JUNE/JULY 2011 THE RIDER /45 Two Canadians Finish in the Top 10 at CCI 4* Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event


Ottawa, ON— Fellow World Games team mem- bers Jessica Phoenix and Rebecca Howard, finished in the top 10 at the rain soaked 2011 edition of the CCI 4* Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, held April 28–May 1, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, USA. Phoenix, of Canning- ton, ON, sat in 30th place following dressage with a score of 60.0 riding her 2010 World Equestrian Games (WEG) mount, the Canadian bred 13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Exponential. The pair were one of three combinations to complete Derek Di Grazia’s cross country course with no jumping or time penalties which moved them up the leader- board into eighth place. Phoenix’s success contin- ued as she and Exponential also had a fault free jump- ing round to finish on their dressage score for seventh place overall, only one of two riders out of the 45 member starting field to do so. In addition to her sev- enth place finish, Phoenix was also awarded The Bank One Perpetual Tro- phy, awarded to the high- est-placed rider who is also


the sole owner of the horse. “Exponential was incredible. I could not have imagined him jumping any better on cross country or show jumping,” said Phoenix. “The footing was very challenging on Satur- day but he is such an effi- cient galloping horse that he didn’t seem to notice. I am so thankful to have such an amazing partner in Exponential.”


Howard.


Howard, of Salmon Arm, BC, partnered with Riddle Master, the 10-year- old Canadian Sport Horse gelding owned by Caroline Bazley, and her 2010 World Equestrian Games mount started the competi- tion on a dressage score of 51.7 penalties which was good for 16th place. Adding only 12.8 time penalties on the cross coun- try course moved them up to 11th spot heading in to the show jumping. They finished in 10th place over- all after incurring four jumping faults for a final score of 68.5 overall. “Riddle Master was super this week end. I learned a lot as it was a dif- ferent experience riding in the wet conditions. I am so excited about what is to come with this horse,” said


Jessica Hampf, origi- nally of London, ON, and High Society III, 15-year- old Australian Thorough- bred gelding owned by the rider and Carl Hampf, were in 25th spot following dres- sage with 58.5. The pair added 20 jumping and 21.6 time penalties on cross country and 12 jumping penalties to finish in 24th place with a score of 112.1. Rounding out the Canadian entries was Peter Barry of Dunham, QC and Kilrodan Abbott, his own and Susan Barry’s 12-year- old Irish Sport Horse geld- ing. Competing their first Rolex, Barry and Kilrodan Abbott were 35th follow- ing dressage and added 20 jumping and 29.6 time penalties on cross country. They had one rail, for four faults, in the jumping round to finish in 25th with 117.1.


Mary King of Great Britain claimed first and second at the 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. Riding Kings Temptress, King won with a score of 47.7, and earned second place with Fernhill Urco with 49.7. American Sinead Halpin finished in third place with Manoir De


medal mount, Gin & Juice, an 11-year-old Thorough- bred mare owned by Ben- nett-Awad & Linda Paine, were the top placed Cana- dian entries, finishing 41st out of 84 starters with a score of 81.8. Selena O’Hanlon of Elgin, ON, also rode her sliver medal WEG horse Colombo, a 16-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding owned by Elaine and Michael Davies, to a 55th place fin- ish.


4–star eventing competi- tions currently held in the world. The riders gain points at each event and the rider at the end of the sea- son with the highest num- ber of points is the HSBC FEI Classics™ Champion.


“Hawley Bennett-Awad of Langley, BC, and her WEG team silver medal mount, Gin & Juice, an 11-year-old Thoroughbred mare owned by Bennett-Awad & Linda Paine, were the top placed Canadian entries, finishing 41st out of 84 starters with a score of 81.8.” Photo Credit—Cealy Tetley tetleyphoto.com


Carneville, scoring 53.1. Full results are avail- able on the official Rolex Kentucky Event web site www.rk3de.org.


Canada was also well


represented at the CCI 4* Badminton Horse Trials held April 21–25 in Great Britain. Hawley Bennett- Awad of Langley, BC, and her WEG team silver


the moment you count. Working on just one of the two skills at a time may make the job easier.


Olympic double gold medalist Mark Todd of New Zealand won CCI 4* Badminton riding NZB Land Vision with a final score of 43.6. Piggy French of Great Britain finished second with 45.2 riding Jakata. Rolex winner, Mary King earned third place at Badminton, scoring 45.8, with Imperial Cavalier. Complete results for CCI 4* Badminton can be found at www.badminton- horse.co.uk.


The CCI 4* Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event and CCI 4* Badminton Horse Trials are part of the HSBC FEI Classics™ is a series first introduced in 2008 uniting the top end international Eventing cir- cuit—namely the five


cle first is key to avoiding penalty points.


Judges, in the AQHA, are famil- iarizing themselves with the new score sheets for equitation. Riders who are late to pick up the correct diagonal and lead, or who noticeably look down will be given point penal- ties, according to severity. So aside from the benefit of becoming an educated rider with “feel”, sensing where your horse’s legs are will keep you out of the penalty box! Although beginners start by look- ing down at the horse’s shoulders to identify their leads and diagonals, it’s important that they soon learn to do it by feel. Take heart, I find that although some riders struggle with this more than others, most people have a light bulb go on one day and never look back. Following are a few suggestions that have helped my students over the years.


Q. I know judges are penalizing a late diagonal in equitation classes. It takes me too much time to identify the cor- rect diagonal I also struggle to identify the correct lead - easier on a circle, but more difficult on a straight line. Any suggestions?


A. Knowing what diagonal and lead you’re on is a matter of feeling the rhythm and footfalls of your horse. Knowing which foot hits the ground when, puts a rider in tune with his horse. He is more able to influence his horse’s movement if he times his aids according to the rhythm of the strides. I jokingly say to some of my students “If you can’t dance, you can’t ride!” Even western riders who don’t need to worry too much about posting on the correct diagonal, benefit from learning this skill as the negotiate trail obstacles. Controlling the length of stride and which foot enters the obsta-


DETERMINING DIAGONALS. This involves two skills: 1. Feeling the footfalls of your horse 2. Timing the “rise” of your posting with the rise of your horse’s outside leg. To feel the rhythm of the horse, some riders find it easier to concentrate on feeling the inside front leg hitting the ground rather than when the outside leg is swinging forward. Try to count “now” every time you feel that inside leg hit the ground and then glance down at the shoulder to see if you’re right. It’s often helpful to have someone on the ground calling out “now” at first. Start at the walk and then move to the trot. Because the trot is a two beat rhythm, you can let yourself rock from side to side as you sit to a slow trot. You’ll find that every time you sway to the left, your horse’s left leg is hitting the ground. Some riders can almost hear the footfalls.


After you consistently identify when that inside leg hits the ground (or the outside leg rises) try to rise up at


In equitation classes, it’s better to sit an extra beat or two before rising to make sure you’re right rather than rushing and coming up on the wrong diagonal. To switch diagonals for a direction change, it is most common to sit for two beats, but standing in the stirrups is also acceptable.


LEARNING LEADS. Once a rider is totally comfortable following the motion of the canter with her seat, feel- ing the lead becomes so much easier. Riders who are unsteady or rigid at the canter will have a hard time and probably need a ground person initially to let them know if they’re on the wrong lead. Let your joints (hips, elbows and knees) follow the motion of the canter. I use the image of a hula hoop or a swing to give the image of supple, fol- lowing hips.


When I did an informal sur- vey, asking riders what helped them learn to identify leads, some said it was cantering on a longe line without having to worry about steering. Others said riding bareback (or at least without stir- rups)prevented them from perch- ing out of the tack so they were able to mirror the stride with their hips. Some said counter cantering (on purpose) helped make the lead more pronounced. Most rid- ers said they couldn’t remember how they learned to identify their leads – they just got it! So don’t worry, with more miles it will happen!


Lindsay Grice Bio


Follow Lindsay’s blog: It’s More Than Horse Shows.


Also on Facebook. Go to www.lgrice.com for details.


Coach, trainer, equine behaviour lecturer and judge, Lindsay Grice, has prepared horses and riders for wins at major horse shows in the US and


Canada for over 20 years. Starting her career on the hunter A circuit, she con- tinues to actively compete in both english and western events, specializ- ing now in the AQHA circuit. Lindsay teaches Equine Behaviour for the University of Guelph Performance Horse Handler course. In her popular clinics, she draws on the principles of equine psychology and sports psychology to bridge the com- munication gap between horses and riders and explains both the “hows” and “whys” of training and showing. Lindsay is an Equine Canada


About Canadian Eventing Canadian Eventing is the committee of Equine Canada responsible for the sport of eventing in Canada from the grassroots to the international level. The Canadian Eventing Com- mittee is comprised of 12 members, including two rider representatives elect- ed by the Elite Riders Association. Directed by the Strategic Plan for Eventing, all Eventing activities are administered by this committee via six sub-committees with the support of an eventing manager based at the Equine Canada office in Ottawa. For more informa- tion about Canadian Event- ing, visit www.equinecana- da.ca and select disciplines then Eventing.


About Equine Canada For more information about Equine Canada, please visit www.equinecanada.ca.


judge and AQHA specialized judge, as well as a certified Equine Canada and NCCP (multi event) coach.


When asked what she loves about her job, Lindsay responds, “I love putting complex principles of riding into a language that riders can under- stand. As someone who’s been there – forgotten courses, made training mis- takes, listened to hollering coaches and still made it to the winner’s circle, I share with my students the keys I wish I’d known.”


For more training and showing tips, visit her site: www.lgrice.com


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