country during Rolex Kentucky 2010. (Photo by Amber Heintzberger)


➡ R-STAR and Kristi Nunnink galloping cross


Kristi. “She was quite chubby, but there was definitely something special about her. She wasn’t quite broke at that point,” she smiles. “But she was a very fancy mover. I loved her eye and she just seemed so intelligent.” Kristi says that the fact that Rosie was sired by


Riverman also helped her decide to take a chance on the filly. “I had ridden a few other Riverman offspring and loved their attitude,” she says. “They were quite trainable and very brave. They’re also very attractive, which doesn’t hurt!” Rosie had Kristi’s approval, so the big mare made the trip to her new home and began her training. She competed in her first event at the Novice level in May of 2006, and less than a year later, she made her Preliminary debut. Despite the mare’s quick journey up the levels, Kristi admits that she wasn’t always the most straightforward horse to train. “Rosie was not super easy to train,” she says. “She is just so athletic and smart, and she can be a bit hot at times. She can still buck me off if I’m not paying attention! That being said, jumping has always been very easy for her. We’ve had to work a lot on the technical end of jumping, though, because her early solution was just to power her way out of difficult situations.” “I think dressage has always been harder for her, especially the collected work,” she continues, “but she is definitely getting there.” With Kristi’s persistent hard work, Rosie has improved


drastically. In 2009, when she was just eight years old, she placed third at the CIC*** at Rebecca Farm, tenth at the CCI*** at Fair Hill, and won the CCI** at Twin Rivers. She was also the USEA Reserve Champion High Point Mare. Additionally, Kristi and Rosie caught the eye of the USEF Team Selectors and were short-listed for the USEF High Performance training list. In April, Kristi was able to do what many eventers can


only dream about. She and Rosie competed at America’s only four-star event, the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. In their first four-star, the pair turned in a very solid dressage test to earn a score of 56.5. That left them in 29th place out of more than 50 starters. Unfortunately, difficult combination on the cross-country course caused Rosie to have a rotational fall, leaving Kristi with an injured ankle. Thankfully, the pair’s confidence was not shaken by


their fall at Kentucky. Rosie and Kristi won their next outing on their dressage score, and placed 8th in the very competitive CIC*** class at Rebecca Farm in July. Up next for Rosie is the CCI*** at Galway Downs in November. Kristi also hopes to return to Kentucky next year to try


to conquer the difficult course again. Long term, she is hoping to remain on the High Performance training list and make it to the 2012 Olympics in London, a goal that seems well within reach for the talented pair. “I love every phase of owning her,” Kristi smiles. “She is


sweet and easy to be around. She is very affectionate and loves treats! She lives in a stall with an attached pasture that is right outside my bedroom window so I can always keep track of her. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to own her. She has already helped me to do amazing things. I just hope that I can continue to enjoy the process and always put Rosie’s needs first.”


10-year-old bay Oldenburg bred and owned by Elizabeth Callahan of Oxford, Maryland. In fact, Rehobeth is the product of careful breeding after several other breedings to Riverman. “I bred four full siblings from this cross and loved


O


the athleticism and type that I got,” Elizabeth explains. “I picked Riverman because of his movement and the athletic ability he seemed to pass on to his offspring. I have had seven Riverman offspring and really liked his foals. I liked the older filly I got from the cross on her dam and repeated it to get Rehobeth.” Even before Rehobeth began eventing, her talent and


potential was evident when she received high honors at her breed inspections. At three, she was named the Champion mare at the Hilltop Farm Inspection. She has passed the Mare Performance Test for the Oldenburg NA registry, and her Sport Performance Test for the American Appendix Horse Association (AAHA). More so, she has


Warmbloods Today 39


ne of the first Riverman-sired mares to make her mark on the sport of eventing is Rehobeth, a now


REHOBETH


R-star!


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