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Equestrian
Community Loses Another Legend
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Victor
Hugo-Vidal, 68, of San Juan Capistrano, California, passed away
in the early morning on Saturday, August 3, 2002. He was the 1951
Champion of the AHSA Hunter Seat Equitation Medal Finals and Reserve
Champion of the ASPCA Maclay Equitation Finals. In 1971 he was
named as the AHSA Horseman of the Year, in 1991 the California
Professional Horseman's Association Horseman of the Year and in
1996 was awarded the Walter B. Devereux Trophy for the AHSA Sportsmanship
Award.
Hugo-Vidal
trained a large number of students that competed in the AHSA Hunter
Seat Equitation Medal Finals and the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship
Finals and his students retired the Hunt Team Trophies at both
the National Horse Show and the Devon Horse Show and, along with
Elaine Shirley Watt, was a key player in the success of Connecticut
Yankee, as the horse competed for the United States at the 1956
Olympics in Helsinki. He managed Cedar Lodge Farm in Stamford,
CT in the 1960's, producing numerous AHSA Champions such as General
C and GoodBoy Dee. For many years Victor announced and was known
as "the voice" of the National Horse Show at Madison
Square Garden in New York. Some of the AHSA Committees he served
on were, the Hunter Seat Equitation Committee, the Licensed Officials
Committee, and the Drugs & Medications Committee. He also
served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee.
He has held AHSA judges licenses in Hunters, Jumpers, Equitation,
Hunter Seat and Saddle Seat, and was an "S" Dressage
judge. These are just a few of the accomplishments of this renowned
horseman.
He
is survived by two sons, Ross and Christopher, and 3 grandchildren,
Victoria, Spencer and Virginia.
A
celebration of Victor's life is planned for Tuesday, August 13,
at 4:00 pm at The Oaks in San Juan Capistrano, California.
USA
Equestrian Inc., as the National Equestrian Federation of the
U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship
sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show
jumping, and vaulting, as well as 19 other breeds and disciplines
of equestrian competition. As
the country's largest multi-breed organization, the Federation
has over 80,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions
nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including
educating and licensing all judges, stewards, and technical delegates
who officiate at these shows.
VISION STATEMENT
The vision of USA Equestrian is to provide leadership for equestrian
sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of
excellence from the grass roots to the Olympic Games, based on
a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its
horses, and embracing this vision, to be the best national equestrian
federation in the world.
www.equestrian.org
.