Christina Vinios & Folkestone Win USA Developing St. Georges Championship, 5YO Title Goes To Carly Taylor-Smith & Rosalut

Christina Vinios on Folkestone celebrating victory in the U.S. Developing Prix St. Georges Championships. © 2015 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WAYNE, Illinois, Aug. 22, 2015–Christina Vinios and Folkestone won the United States Developing Prix St. Georges championship Saturday, the first major title for the rider.

Christina, 32, and the nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Fidertanz x Rubenstein) produced a ride that earned them 72.402 per cent and vaulted the pair to the championship over international riders Heather Blitz, Cesar Parra and Christopher Hickey.

In the preliminary St. Georges on Thursday, she confessed to being “a little nervous” and rode a conservative test to place second on 69.518 per cent behind Heather on Ripline.

On Saturday, however, “I really wanted to fight for every point. A couple of times maybe I pushed too hard. I wanted to show the horse the best I could.”

Cesar Parra of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey on the seven-year-old Fashion Designer OLD placed second Saturday on 71.422 per cent that put them in third in the championship. The duo had been selected to compete in the World Young Horse Championships in 2014 but opted not to go to Verden, Germany.

Cesar Parra and Fashion Designer OLD at the US Deceloping Prix St. Georges Championships. © 2015 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

Heather Blitz of Medfield, Massachusetts and the seven-year-old American-bred stallion Ripline scored 68.333 per cent after Thursday’s 72.895 per cent, but it was enough for reserve champion.

Christina of Wellington, Florida had not scheduled these championships at the start of the year focusing instead on the Global Dressage Festival CDI schedule over winter.

Christina had ridden Folkestone in clinics with Steffen Peters in Wellington, then sent the horse to him in San Diego, California for more than two years. She flew out monthly to ride for several days.

She brought the horse back East a year ago. This year, she started working with the Wellington-based Spanish Olympian Juan Matute who was at these championships and also coached Carly Taylor-Smith on Rosalut who won the five-year-old national title.

In addition to the national championship, Folkestone was awarded the Oldenburg High Score award, an apt result as Holly Simensen of the Oldenburg Verband helped Christina acquire the horse.

Next goal: the U.S. Intermediate Championships scheduled for Wellington in December along with the Grand Prix championships presented by the Dutta Corp.

Carly Taylor-Smith riding Rosalut to the USA five-year-old championship. © 2015 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

Carly Taylor-Smith and Rosalut NHF won the United States Five-Year-Old Championships Saturday, adding to the four-year-old title claimed a year ago.

Carly, an English transplant based out of Malibu, California scored 8.38 on the American-bred Oldenburg gelding (Rosenthal x Salut) for the victory.

David Wightman of Murietta, California made a remarkable recovery on Silberpfeil to place second with a score of 8.08 after Thursday’s preliminary result of 7.08 and 12th place but it was not enough to move the pair into the championship medals.

David Wightman on Silberpfeil in the USA Young Horse Championships. © 2015 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

Gail Lynn Redinger who drove her Formancier three days from Idaho for their first championships placed was third on Saturday with 8.08 that moved the pair to the silver medal place while Katie Riley of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey on Don Cesar was third in the championship.

Lois Yukins, speaking for the three judges, said that Rosalut “looks like a pleasure to ride” and gave the pair eight or better for walk, trot, canter, submission and general impression for a total of 8.38. “The collection,” Lois said, “at this age is outstanding.”

Results:

Developing Horse Prix St. Georges

E: Koch – USA

C: Ayers – USA

M: McDonald – USA

		Rider	Ctzn	Horse				E	.			C	.	M			.	T	Pl.
		Vinios, Christina	USA	Folkestone				70.441				74.412		72.353				72.402	1
		Parra, Cesar	USA	Fashion Designer OLD				75.588				70.882		67.794				71.422	2
		Tate, Jessica Jo	USA	Summersby				73.088				71.618		69.118				71.275	3
		Bock, Amy K.	USA	Walk The Line				67.647				68.971		73.824				70.147	4
		Hill, Debbie	USA	Boccaccio IOF				66.912				71.176		70.147				69.412	5
		Hickey, Christopher	USA	Contento Sogno				71.912				68.088		67.647				69.216	6
		Burson, Brittany	USA	Jazz Dance				67.941				70.147		68.235				68.775	7
		Blitz, Heather	USA	Ripline				67.353				67.794		69.853				68.333	8
		Lipp, Karen	USA	Baximiliana				66.029				68.824		65.882				66.912	9
		Becker, Patricia	USA	Freedom				66.912				66.029		67.500				66.814	10
		Riley, Katie	USA	Toy Story				64.853				66.324		66.912				66.029	11
		Bechtloff, Holger	USA	Clapton JP				63.235				67.500		65.441				65.392	12
		Johnson, Amanda	USA	Foley				62.941				65.294		66.765				65.000	13
		Koford, James	USA	Doctor Wendell MF				63.824		0.000	0	65.882		65.000				64.902	14

5 Yr Old Final Test

C: Ayers, McDonald, Koch – USA

		Rider	Ctzn	Horse														Total	Pl.
		Taylor-Smith, Carly	USA	Rosalut NHF														83.800	1
		Wightman, David	USA	Silberpfeil														80.800	2
		Redinger, Gail Lynn	USA	Formancier														80.800	3
		Riley, Katie	USA	Don Cesar														78.800	4
		Jackson, Angela	USA	Figero H														77.200	5
		Vinios, Christina	USA	Boston Strong														76.800	7
		Hastings, Stacey	USA	Furst Aurum														76.800	6
		Canter, Bonnie	usa	Fifinella Gcf														75.800	8
		Tarjan, Alice	USA	Candescent														75.600	9
		Orlob, Marcus	usa	Shyriana														74.200	10
		Ahl-Eckhaus, Jackie	USA	Sidonna MVS														73.800	11
		Sizemore, Michele		Falesto D														73.400	12
		Jackson, Angela	USA	My Way														73.000	13
		Hastings, Stacey	USA	Guateque IV														72.800	14
		McGrath, Kenneth	USA	De Blasio														71.200	15
		Curtis, Brendan		Flavius MF														70.000	16

Chase Hickok & Sagacious Win Under-25 Grand Prix Ahead of USA Championship

Chase Hickok on Sagacious HF in the Under-25 prep class for the U.S.championship.© 2015 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WAYNE, Illinois, Aug. 21, 2015–In their first competition since returning from European shows, Chase Hickok and Sagacious HF won the Under-25 Grand Prix against the biggest ever number of entries in the preliminary to the U.S. Championship,

Sierra Keasler rode Lux Stensvang to second place for a one-two result for American World Games team prospect Caroline Roffman who leased both the first and second placed horses to the riders.

Chase and the 18-year-old KWPN gelding that has helped create the reputations of three different riders scored 67.186 per cent with Sierra and Lux second on 66.465 per cent and Kate Peper and Akela third on 63.233 per cent.

Sagacious, owned by Hyperion Farm of Wellington, Florida, became a star for America when Lauren Sammis partnered with the horse to earn team gold and individual silver at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2007.

Six years later, Caroline Roffman, selected as the 2010 International Equestrian Federation Rising Star, became the first American to compete at Under-25 with Sagacious in the prestigious World Equestrian Festival at Aachen, Germany.  The pair became reserve champion.

Chase Hickok, also of Wellington, began cshowing Sagacious in the winter of 2014 and this year went to Europe to compete in two major events.

Competing in Europe, Chase said, “was definitely a huge learning curve,” or, as she described it, “eye-opening.”

Even the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, the most competitive circuit in the Western Hemisphere, was “nothing compared to what you see in Europe, not just the level of talent and horses but professionalism. I really took it to heart, to step it up a notch to put ourselves on the same playing field.”

Sierra Keasler and Lux Stensvang competing in the Under-25.

For Sierra this was a big leap to move Lux to his first year at Grand Prix.

“He is such a great horse with great training,” she said.

The “training” was first begun by Caroline Roffman who bought Lux at the age of six and trained the horse  up to Grand Prix with the intention of accepting an invitation to compete in the Under-25 division at Aachen.

While Carline was in Europe with Her Highness O on the squad from which the 2014 World Games would be chosen, Sierra was riding Lux.

Sierra, she said, had done such a good job with Lux she believed “absolutely the thing to do” was to give her the chance to train and move up with the horse.

Caroline, who will be 26 years old next month, then sold Her Highness O to Denmark. Pie, another horse she owned, was leased to a European-based rider but next year will be ridden by Klendy Muller, the daughter of long-time Wellington-based Dutch rider Kerensa Muller.

“A bit of a change of gears” is the way Caroline describes the change from being a rider that competed in numerous championships to no competition riding.

“I’ve been selling a lot of horses and focusing on training,” she told dressage-news.com.

“For years, I’ve done the Young Horse and Young Rider Championships.

But what happened with her removal from the U.S. World Games team in 2014 was “a hard experience.”

“After that I needed to take a step back,” she said. “I did a lot of showing for a long time. It’s time to focus on bringing up young horses. Ultimately I’ll be back in the ring.”

Her goal now, Caroline said, is to match horses and riders as occurred at these championships.

Caroline Roffman with Sierra Keastker on Lux Stensvang nd Chase Hickok on Sagacious HF.

Results:

FEI Young Rider Grand Prix 16-25 Test

E: Koch – USA

H: Hotz – USA

C: Yukins – USA

M: Ayers – USA

B: McDonald – USA

		Rider	Nation	Horse				E	.	H	.	C	.	M	.	B	.	T	Pl.
		Hickok, Chase	USA	Sagacious HF				65.349		65.930		67.791		68.837		68.023		67.186	1
		Keasler, Sean Sierra	USA	Lux Stensvang				66.512		67.907		66.628		65.930		65.349		66.465	2
		Peper, Kate	USA	Akela				61.163		64.419		62.326		63.140		65.116		63.233	3
		Thomas, Sarah	USA	Argo Conti Tyme				60.814		61.977		60.581	0	61.395		63.140		61.581	4
		Foster, Katie	USA	Sacramento				60.116		62.558		62.674		61.860		60.116		61.465	5
		Goodby, Grace	USA	Schabos Waitongo				59.651		60.233		65.930		62.093		58.372		61.256	6
		Montagano, Melanie	USA	Ga Deva				61.395		61.395		60.814		59.651		60.814		60.814	7
		Chamberlain, Catherine	UA	Verdicci				58.372		58.953		60.581		57.326		55.814		58.209	8
		Benson, Cassie	USA	Dominante XXIX				58.953		58.023		55.814		58.140		52.093		56.605	9
		Blythe, Kaitlin	USA	Daverden				51.047		53.023		51.047		54.651		53.023		52.558	10

Kerrigan Gluch Posts First Ever Victory on Vaquero HGF to Win US Championships Young Rider Team Test

Kerrigan Gluch on Vaquero HGF riding to the pair’s first victory to win the USA Championships Young Rider Team test. © 2015 SusanJStickle.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WAYNE, Illinois, Aug. 21, 2015–Kerrigan Gluch rode Vaquero HGF to their first ever victory to win the U.S. Championships Young Rider Team test Friday–an international effort with an American-bred Spanish horse, an American rider and an Israeli coach.

Kerrigan had what she described as “the best ever ride” in a show arena on the eight-year-old PRE stallion for a score of 69.298 per cent, a whisker ahead of Catherine Chamberlain on Avesto Van Weltevreden  on 69.254 per cent and Natalie Pai on Fritz San Tino on 66.140 per cent.

The Young Rider competition kicked off all but the Grand Prix and Intermediate divisions of the Festival of Champions presented by The Dutta Corp. The festival is the annual American championships that this year were combined with the U.S. Young Horse Championships in adjacent arenas. The Grand Prix and Intermediate Championships will be staged in Wellington, Florida in December.

Conflicts in scheduling were common–the six-year-old preliminary championship class started at exactly the same time as the Championship Young Rider team test.

The 18-year-old Kerrigan is in her fourth year working at Hampton Green Farm in Wellington, Florida and Fruitport, Michigan. Vaquero Cuatrero IU was born in Fruitport and was intended for Courtney King-Dye to compete. After her accident, the horse was sent to Spain to be ridden by Daniel Martin Dockx who rides Hampton Green Farm’s Grandioso for Spain at the Olympics, World Games and European Championships.

Kerrigan, originally from Mount Pleasant, Michigan went to Spain for six weeks last year to train on Vaquero with Daniel Dockx, who had competed the horse in young horse events in Spain.

Kerrigan competed Vaquero at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington last winter and the North American Young Rider  Championships in Kentucky in July.

“The test,” Kerrigan said of Friday’s test, “was his best ever in the show ring. Everything was really consistent.”

She graduated high school and is a freshman at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, an easy commute to Wellington, majoring in business that will allow her to continue riding.

Since she started training recently with Oded Shimoni, the Wellington-based Israeli, Vaquero “has gained a lot of strength through training and conditioning. I’m surprised how much he’s grown. But he still wants to do well in the show ring.”

Mickayla Frederick on Wrainier Q won the Junior team on a score of 70.315 per cent with Tillie Jones on Boegelys Mauricio second on 67.658 per cent and Kristin Counterman on Three Times in third on 67.342 per cent.

Results:

Young Rider Team

E: Ayers – USA C: McDonald – USA M: Hotz – USA

		Rider	Nat.	Horse				E	.			C	.	M			.	T	Pl.
		Gluch, Kerrigan	USA	Vaquero Hgf				69.342				70.000		68.553				69.298	1
		Chamberlain, Catherine	USA	Avesto Van Weltevreden				70.263				67.500		70.000				69.254	2
		Pai, Natalie	USA	Fritz San Tino				66.711				65.263		66.447				66.140	3
		Simons, Lillian	USA	Willoughby				65.395				65.526		66.842				65.921	4
		Singh, Alexandra	USA	Schaneur Solyst				64.605				65.658		65.263				65.175	5
		Gallman, Cassidy	USA	Grand Makana				65.658				63.289		65.395				64.781	6
		Bauer, Hannah	USA	Trustful				65.658				63.553		63.289				64.167	7
		Hansen, Nicholas	USA	Ritter Benno				61.711				63.289		64.079	0			63.026	8

FEI Junior Team

E: McDonald – USA C: Hotz – USA M: Ayers – USA

		Rider	Nation	Horse				E			.	C	.	M	.			T	Pl.
		Frederick, Mickayla	USA	Wrainier Q				70.000				72.432		68.514				70.315	1
		Jones, Tillie	USA	Boegelys Mauricio				70.135				66.486		66.351				67.658	2
		Counterman, Kristin	USA	Three Times				68.649				67.297		66.081				67.342	3
		Weniger, Anna	USA	Izeffia				67.162				66.351		65.811				66.441	4
		Hopkins, Allison	USA	Windsor				65.405				66.081		66.757				66.081	5
		Szegvari, Emma	USA	Ringmoylan				66.622				65.146		64.595				65.454	6
		Syribeys, Marline	USA	Hollywood				65.676				64.054		64.730				64.820	7
		Madsen, Elliana	USA	Robin Hood				65.000				64.324		62.973				64.099	8
		Guthrie, Madelyn	USA	Tannehauser				62.297				64.730		62.568				63.198	9
		Upchurch, Jenna	USA	Paddington				61.486				64.324		62.027				62.613	10
		Ondaatje Rupert, Asia	USA	Twelfth Night				60.135				59.595		59.865				59.865	11