puppy dog. He’s very intelligent, a quick learner with big gaits,” he says. After one show, he recounts, judge Hilda Gurney told him that he was at that moment the luckiest person in the world. Jason worked with many well respected international trainers, including Susanne Miesner, Conrad
Schumacher and Martin Richenhagen. Taking Grandioso to Holland and working for four months in 2006 with Henk van Bergen had the biggest influence on his training, according to Jason.
STAYING IN AMERICA
In 2009, another well-known rider was looking for his next international caliber mount. When Columbia native and Olympian Cesar Parra obtained his U.S. citizenship, he headed to Europe to find a horse that would partner with him in fulfilling his childhood dream of riding internationally for the United States. While he was in Germany, a call came from Martin Richenhagen, FEI “I” dressage judge and German Chef d’Equipe for the 2008 German Olympic Dressage team. “Martin told me the horse I was looking for was in the U.S.,” reports Cesar. Martin, a Georgia resident, had worked with Jason and Grandioso on
Opposite page: Jason Canton and Grandioso at Applewood Farm in Georgia. At left: The pair during a Conrad Schumacher clinic in October 2008. Below: Poplar Place Farm Show in April 2008.
piaffe and passage movements at Applewood Farm in Alpharetta, Georgia, where Jason stables his horses. Martin knew the horse, the horse’s training and care, and he knew Cesar’s needs. “Grandioso was for sale and I had witnessed several
prominent European riders and trainers try the horse, some of them even shopping for their next Olympic mount,” comments Martin. “Having worked also with Cesar, I knew the kind of horse he likes. I am not a ‘horse dealer’; I simply made the recommendation and let them work it out.” Cesar recalls how excited and curious he was about
this horse. “I called my wife at our farm in New Jersey and asked her to buy me a ticket that would get me to Atlanta as soon as I returned home from Europe. She said I was crazy—that my daughter was going to college in a few days. I said I will come home, give her a kiss and go to Atlanta.” Cesar arrived in Georgia with high
expectations and wasn’t disappointed. Cesar rode Grandioso for only 20 minutes when he knew how amazing the horse was. “I said we have to stop because the more I ride, the more the price will go up! I thank God everyday for this horse.”
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