Dressage Foundation’s first $2,500 Patsy Albers Award presented on the West Coast, awarded at the recent USEF Heritage competition 75th Annual Del Mar National Horse Show managed by HITS.
Since 2013, TDF’s Patsy Albers Award has been presented to the highest placing rider (preference to Grand Prix) 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.
Anna was part of the gold medal team at the NAYC in 2014 and was the Brentina Cup Champion and Reserve National Champion in 2016. She has gone on to compete at CDIs worldwide and took part in two FEI Dressage World Cup™ Finals with a sixth-place finish in the 2023 Finals in Omaha.
Anna received the Patsy Albers Award after finishing second on Fiontini in the CDI4* FEI Grand Prix at Del Mar.
Anna said, “I am incredibly honored to receive TDF’s Patsy Albers Award! Everyone who knew Patsy has been telling me what an incredible woman she was, and I wish I could have met her. The reason I am able to compete successfully in the Grand Prix today is because of the pipeline from Young Riders to Grand Prix. I would not be the rider I am today without that journey and everything I learned during those years. Young Riders were also some of the most fun times of my career, and I'm always reminded to bring the joy from my youth into each next step I've taken in my riding career.”
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.
Photo by Terri Miller
