California Riding Magazine • September, 2008

Winner's Circle

Black Sterling Friesians Take Santa Barbara by Storm

The 2008 Santa Barbara National Horse Show, July 2-5, at the Earl Warren Showgrounds was not an event for the meek of heart. The nearby Gap fire rained down cinder and caused frequent power outages throughout the show; but despite the somewhat adverse conditions Black Sterling Friesians considered the show a stunning success. They brought six horses and came home with 12 wins.
The week started with the farm’s namesake, Black Sterling, the first horse owners Janna and Ron Goldman imported from Holland, winning the Friesian Western Pleasure class. Then Conan, a 5-year-old gelding, and their daughter Julia claimed a tri-color as reserve champions in the walk-trot Open division. Julia and the 4-year-old STER stallion, Mindert, also trotted away with the reserve in the Friesian Saddleseat Pleasure Junior Horse.

On Wednesday evening, Janna and Majestic bested a large field to take the blue as Dressage Suitability Champions. In the Dressage Hack Open, Janna and Ate beat seasoned dressage trainers to walk away with the blue. Later in the show, Janna and Ate were crowned Grand Champion in the Dressage Hack Stake. The pair enjoyed a victory gallop sporting a tri-color and a blanket of roses.
Ron and his driving partner, Stormy Seas, looked stellar with his new Buckeye carriage and they won the Open Pleasure Driving. With Julia at the reins, Stormy also won the Friesian Country Pleasure and was reserve in the Open Pleasure Driving Stake.

It was a busy week for little Julia, who wrapped it up by piloting Mindert to the reserve champion in the Junior Horse Stake. Despite a bad case of nerves, Ron ended his week by riding two flawless rounds in the Walk and Trot Amateur Stake to win the championship.
Unfortunately the show was also marked by tragedy. On his way home to Oregon, the Goldman’s dear friend and Saddlebred trainer, Don Deardorf, had a blow out on his horse trailer on the I-5. Other motorists alerted Don that his tire was smoking and he pulled off, but it was too late. The trailer was quickly engulfed in flames and all six horses were lost.

Junior Rider Rules Hunter Derby

Rodney Dangerfield used to complain about not getting any respect. Many hunter riders have felt the same way as, over the years, the jumper divisions have stolen the spotlight. That all changed during the final week of the Colorado Summer Circuit at the Colorado Horse Park in Parker July 23-27, when Sophie Benjamin received the top score to win the $15,000 USHJA  International Hunter Derby. 

Riding Sir Neel, the junior rider beat out 30 competitors in a two-day, two-round round class that included a standard hunter round and a handy hunter course. Judges were looking for a confident ride and they got it with Benjamin’s handy hunter round. The Chris Collman designed course featured beautiful split rail jumps, solid coops and plenty of greenery. Riders had plenty of options to choose from and they delighted the audience with many variations. Benjamin wowed the judges by jumping many of the optional obstacles and demonstrating a bold hand-gallop to the last fence.

“We came to Colorado to prepare for Young Riders,” said Benjamin of her barn’s decision to drive about 1,500 miles from California. “We’ve had a great time and this is a really nice place,” she said of the Colorado Horse Park.

Professional Michael Tokaruk rode Polaris to the red ribbon in the Derby while another junior rider, Meehan Shirey of Florida, took Monroe to the third place. 

Info and picture provided by Langer Equestrian Group. For complete results visit www.leghorseshows.com.

World Vaulting Championships

In the final day of competition at the World Vaulting Championships in Brno, Czech Republic, Team USA took home a bronze medal, while two U.S. vaulters placed in the top 10 in the women’s individual competition. 

Dark Side of the Moon, a composite team made up of vaulters from FACE (of Moorpark, CA), Mt. Eden (of Los Gatos, CA), Woodside (of Redwood City, CA) and Shooting Stars (of Mays Landing, NJ) vaulting clubs. They finished in third place, with the Germans once again taking the gold and the Austrian team taking the silver. United States team members include Megan Benjamin, Emily Hogye, Mari Inouye, Devon Maitozo, Elizabeth Osborn, Rosey Ross, and Annalise VanVranken, as well as equine partner Leonardo and longeur Lasse Kristensen of Hvejsel, Denmark.

Four of the seven members, Benjamin, Maitozo, Ross and VanVranken, were members of the silver winning Team USA at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen in 2006. Ross is a three-time team medal winner, having won a bronze with Team USA/CoastLine at the 2004 World Championships in Stadl Paura, Austria in 2004. Maitozo and Benjamin are both former World Equestrian Games World Vaulting Champions (Maitozo in 1998, and Benjamin in 2006).

In the women’s competition, both Woodside’s Liz Osborn and Mt. Eden’s Mary McCormick had strong finishes, with Osborn finishing eighth overall and McCormick finishing a very close ninth. Both vaulted on Pikkolo 19, lunged by Marion Shultz of Germany. Woodside’s Ali Divita was 16th. In the women’s individuals, Nicola Stroh of Germany, the 2004 World Vaulting Champion and the 2006 bronze medalist, won the 2008 title, with Sissi Jarz of Austria taking the silver and Anja Barwig of Germany taking the bronze.
No U.S. men competed in the World Championships.

FEI Vaulting Committee Head Emma Seely (Mt. Eden Vaulting Club) was there to speak on behalf of the FEI, and give out medals at both the Junior European Championships and the World Vaulting Championships.

For more information and complete results go to www.vaulting2008.com.

Sarah Baldwin Beats Out A Veteran Crowd

An ecstatic Sarah Baldwin of Brookwood Stables in San Marcos overcame all of the tough questions in Guilerhme Jorge’s technical course to win the $40,000 AGA Rocky Mountain Grand Prix at The Colorado Horse Park aboard Patries on July 19.

Out of the seven riders who made it to the jump-off, Sarah was by far the fastest. This was Sarah’s first trip to the Colorado Horse Park in 13 years and she was astounded by the excellent development of the facility. “It was a demanding course with many technical questions,” said Sarah after her victory. “The most challenging part (of the course) was the tight turn to the water and then the hill with the vertical.”
There were many tough spots on the course, but fence number 11 claimed many riders. Despite the fact that Jorge’s course brought 31 competitors faults in the first round, he was pleased with the number of people who made it into the jump-off. “The Ariat/Murdoch’s fence was the highest out there and the horses were tired because it came at the end of the course,” he explained of his plan to test horse and rider’s fitness and focus.

The red ribbon went to Colorado native, John McConnell, and his 9-year-old Holsteiner mare Carolina. He was the last to ride in the jump-off and knew he had to beat Baldwin’s smoking time of 38 seconds. He went for the tight inside turn but finished three seconds slower than Baldwin.

Third place went to the rider Sarah Baldwin teasingly called the “King of Colorado,” Bjorn Ikast. The Denmark-native placed third and fifth on Brave Heart and Monte Cristo, respectively. Susan Artes also put in an impressive round to receive the fourth prize on her KWPN Dutch Warmblood gelding, Presto B, by Peter Pan and out of a Selle Francais mare.