“When Christian walks in the stables, she’s the first horse
to stick her head out and say hello,” Neil remarks. “For a horse, she’s very, very bright, which really helps. She learned the game—after she got past her madam stage.”
WINNING AGAIN Selena was sound and ready to resume jumping by late summer of 2015. In the following November, she and Chris- tian won two classes at the Las Vegas National Horse Show, including the Las Vegas Speed Classic. Then at the Valle de Bravo (Mexico) CSI4*-W, they won the $35,000 Audi speed class this past January. And her next two blues were large classes at the HITS Thermal Desert Circuit IV in February: the Desert Welcome Stake and Desert Classic. She’s due to compete in the International Omaha
(Nebraska) show in May, the site of the 2017 Longines FEI World Cup Final. “We want to get her back to the best that we can,” says
Christian. “We are still at a stage where we are seeing how she’s doing. Hopefully I can use her next year in a couple of the World Cup qualifiers and see what we get.” “We’re taking it steady with her,” Neil agrees. “We think there’s more to come.”
LORDAN: Not as Easy as It Looks He won the big money in 2013, and a year later was side- lined with an injury. The Hanoverian Lordan (Lordanos x Landor S) returned to the elite level of jumping in 2016 to win sizeable prize money. This equine athlete is one of the few to win the Saugerties
$1 Million at HITS on the Hudson, held annually in Saugerties, New York. “The Million was his coming out party in 2013,” says his owner and rider Nayel Nassar of Encinitas, California. “We were unlucky last year—in 2014 he sustained a stifle injury at the end of the year and had to miss the entire 2015 season.” But with patience, Nayel has nurtured his horse and restored him to top form giving them another run at the $1 Million Grand Prix this year.
ATHLETIC, WITH AN ATTITUDE Lordan is one of those scopey jumpers who can leap high and wide. His ability over fences is what convinced Nayel to buy him, even though Nayel admits he had doubts. “To be honest, we didn’t know he would be a sure thing from the get go, but he had such a unique way of jumping,” he says. “He did it so effortlessly, even though he did jump really high.” Nayel tried him as a six-year-old in Hungary where the
German-bred demonstrated how he could easily lift his withers to flow over fences. His talent was his selling point. However, his behavior was an issue. “The question with him was always whether he’d have the brain and the heart to do it, because he was so spooky and would look at everything,”
Lordan and Nayel Nassar at HITS Thermal Desert Circuit 2013, before their win of the Zoetis HITS $1 Million at HITS on the Hudson and before his stifle injury.
Warmbloods Today 27
he recalls. “He would look at his surroundings and look at the jumps.” Another crucial issue was the bay’s resistance to jump-
ing water. Not only did he look, but he stopped. “He was funny with water,” says Nayel. “That’s actually why we had the opportunity to buy him. They sold him [to us] when he wouldn’t jump the Liverpool with the girl they sold him to. She gelded him and tried again, and still he wouldn’t do it. So she sent him back, and that’s how we had the opportunity to buy him.” Nayel was a young rider at the time, a student at Stanford
University. A rider most of his life, he started competing at CSIs at age 18. His top horse for many years was the BWP stal- lion, Raging Bull’s Vangelis S. He realized that for the Grand Prix, Landor was a risk. “When I went over there I must have tried 16 or 17 horses
in a row,” he continues. “Landor was one of the earlier ones I sat on. He just kind of stuck with me. When I compared the other ones to him, none of them came close. So I knew that if I was going to leave with one, he was the one I would leave with.” He considered Lordan’s bloodlines when making the
decision to buy. “Lordanos horses are a little looky, and some of them are late bloomers. I think it’s uncharacteristic given the scope that Lordan has for being such a little horse, for being a Lordanos. Most good Lordanos horses are meter 50 horses, a few are meter 60. Luckily he’s been able to do that.” He estimates that Lordan is about 16 hands—the horse is too afraid of the measuring stick to confirm his height! The pair competed in their first CSI in 2011. In their first
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