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Winner's Circle |
Fellers & Flexible Fantastic at World Cup Rich Fellers and Flexible continued an amazing jumping streak with their second place finish at the World Cup Finals in Sweden in late April. They were runners up only to California native Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, now a German citizen and a tough competitor to beat. She and her 2008 Cup partner Shutterfly also won the Finals in 2005 and have been at or very near the top of the FEI’s world ranking for the last four years. Rich and the Irish Sport Horse stallion’s phenomenal run began last November at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, where they won a World Cup qualifier. It continued at Thermal, where their three Cup class victories sent the duo to Gothenburg, Sweden, as the West Coast league’s leader. Yet even Rich considered himself and Flexible long shots. At every turn in Flexible’s preparation, Rich admits he wasn’t quite sure what the 16 hh horse was capable of until each new test was finished. The little horse kept earning As. “The only thing big about him is his heart,” the rider observes. Owned by Harry and Mollie Chapman, Flexible has been in Rich’s Oregon stable for several years. He overcame two nearly career-ending injuries that make his success all the more remarkable. First, there was a blocked vein in his lower leg. It took a year to diagnose the problem, which was solved with angioplasty. As he was getting back to work after that, he sustained a broken shoulder in a freak pasture incident. Rich says he and the Chapmans were ready to send Flexible back to his native Ireland to stand at stud, but the horse had other ideas. Rich went into the Final’s two-round last day sitting third. A four-fault go over round one and a clear go in the final round sealed their second place finish. Belgium-based American rider Peter Wylde finished 7th and East Coasters Kent Farrington, Laura Hough and Danielle Torano finished in the 13, 14 and 17 slots respectively. Californians Richard Spooner and Mandy Porter came in 18th and 19th. Tryon Triumphant at Jersey Fresh It was a weekend full of great rides and freezing rains at the Jersey Fresh Three-Day Event in Allentown, NJ, May 9-11. But in the end, it was West Coast rider Amy Tryon and her gelding Leyland who posted a double-clear round in show jumping that took home the blue in the CCI***. Tryon and the 8-year-old Thoroughbred moved up from ninth after a less than stellar performance in dressage to take over the lead following cross-country on Saturday. Tryon, along with the rest of the competitors, battled Mother Nature during their dressage test on Friday, trying their best to succeed in the unseasonably cold and wet weather. “I was pleasantly surprised he did so well. I was a bit disappointed with our dressage test because we had to do it during the rain squall, and I felt bad that he didn’t have the chance to do his best,” said Tryon. The pair stood only eight points ahead of Sara Dierks and Somerset after the cross-country phase, but their double-clear round kept them in first place. Tryon said she tried to be smooth and maintain an even rhythm around John Williams’ tough course, since her talented gelding has a huge jumping ability. “Sometimes his mind works a little faster than his body. So I try to get him to slow down and look where he’s going. Sometimes he tends to stare through the combinations.” This got Tryon in trouble a few weeks ago, after she had a tumble in a combination while training with David O’Connor. “That was the first time he’s ever asked me ‘Are you okay?’ Then not long after, he took a fall, so it’s been sort of a running joke between us.” Overall, she was thrilled with Leyland’s performance this weekend. “He hasn’t put a foot wrong his entire career. My goal this weekend was to have a better horse than what I started with – I think we accomplished that.” The pair bested 38 other horse and rider combos to take home the win at Jersey Fresh. Results provided by the Horse Park of New Jersey.
Samantha Harrison, reserve champion in the Equitation Championship Consecutive Wins at Flintridge for Amanda Ballew For the second consecutive year, Karen Healey Stables’ assistant trainer, Amanda Ballew, won the Annie Lathrop Trophy as the trainer of the Best Child Rider at the Flintridge Children’s Horse Show, April 25- 27. The show also marked Ballew’s one year anniversary working for Karen Healey Stables. The Best Child Rider award went to Michelle Morris of La Canada. Morris rode Bergerac, her practice horse and Healey’s other assistant trainer Melissa Jones said, “Bergerac lives in a paddock with another horse all year round. He goes around barefoot, but he was great this weekend with Michelle.” Morris and Bergerac won the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search, the hunter phase of the WIHS Equitation and the Equitation 15-17 championship and flat class. She ended up in the top four in the work-off for the Equitation Championship along with barn mates Demi Stiegler, Samantha Harrison and Hannah Bibb. Stiegler ended up taking victory in the Equitation Championship, and she won the Equitation 14 & Under flat class. In the Children’s 14 & Under, Stiegler won both over fences classes and the flat class. Stiegler also took the win in the L.A. Junior Medal, the THIS National Children’s Medal and the PCHA Medal. Haley Harrison of La Canada won the USEF Junior Medal. It was her first time showing in a 3’6” equitation class and she piloted C’est La Vie to the win. On her sister Samantha’s horse, Triple Lutz, Haley won the Equitation 14 & Under flat championship. Then she went on to guide Galaxy, owned by Donna Neff, to wins in the High Modified Hunters and the Rosewood Medal. Harrison also had a great show at Flintridge. She won the ASPCA Maclay, the WIHS Jumper phase and was second in the WCE Medal and Equitation 15-17 flat class, and finished as the reserve champion in the Equitation Championship class. Olivia Tendler joined Karen Healey Stables for this past weekend. Although she usually trains with Equisport International, Tendler went along with the group of Karen Healey students to the Flintridge Children’s Horse Show. Tendler won the Onondarka Medal and had top placings in the Limit Equitation division. This press release and photo was provided by Phelps Media Group.
Photo: Hoofprints, Inc. Go, Dreamm Lover, Go! Congratulations to California Riding Magazine’s long-time patron, Paul Husband and his Arabian filly, Dreamm Lover. She ran six furlongs in 1:20.4 to win the ninth race at Delaware Park on May 11. Paul says she lead the field 98 percent of the way, and really had to dig her heels in to fend off challengers in the stretch.
Photos: Alicia Anthony Del Mar Nationals Karen Healey Stables’ Kasey Ament rode Beckham, owned by Holly Dickinson, to the win in the $25,000 Open Equitation Championship. Ament bested over 40 other competitors through three rounds of competition to claim the blue. After the first two rounds, Ament was one of eight riders chosen to return for the final round, which consisted of two trips. In the second trip, riders switched horses and rode a course on an unfamiliar horse. Ament went into the final round as the leader and was declared the winner with a score of 92 in her final round.
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