Darlington Award

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New for 2012

CTDS along with Joy Alexander and the family of Alida Darlington  have created the Darlington Memorial Award to remember and celebrate Alida’s life, love of horses and dressage.

About Alida;

Alida Darlington was born on July 29, 1953 in Ann Arbor, Michigan to Allen and Patricia Phillips.  Alida and her family moved to Texas when she was in high school where she graduated from McCallum High School in Austin.  At a young age, Alida developed a love and passion for horses. She began equine training over 30 years ago, starting her own business in the Houston area before moving to Georgetown, Texas. In 1988, Alida married Sam Darlington on April 1st,.  In 1989, Alida started “Emerald Meadows Equine Training” and Sam started “Emerald Meadows Construction” at their home in Hutto, TX.  Alida trained in Dressage, and her passion for her horses and students came through in her daily work.  Her love of horses lead her to not only train, but to breed horses as well.  Alida raised several remarkable horses at Emerald Meadows foaled by the other love of her life, Whispering Hope.  She would be proud to know that one of Whisper’s foals is training for the Olympics.  Alida has left her mark and influence on several students, trainers, and breeders in the Central Texas Area, and will be remembered by so many as a caring, loving, skilled person in the equine industry.

Alida fought an eight year battle with ovarian cancer that finally ended on October 6th, 2011.  During those eight years, she continued to ride, train, teach and love her horses as well as her career every day of her life.  She will continue to be a person that her students and colleagues look up to everyday for guidance and approval.  With her humor, skill and firm style, Alida Darlington is an impossible person to forget.

About the award;

  • Riders will compete for this award by showing in a minimum of 3 “mini” shows under 3 different judges during a calendar year.
  • To qualify, a rider must compete in Test 2 of any level starting with Intro B thru Second Level Test 2.
  • The riders scores are averaged and the rider with the highest average will be the award recipient.
  • Trophy will be awarded each year at banquet.

The Darlington Memorial Award is designed to raise funds for our Junior Riding Program. All proceeds will benefit the junior program for further education, clinic scholarships, youth convention and numerous possibilities.