Top Jumpers Rave GRAND P RI X RIDERS SHARE WH
By Charlene Strickland
What makes a top Grand Prix rider click with one particular jumper over others he or she has trained and competed? Is it personality, athletic ability or a bold attitude on course, seeking and attacking the jumps? Is it an equine athlete’s gallop, or perhaps his stride’s adjustability and scope, able to clear the height and width of obstacles on a CSI course consistently, that puts him or her on top?
closer look at those horses. What are their bloodlines? And what percentage of Thoroughbred blood is in their pedigree?
W JONATHAN AND CHRISTINE MCCREA
Originally from Ireland, Jonathan has been in the U.S. for 17 years, and started riding for the U.S. seven years ago. His wife Christine, also a USET rider, rode five clear rounds at the 2011 Pan-American Games, earning both individual and team gold medals. The McCreas are from East Windsor, Connecticut. Jonathan
Individual gold medalist Christine McCrea and Romantovich Take One at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
20 September/October 2017
doesn’t hesitate to boast about Chris- tine’s double gold wins at Guada- lajara’s Pan-Ams. “The horse was Romantovich Take One (a 2000 KWPN gelding, Numero Uno preferent x
e asked a variety of riders who have been compet- ing in the U.S. and Canada this past summer which horses stand out as their favorites. Then we took a
Karandasj). My proudest moment was when Christine won the indi- vidual gold,” he says. At the
Jonathan McCrea riding Special Lux at the Las Vegas National in November 2015.
Games, Chris- tine secured the individual gold when
Beezie Madden earned one time fault. That year she and “Dutch” competed in seven Nations Cups in Europe, jumping six clear rounds and a double clear at St. Gallen. “We had him since he was young,” says Jonathan. “He was the most special one, now retired in East Windsor. I see him every day.” “I’ve had a lot of great horses and been around a lot of
great ones. I love them all,” he continues. What made this horse special? “His heart. He had maybe not the best ability of the horses we’ve had but he’s very smart. It was his will to win at every level, from a young horse right through.” Dutch’s sire Numero Uno (Libero H x Lord Calando) is a
top stallion for the KWPN. The damsire Karandasj was also a 1.60-meter jumper. Jonathan names his own favorite ride as Special Lux, a
2004 Irish Sport Horse (Lux x Coille Mor Hill). “He’s won seven Grands Prix and World Cup qualifiers this year.” In 2016 he and Special Lux won the $100,000 World Cup
qualifier, North American League in Bromont International CSI3*-W. As of July 21 Jonathan is twelfth in the North Ameri- can eastern sub-league of the Longines FEI World Cup stand- ings. In 2017 they won two classes at WEF’s Wellington Festi- val CSI2*, including the $50,000 Grand Prix. At the Upperville Colt and Horse Show CSI4*, they won the $40,000 Welcome Stakes. Jonathan’s had Special Lux for four years. The horse came
from Ireland, and in the first five generation he’s 22 percent Thoroughbred. “For me personally, he’s just a fighter. He has a lot of similar qualities to Take One. Maybe he doesn’t have the most ability in the world, but he has a big heart and he loves to win.”
Charlene Strickland
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