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Chris was born and raised in
Westhampton, Massachusetts where as a small child he began riding.
By his late teens, Chris had competed successfully in hunt seat,
western, saddle seat and driving. It was when Chris joined the local
pony club and was introduced to dressage that he quickly realized
his passion for the sport, and thus began his career in dressage.
In 1988 and ’89 Chris qualified
for the North American Young Riders Championships representing
Region 8 with his Dutch chestnut gelding, Vesper. He was invited to
the Olympic Festival in 1994 with Dwight but due to a appendicitis,
didn’t make it and was long listed in 1995 & 1996. He and Dwight
were also invited to the Pan Am selection trials in 1995 and the
pair were also on the USET Developing horse list in 1995 & 1996.
Chris has traveled to Germany
several times and trained with Conrad Schumacher and Ulla Salzgeber.
He has also trained in the Untied States with Lendon Gray, Robert
Dover, Lilo Fiore and Sue Blinks. He has shown successfully in
Europe and the US at the FEI level with scores over 70%.
Chris also has the ability to take
a green horse and develop them thru the levels to Grand Prix and is
very astute at picking quality young horses that have the ability to
go to the Grand Prix level. Most notably is, “Piet” Ulla Salzgeber’s
current Grand Prix horse, who is listed on the German “B” team.
While Chris holds many Regional
Championship titles from Training Level thru FEI he also has many
students who are successful and won their share of Championships. He
has also received his USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold medals and has
many students, professional and amateur, who have received all three
medals as well.
Chris is also a USDF Certified
instructor and is on the Faculty for that program. He clinics
regularly in Kansas Ctiy, MO, Lexington, KY, Edgemoor, SC,
Westhampton and Amherst, MA.
In 2006 Chris rode two horses to
the top 6 of the top 12 list coming into the Intermediare I
Championships at Gladstone. He also had two students in the top 20
as well, Emily Gershberg on Pancratious and Nicole Bellah on Advant-Guard.
Having just finished a very
successful show season in Florida, Chris is at Hilltop Farm in
Colora, Md, where he is the the Director of Training. Chris and
Regent are working towards their goal of making the Pan Am team that
will head for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this summer.
Chris works with USEF dressage judge Betsy Berrey,
with
Dressage Dimensions, Inc. Dressage Dimensions was founded by
Betsy Berrey to provide training and education for dressage riders
and judges. We're committed to delivering unique learning
experiences that benefit our sport and the horses who are our
partners in the wonderful dance that is dressage.
Dressage
Dimensions
The WINNING EDGE DVD Series
In their new DVD
series, The Winning Edge, Betsy Berrey
and Christopher Hickey have distilled their combined experience of
more than 30 years riding, training, and judging dressage into
instructional videos that give you tools, insights, and guidance for
getting the most from your competitive rides.
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