By Jennifer Wood and Sabrina Schmidt for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
On Saturday in the FarmVet Ring, 16 horse-and-rider combinations took to the course in the Ariat National Adult Medal. Holding on to their lead with a high score of 87, Catherine Kramer, of Indianapolis, IN, and Gotye took top honors after further testing.
The top four were brought back to test in reverse order, entering the ring individually and immediately picking up the counter-canter on a direct route to their first fence. The additional testing began after the top four entries were called, the test read, and the announcement of “no further schooling” was made.
“The only thing I was a little bit unsure of was the counter-canter because I haven’t really done many tests on him,” noted Kramer. “Other than that, though, I kind of relied on having faith in myself, trusting the horse, and going off of what I know.”
Kramer and Gotye, a 12-year old Holsteiner gelding owned by Lisa Carlsen, have only recently started competing together, but have already had other successes, including wins in the Ariat National Adult Medal during WEF 6 and the Bruno Delgrange Palm Beach Medal during WEF 4.
“Coming into the class I was pretty confident,” said Kramer. “I’ve only ridden this horse a few times, just since week four, but I’ve been getting to know him more and more, so I was feeling pretty good about it today.
“He has such a fun personality, and he’s super sweet,” she continued. “He’s really nice to flat, and he’s super easy to find the jumps on. I found myself really comfortable and confident going into the ring on him.”
Coming in second was Elizabeth Kenny aboard Rhetorical, Angela Calicchio and City Walk came in third after their derby win yesterday, and Carolyn Lavin with Charleston Z rounded out the top four.
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