Winter 2012 Eventing Wrap Up By Lori Tankel As an eventer, the best thing about Florida is that we have 3 top notch eventing venues: Rocking Horse, Florida Horse Park and Red Hills. Add in our perfect climate from fall until spring and their close proximity to Ocala, we are lucky that many of the world’s top riders help make these venues among the best in the country!
With this being an Olympic year, we have been especially fortunate to welcome so many talented horses and riders. As riders contest for a coveted spot on their countries Olympic team, we were treated to the best of the best, not only from the United States, but Canada, England and beyond! Eventing season got officially underway with Rocking Horse Winter I in January. With over 300 entries, the competition drew favorites such as Buck Davidson, his legendary father, Bruce, iconic figures like Leslie Law and local favorites like Jonathan Holling, Jennie Jarnstrom- LaManna and Leah Khorsandian. Buck won the Open Intermediate division with Absolute Liberty, the 15.3 hand Oldenburg/TB mare by Aberjack, as well as placing Titanium, No More Rocks and The Apprentice all in the Open Intermediate division. Buck rode 11 horses that weekend! I am exhausted riding just one horse around the beginner novice course…I don’t know how he rides so many horses in one day! In addition to the recognized events, legendary Longwood South Farm in Ocala offered their first schooling show in January, with an unprecedented $25,000 in prizes! The event was well anticipated and lived up to all they promised! Just about everyone who is based out of Ocala came for the fun and festivities, which ended with a spectators party and award ceremony at the end of the day. Rocking Horse II saw more favorites, including Karen O’Connor, who took 2nd on both Veronica and Mr Medicott in the Advanced divisions; Peter Atkins and his crowd favorite HJ Hampton, who was 3rd in Advanced, and the newly crossed over to the dark side from show jumper, Marilyn Little-Meridith, who rode RF Demeter to the blue in the Advanced division. Jennie Jarnstrom-LaManna rode Cape Town to a 7th in Preliminary and the lovely Chant Des Artes to a 1st in Prelim. 20.
Unfortunately, we did not get to see USEF International Horse of the Year, Neville Bardos compete cross country, but Boyd Martin’s wife Sylva brought him, along with a string of 8, to compete at Ocala Dressage in January, for some tuning up. At Red Hills earlier in March, eventing super star Phillip Dutton won the CIC *** on Mystery Whisper, who rode an impressive dressage test to a score of 27.9. Time faults on cross country and in stadium gave him a final score of 35.7 on the newly imported warmblood from Australia. Little-Meredith finished 2nd on RF Rovano, Dutton also had the yellow ribbon with Ben, and rounding out the top six were Canadian Selena O’Hanlon on Colombo, O’Connor on Mr Medicott and Atkins on HJ Hampton. Competition bounced back and forth between Rocking Horse and the Florida Horse Park, and the season wraps up with Rocking Horse hosting an event March 31-April 1 and then a CCI ** and a CCI * at the horse park April 11-15. Beyond that, riders will be aiming their trailers for points north, where the climate will be more forgiving to the demands and rigors of eventing. Many of the Olympic contenders will be looking at Rolex Kentucky at the end of April to further their Olympic quest. Rocking Horse, the Florida Horse Park, Canterbury and other smaller venues will be offering local schooling shows throughout the summer, with the first USEA recognized event returning to Rocking Horse in November. In addition, Leah Khorsandian’s Parrish Oaks Farm in Dade City is now offering schooling shows and derbys, with April 7 her inaugural date. All these locations offer cross country schooling, so for those who are not able to travel to Poplar, Pine Top and other venues north this summer, you still have a wide variety of options for keeping your horse fit!
Broadway (only a few hours old) soaking up some sunshine. Owned by Jean Thornton. Photo: Charity Messer
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