Welcome to Mussennist Dressage
Savannah Rijk and Savannah's Ulita O in 2009
Mussennist Dressage was founded in 2009 when Savannah Rijk started her own training/ sales barn. She backs and sells the Welsh ponies for Mussennist Farm and shows the mare Savannah’s Ulita O.
As a baby Savannah sat in front of the saddle with her mother, at the age of 3 years old had her first lesson on a pony in the neighbourhood and at the age of 5 she got her own pony Bouchka. Throughout the years this combination tried all sorts of disciplines, went to the pony club every Sunday.
At the age of 10 she started riding the 4 year old mare Hoekhorst Sweet Serena. The mare is her mother’s broodmare and had just been separated from her foal and backed. Savannah had wanted to become a jumper and in the year she had ridden Serena, they had taken jumping lessons and had done well. After a year Savannah got too tall for the mare and her parents decided to buy her the mare Brown Mistique. This mare had shown 2nd level dressage and would be a great schoolmaster. With lessons from Savannah's coaches Prix St. George rider Maartje Elbers and Grand Prix rider Leunus van Lieren the combination did very well and won titles such as Provincial Reserve Champion and many other placings.
As a baby Savannah sat in front of the saddle with her mother, at the age of 3 years old had her first lesson on a pony in the neighbourhood and at the age of 5 she got her own pony Bouchka. Throughout the years this combination tried all sorts of disciplines, went to the pony club every Sunday.
At the age of 10 she started riding the 4 year old mare Hoekhorst Sweet Serena. The mare is her mother’s broodmare and had just been separated from her foal and backed. Savannah had wanted to become a jumper and in the year she had ridden Serena, they had taken jumping lessons and had done well. After a year Savannah got too tall for the mare and her parents decided to buy her the mare Brown Mistique. This mare had shown 2nd level dressage and would be a great schoolmaster. With lessons from Savannah's coaches Prix St. George rider Maartje Elbers and Grand Prix rider Leunus van Lieren the combination did very well and won titles such as Provincial Reserve Champion and many other placings.
Savannah and Brown Mistique in 2004
In May 2006 the mare Elzeberg’s Ulita O was bought, the family knew they would be moving and wanted to take a good quality horse with them. Savannah moved with her parents and horses in August 2006 to Canada and a new journey started. The biggest challenge was finding a good coach. Eventually through contacts they met Gillian Duke and started taking lessons with her. Gillian taught Savannah the techniques and riding style of classical dressage. Sadly Gillian went back to Canada in 2007 and they had to find a new coach. During the years Savannah trained with different riders such as Maya Markowski, Cecile Von Martel and eventer Jennifer Irwin. She also rode in clinics with Jacqueline Brooks and Britta Johnston.
The show season of 2009 was the season that Savannah showed Ulita O for the first time. They competed in the FEI Juniors and 3rd level with succesful scores. In 2010 the combination showed 3rd level at the
silver circuit and became Ontario Cadora Champion. The combination started riding with Olympic Australian
rider Karin Davis in the winter of 2010/2011 and has been training up to Prix St. George. This show year they had been making a début in 4th level open with succesfull scores up to 63% on the gold circuit.
Their first gold show was at the Royal Canadian Riding Academy in Cedar Valley where they became Reserve Champion.
In the spring of 2012 Savannah got a new horse Belvedere in The Netherlands, with Belvedere she went down to Ridgetown to train with Cecile and Chris von Martels. That summer Savannah worked as a working student for Chris von Martels, where she was working with top end dressage horses and learning lots.
Whenever Savannah is in Europe she makes time to train with Grand Prix rider Leunus van Lieren in The Netherlands and Gillian Duke in Germany.
The show season of 2009 was the season that Savannah showed Ulita O for the first time. They competed in the FEI Juniors and 3rd level with succesful scores. In 2010 the combination showed 3rd level at the
silver circuit and became Ontario Cadora Champion. The combination started riding with Olympic Australian
rider Karin Davis in the winter of 2010/2011 and has been training up to Prix St. George. This show year they had been making a début in 4th level open with succesfull scores up to 63% on the gold circuit.
Their first gold show was at the Royal Canadian Riding Academy in Cedar Valley where they became Reserve Champion.
In the spring of 2012 Savannah got a new horse Belvedere in The Netherlands, with Belvedere she went down to Ridgetown to train with Cecile and Chris von Martels. That summer Savannah worked as a working student for Chris von Martels, where she was working with top end dressage horses and learning lots.
Whenever Savannah is in Europe she makes time to train with Grand Prix rider Leunus van Lieren in The Netherlands and Gillian Duke in Germany.
Savannah Rijk and Savannah's Ulita O in 2010
