Edited Press Release
Oct 4, 2024 — Gladstone N.J. — The curtain rose on the 2024 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals – East this Friday, as 46 aspiring athletes gathered at the USET Foundation Headquarters to display their skills in the flat phase.
In groups of five, the athletes entered the ring to perform a series of flatwork exercises for judges Nicole Shahinian-Simpson and Ellen Raidt. The riders showed a working and lengthening walk, trot, and canter while riding stirrup-less in both directions, and a turn on the haunches. This phase gave the athletes an opportunity to highlight their foundation in position, aids, and seat, while judges began compiling scores for the Finals.
Taylor Cawley (Wellington, Fl.) dazzled with a stellar ride on Oki D’Eclipse (Catoki x Elena D’Eclipse), earning a top score of 95. Olivia Sweetnam (Wellington, Fl.) aboard Class Act (Vigaro x Leonalda) followed closely with a score of 94. In third was JJ Torano (Wellington, Fl.) on Favorite Edition Z (Favorit Ask x Sunny Girl), with a score of 91.
The event continues on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. EST with Phase II, the gymnastics phase. This phase challenges athletes with a series of gymnastic lines and multiplies their scores by 1.5. On Sunday, starting at 9:00 a.m. EST, the competition concludes with Phase III, the jumping phase, which features a jumping-style course and multiplies the scores by 2. Scores from all three phases will then be calculated to determine the top four athletes who will return for Phase IV, the ride-off. In the final round, they will exchange horses and navigate the same course on each of the final four mounts to finalize the ranking.
Click here for full Phase I Results.
Click here to read more.
