(Wellington, FL) – Horse show spectators are accustomed to seeing top equestrians partnered with their horses as they “fly” over big jumps in competition. This year’s National Horse Show proves that these top athletes are competitive at more than just their sport.
Following the first phase of "Jumping Under the Stars" of the Rolex/USEF National Show Jumping Championship and Gala on Friday evening, December 7th, professional dancers will be dancing competition style with equestrians. The equestrians will change into sequined ball gowns and costumes and will perform such ballroom dances as the fox trot, tango, and waltz for a panel of judges.
Themed “Dancing with the Equestrian Stars,” the event is sponsored by Equine Motorcoach and its European manufacturer, Lehel Coach Builders. Lehel owners, Mark and Barbara Lee, are traveling in from their home in England to attend the National Horse Show and assist with the debut of the Equine Motorcoach at the event. Equine Motorcoach is sponsoring the $125,000 Rolex/USEF National Show Jumping Championship and is owned by Tom and Carolyn Stinnett and Julie Calzone. The Motorcoach is the Official Horse Transport Vehicle for the United States Equestrian Federation.
“We worked with Lehel for over a year to bring this product to the US market,” said Tom Stinnett. “When I first approached Mark about this project, he was not only willing to meet he was enthusiastic about the product’s potential in the United States.” Mark and his wife, Barbara, traveled to Louisville, Kentucky in November 2006 to meet with the Stinnetts and Calzone.
“The first time we all sat down together, we knew we were the right team to make this happen,” said Stinnett. “Our biggest challenge was to find the right American made truck and chassis that conformed with all of the EPA, DOT and other regulations that required of transportation vehicles.” The Equine Motorcoach is built on an American engineered and manufactured Volvo chassis that offers an air-cushion ride for the human and equine passengers
Equine Motorcoach and Lehel Coach Builders combined their knowledge of the horse show industry with the most experienced craftsmen and technicians in the American and European RV and horse transport marketplace. “Equine Motorcoach continues the tradition of a family carriage-building business founded over 100 years ago on the Austrian/Hungarian border near Vienna,” said Stinnett. “Mark is an avid combined driving competitor, so he knows first-hand what horses and people need when they are on the road. He took the product to the next level. We are very pleased to have developed such an extraordinary relationship with Lehel Coach Builders.”
Equine Motorcoach was born at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 2006. Carolyn Stinnett and Julie Calzone made their second trip to the Royal Windsor Horse Show, which is held on the grounds of Queen Elizabeth's Windsor Castle. Little did they know that their shared love of England and horses would create a one of a kind product for the United States.
There the women first saw a Lehel Horse Box and thanks to Carolyn who was paying attention to the opportunity in front of them, a phone call to her husband, Tom Stinnett, started a dream that is now a reality.
The trio combined their expertise in the RV and horse industry with a high quality European product that was refined by Lehel Coach Builders in England. Tom and Carolyn own Stinnett RV, one of the nation's largest independent RV dealers, Stinnett RV in Clarksville, Indiana. Tom is the co-chair of the GoRVing national promotional campaign and sits on the Board of Directors of the RVDA, the United States' RV dealers association. He was inducted into the RV Hall of Fame this summer.
Julie Calzone owns a national advertising and public relations firm, Calzone & Associates. She competes and breeds dressage horses, hunters and jumpers. Through Calzone Sporthorse, she is marketing cutting and reining horses as well as her Dutch Warmbloods and Hanoverians.
To learn more about "Dancing With the Equestrian Stars," please contact Elizabeth Hedley at eahedley@aol.com. To become a sponsor of “Dancing with the Equestrian Stars,” contact Julie Calzone at jcalzone@calzone.com.
