VERSATILEVENICE
One Day Jumper…Next Day Hunter By Charlene Strickland
In the Grand Prix arena at the Desert Horse Park in Thermal, California, a gray mare competed Thursday through Sunday—first a Grand Prix, then a hunter derby and finally a CSI4* Grand Prix. At the 2016 National Sunshine Series Week II, LEGIS Venice crossed over from a composed hunter round to fences as high as 1.60 meters in the $200,000 Sunshine Grand Prix. Trainer Jenni McAllister of Team McAllister, Sylmar, California, rode the versatile gray in these different—and demanding—competitions.
“V
enice is awesome. I call her Queen Vee,” says Marnye Langer about this eleven-year-old Holsteiner (Nekton x Capitol I) owned by LEGIS
Equine. Marnye is managing director of the Langer Eques- trian Group’s LEGIS Equine. How does Venice win accolades in the two very different disciplines? Marnye and Jenni describe how they discovered their mare’s success.
Bred to Jump Venice was bred to jump, with her grandsires both legends in
the sport: the KWPN “Stallion of the Century” Nimmerdor and the Holsteiner Capitol I, sire of hundreds of jumpers.
All photos by Charlene Strickland Jenni and Marnye found the young mare in Schleswig-
Holstein, Germany. “She came from a friend of ours who breeds some horses,” says Jenni. “Britta Braunert is the woman we got her from. She starts them herself and does a magnificent job.”
“She does a beautiful job starting those horses,” Marnye
adds. “They arrive here and there’s nothing you want to undo.” Venice was already jumping 1.30 meters. In 2012 Jenni showed Venice in Young Jumper Champion- ships qualifiers, in the seven- and eight-year-old classes. She has been at the Team McAllister barn for five years now. “She’s a good jumper,” says Jenni. “She’s very brave—a super honest, very obedient horse.” Marnye jumped her in some classes, but decided she was
a better fit for Jenni’s style. “I showed her a little bit and gave her back to Jenni so she was able to keep going. And I also wanted to give Jenni a really great horse. She wasn’t the ideal type for me. She’s a Maserati and I needed a Lexus,” Marnye recalls. “She contributed to my riding skills. When it was time that she was ready to step up, it made more sense to get Jenni back in.” Venice was placing in Grand Prix events by 2013, earning
good ribbons and prize money. She won the Grand Prix de Santa Fe in August 2016. And by then, she was also jumping the more sedate fences in the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) hunter derbies.
Above, left: LEGIS Venice ridden by Jenni McAllister to a clear round in the Grand Prix de Santa Fe in August 2016. Above, right: Venice and Jenni clear a high option fence in the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby.
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