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Debbie McDonald & Brentina

Show Jumping Composite

Dressage Composite

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When Elma Garcia, a director / cinematographer and amateur rider was at River Grove Farm in Hailey, Idaho, enjoying the month- long training session she had claimed as one of three high bidders at the 2004 Debbie McDonald Training Package Auction, she began formulating a way to say thank-you. Even though Garcia (and each of the other winning bidders) had contributed $80,000 to clinch the package at the auction, a benefit for the USET Foundation, she considered that a small price to pay for the experience of a lifetime.

“Just to see Debbie every day as a horseman blew me away,” Garcia enthused about McDonald, who has helped earn Individual and Team Gold at the 1999 Pan American Games, Team Silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and Team Silver and Team Bronze at the 2002 and 2006 World Equestrian Games respectively. “I knew that I was very privileged to see another side of her that most people never get to see and it gave me the idea then that I wanted to give something back to the USET Foundation, to Debbie, to the other athletes who I absolutely love and admire, and also to the owners like Peggy and Parry Thomas who have helped bring the sport to the United States and have supported our athletes with these fantastic horses and beautiful facilities.”

Garcia created the Athlete Portrait Campaign, which serves a dual purpose of public relations and fundraising to benefit the USET Foundation in its support of athletes bound for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. “My idea is to show the public the other side of these athletes, to show the connection between the athlete and the horse, and to celebrate who these people are,” Garcia explained. In 2006, Garcia took preliminary shots of McDonald and her trainer in Los Angeles – 2003 Pan American Team Gold Medalist Kristina Harrison – and presented the photos and her idea to USET Foundation Executive Director Bonnie Jenkins. Jenkins approved and arranged photo sessions with selected athletes.

Garcia, who directs and films television commercials, typically on a movie set with a crew of 80, utilized skills from her previous career as a still photographer to photograph the athletes with their horses. She traveled to California, New York, New Jersey, and Florida, at her own expense through the Elma Garcia Foundation. Garcia shopped for wardrobe for each athlete and brought make-up artist David Michaud from Los Angeles to do hair and make-up. She also brought a 20’ x 24’ black backdrop that they set up in the arenas and barns, using only natural light to illuminate the horse and rider. “The backdrop allowed all the energy and attention to go to the horse and rider and that connection,” Garcia explained. “That is another element that makes this campaign look so beautiful – it’s just horse and rider and the essence of who they are.”

Garcia reported that the riders proved to be exceptional models and excited about the campaign. “All the athletes were fantastic and enthusiastic about this. They’re all extremely grateful to the USET Foundation and for them, it’s been great,” she said. “Once you put your eye to the camera lens, they all have a lot of charisma and they all have a lot of superstar energy.”

A sampling of the resulting extraordinary images of High Performance athletes who compete in the Olympic sports of dressage, show jumping and eventing were introduced at the launch of the USET Foundation's Campaign to Achieve Competitive Excellence in Wellington, Florida in February, 2007. Another set, featuring 16 athletes, measuring 4' x 6' each and double-sided, were hung in the walkways of the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas during the 2007 Rolex FEI World Cup Finals for dressage and show jumping in April. Regular sized posters were sold at the World Cup and are now available through the USET Foundation website as long as supplies last.

“They’re very beautiful. I’m very proud of them,” Garcia said of her images. “To me it’s a privilege to be able to use my gift in a positive way for the love of photography and the love of horses and the love of athletes. It’s fantastic! It’s what it’s all about.”

For Garcia, the month-long training package not only launched a campaign, but also changed her life – she purchased a home in Hailey and moved there in the fall of 2006 to continue training at River Grove with her newly acquired schoolmaster mare, Intermezzo, and she made her show ring debut at Third Level in 2007 – quite an accomplishment for an amateur who considered herself below Training Level when she first arrived in Idaho!

“It’s just great. I’m living my dream,” Garcia said. “I’m an amateur and I always want to be an amateur. I have no interest in going to the high level. I just want to ride well and make it artistic. To have Debbie training my horse and me is an unbelievable privilege.”