Wellington, FL – November 30, 2018 – Margie Engle (USA) flew to first place in the $35,000 Dever Golf Cars 1.45m Classic CSI 4* with her mount, Dicas, at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC). The swift duo halted the timers in 57.52 seconds to ensure top honors. Engle and Dicas, a 2009 Rhenish Warmblood gelding (Diarado x Cassini I) owned by Storm Ridge Capital LLC, Show Horses, Garber & Gladewinds, Inc., took home the win in their final competition for the year. Also representing the USA, Kristen Vanderveen earned second place with Bull Run’s Faustino De Tili, a 2005 Belgian Warmblood stallion (Berlin x Darco) owned by Bull Run Jumpers Five LLC. Vanderveen completed the course in 57.77 seconds. Todd Minikus (USA) merited third place riding Amex Z, a 2009 Zangersheide mare (Andiamo Z x Landaris) owned by Bit by Bit Group, with a time of 58.86 seconds.
Jumping against 33 pairs, Engle’s speed and accuracy resulted in first place in the course set by Anthony D’Ambrosio (USA) with her attentive and willing mount. “It was his last class of the year, so he gets a couple of months off now. He’s a young horse and just started moving up the FEI levels this year. I figured I would give it a shot since it’s his last class and now he gets a nice, well-earned vacation.”
“He’s a big horse, but he’s gotten quicker and quicker as the years progressed. He’s really fun and he’s been consistent. He’s easy to ride even though he’s really large. He’s got quick thinking and turns quick, so he’s really nice and easy. He’s always really game,” she asserted.
“I think [it was] the rollback to fence 3 [that] was a big oxer off of a tight turn, but he handled it really well. He just turned well and fortunately everything came up nice and easy off the turns. He’s very trusting and kind of young. He’s kind of naive in trusting in a good way so far, so as long as I don’t do anything to break his trust, then whatever I ask him to do he’ll give it a shot,” concluded Engle.
McKayla Langmeier Tops $15,000 USEF U25 Show Jumping National Championship Class 2
McKayla Langmeier and Linda Langmeier’s Durosa W were the only pair double clear in day two of the USEF U25 Show Jumping National Championship at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC), sliding through the jump-off timers in 38.598 seconds to take the win. Taking reserve on the day with a four-fault, second-round score of 39.828 seconds was Kelly Cruciotti of Elizabeth, CO, aboard 3 Seas, LLC’s Grandy De Laubry, a 2006 Belgian Warmblood mare (Chin Chin x Cerimpta De Laubry), while Abigail McArdle of Barrington, IL, remained on the podium to finish third, guiding Victorio 5, a 2006 Hanoverian stallion (Uccello x Graefin) owned by Victorio Equine Group LLC, to a 41.09 second finish on four faults in the jump-off. After two days of competition, McArdle now sits ahead of the field on the overall ranking headed into Sunday’s final.
Sixteen entries returned to the Anthony D’Ambrosio-designed course, with four entries welcomed back for the jump-off round. Hailing from East Granby, KY, Langmeier jumped from being in last place after Thursday’s competition to finishing in first place, and emphasized that her mindset played a key role in this shift. “My mentality [changed from yesterday to today]. I was coming from school [yesterday], and I was pretty tired, so today I just took it like, ‘Ride – just go in there and ride.'” Langmeier and the 2008 Dutch Warmblood mare (B Zirocco Blue VDL x Urosa W) were first in the order, putting in a clear jump-off round that couldn’t be beaten.
“I have all the trust in my horse and I knew she could do it. I know to never give up. [These competitions] can change so much the second and third day especially at Young Riders and even at previous U25’s. I know it can change, so I know to never give up,” she shared.
Samantha Schaefer and In the Know Float to $15,000 #1 Education Place USHJA International Hunter Derby Win
Samantha Schaefer of Westminster, MD, prevailed in the $15,000 #1 Education Place USHJA International Hunter Derby aboard In the Know, a 2009 Warmblood gelding (Arkansas x Cavelle) owned by Madeline Schaefer. In the hunt-and-go format with a course set by Andy Christiansen (USA), Schaefer took all the high options and scored 197 in the handy portion for a total of 381 to take the win. In reserve, Havens Schatt of Georgetown, KY, piloted SHP Barn LLC’s Spectacular, a 2009 Holsteiner gelding (Cachas x Varese), to a total of 370, while Jimmy Torano of Wellington, FL, and Exclusive, a 2009 Dutch Warmblood gelding (Verdi x Unicasan), earned a total of 365 points to claim third for Isalou, Inc.
Schaefer and “Spider” are new to the hunt-and-go format but it proved to be no problem for the infamously athletic horse, she explained: “The course was very different for me – I’ve only done one other hunt-and-go format, so it was a long course, but it was really fun. I was joking with people at the gate, that if I started looking at them to start yelling colors! I thought it rode really nicely and flowed really well.”
“I just tried to ride every jump one jump at a time, and tried not to get ahead of myself,” Schaefer elaborated. “The last time I did a hunt-and-go format, I felt like I got to the handy before the handy had started, so in the first round today I tried to keep him really straight, and really use my space. In the handy, I tried to really pick it up and show a difference, with a little more gallop, and obviously tighter turns. I thought everything kind of went as planned today.”
With tight competition in a field of ten entries, Schaefer assessed that she was able to gain points in the handy portion especially. “I think that in the handy he has so much athleticism and so much scope that in all of these classes. He can really roll back on any tight option and just jumps it so easily. So, I think today, with rolling back on the high options and being as efficient as I could, it’s just so easy for him that I can really take a shot everywhere,” she said. “I also think galloping to the last jump was a good way to finish off, so it gave him a good last impression. It was not a straight approach, but he got his eye on it right away and he helped me out so I could really gallop and just chuck the reins at him and he did it perfectly.”
“Spider has been a part of our family for about two-and-a-half years now,” Schaefer continued. “He’s really special to us – he really is part of the family. We actually bought him as a seven year-old to be my sister’s equitation horse,” she revealed of the successful derby mount. “She [my sister] showed him for about a year and then I started doing him a little bit in the derbies and he was really taking a liking to that. So, we just started adjusting him to do the high performance here and there and derbies as his main focus.”
Schaefer’s secret with Spider seems to be in her careful selection of when he shows, she admitted. “He actually showed at Washington this fall and I haven’t even jumped a jump on him since then until this Tuesday – I did a few jumps and decided to go ahead and bring him since we were coming down for the weekend with some clients. It was a good thing – he felt good and ready for it, so I just decided to throw him on the trailer and bring him along.”
What “Spider” brings to the derby ring is “something I don’t think you can teach a horse,” Schaefer said. “You can always count on him and when the pressure’s on he normally rises to the occasion. He knows when it’s time to focus and I’d say the majority of the time he gives it his all. He’s awesome – he’s like my rock.”
Schaefer plans to aim him for more derbies this season, especially competing on the grass when she gets the chance. “Overall I try to keep him really fresh and interested, and happy about doing his job. I think he goes his best when he’s like that – when he’s nice and fresh and really interested in the courses. He’s great on the grass and super athletic – I don’t think I’ve ever done a bank on him or anything like that, but he would be totally game to do all that as well. I have yet to find something that he can’t do,” Schaefer concluded.
For full results from the $35,000 Dever Golf Cars 1.45m Classic CSI 4*, click here.
For full results from the $15,000 USEF U25 Show Jumping National Championship Class 2, click here.
For rankings after Round 2 in the USEF U25 Show Jumping National Championship, click here.
For full results from the $15,000 #1 Education Place USHJA International Hunter Derby, click here.
Purchase VIP hospitality for the $205,000 Holiday & Horses Grand Prix CSI 4* presented by Palm Beach County Sports Commission and $25,000 USEF Under 25 Show Jumping National Championship Final here!
For more information on PBIEC and the ESP Holiday Series, please visit www.pbiec.com.
Photo Credit ©AnneGittinsPhotography.
