THE SHOW SNOOP.
Edition 1, Issue 3; June 26th-29th, 2009
Saugerties, New York
Ah, New York. A nice place to visit, but I can't imagine ever living here. The moment I stepped out of my car and onto the grounds, I was sorely tempted to just sit in my car and blast the air conditioning all day and then make crap up about the rounds. Seriously, it gets goddamned hot out here in the summer! But I did indeed battle the heat, armed with a baseball cap and one of those dorky spray bottle fan things.
WALK TROT CANTER.
[/b] and Conversano Honora. This older Lippizan stallion is positively gorgeous, and I would assume he has some classical training just looking at the way he carries himself and moves. He and his rider made a gorgeous picture at all times and made it very difficult for the other entrants to get “airtime”, so to speak. When I managed to forcibly tear my eyeballs away from the Lippizan and his rider, I found my gaze shifted mostly to
Molly Parker and Time After Time, who ended the class in second place. The team was impeccably turned out and the still rather green mare was more willing and much calmer than usual. Third place was awarded to
Kaitlyn McHail on her big gray Electroshock, the gelding quiet and fluid under his rider's soft hands.
Thomas Chevalereaux and Salty Eyes earned fourth place, the flashy pony absolutely showboating her way through the class.
Brayden Forrester didn't manage to repeat the incredible ride he cranked out at Culpeper on Method Acting and walked away from the arena with a pink rosette instead of a blue one.
Robert Chase earned sixth place for his ride on Rude Awakening, the two followed by newcomer to the circuit
Vince Black and his stallion Unclassified in seventh.
Jamie Manlow and Illian's Fantasy placed quite low considering their show record, leaving the ring with a disappointing eighth place. Ninth was awarded to
Caleb Pierce and Maelstrom, whose round was not much to write home about. The most notable thing was the fact that his left jawline was swollen and tinged a nasty purple. Apparently that party the night before the show was a lot more dramatic than anyone had bargained for. It was a very disappointing round for
Kaylee Parker and her gelding Toy Soldier, and to be brutally honest, I'm surprised the two even placed. They scraped up tenth place, but Kaylee's head seemed to be floating far, far away from the ride at hand.
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LARGE PONY HUNTER.[/b] was awarded the blue ribbon for her ride on her Quarter Pony Bon Voyage, Mr. Bones. Jesse and the odd little thing make a surprisingly nice pair, and I love that she knows just how much to interfere with her pony's natural stride and jump. Second place was awarded to
Thomas Chevalereaux on Salty Eyes; while their round was more than up to their usual par, they couldn't knock Jesse and Zombie off the first place pedestal. Don't worry, babe, you'll always be first place with me. Eva Hollier has really been cleaning up in this class at every show this season, and this time around she and her pony Lite Brite walked away with a yellow ribbon to add to their collection. Annabel Walker and her New Forest Pony Diego earned fourth place with a solid debut round, and Josephine Ferreiro picked up fifth place after her round on Soft Jazz. Mia Gilles and Ladybug didn't perform their best this time around, receiving a sixth place instead of their usual third or fourth.
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PRE GREEN HUNTER.[/b] and his mare Seven Deadly Sins earned top honors after a lovely round. Seven has absolutely gorgeous gaits and while her jump doesn't have your typical hunter form, it's quite consistent. She and Caleb make a beautiful pair, and I am going to keep bitching until I see these two take on the competition in the Green class.
Kaylee Parker seemed much more zeroed in on her riding in this class than in Walk Trot Canter. She and Toy Soldier earned the red rosette after a significantly more focused round, the gelding calm, supple, and willing. New rider
Ashley Wellfield and her own bay warmblood Shockwave placed third, not half bad for their first class on the circuit.
Molly Parker had a rather lackluster round on Wonderwall but earned a white ribbon for her efforts. Fifth place was awarded to
Anthony Sullivan and his Thoroughbred stallion For Boston; the pair have been struggling to place higher than fourth in every show this year without much success, but I'm going to keep holding out for these two.
Kaitlyn McHail and Electroshock placed sixth, and their round was exactly the opposite of what I have quickly come to expect from them. Kaitlyn might still have been recovering from the absolute hissyfit she threw the day before, though, in her defense, I'd probably flip the fuck out too if my mother popped up at a show.
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REGULAR WORKING HUNTER.[/b] and her gorgeous Hanoverian mare Quintessential nabbed first place even with a round that wasn't quite up to their usual standard. Lenore seemed to be on auto-pilot, but this didn't bother Quinn in the least, as the chestnut took every jump in style.
Adriana Sheppard earned what must be her five millionth red ribbon on Paint The Town, her flashy paint boy oddly well behaved this time around.
Jamie Manlow and Illian's Fantasy really pulled it together for this class, making a huge jump from their eighth place in Walk Trot Canter to third. Fourth place was earned by
Molly Parker, who had a considerably better ride on Nine In The Afternoon than on Wonderwall earlier in the day.
Lizzie Marks and Paperdoll put in a rather mediocre round and received fifth place, followed by
Dakota Rivers and Durango in sixth; there was nothing particularly remarkable about this round, and I'll have to wait to see more of this new rider before I can form any solid opinions.
Kaylee Parker placed seventh after a decent round on Princeton, though by now I could easily tell that personal drama was clouding her ability to settle down and ride.
Isaac Rook's round on Wicker Man was hard to watch, the Saddlebred fighting him almost every step of the way and coming very close to knocking a pole multiple times. Fortunately, Isaac was rewarded for his efforts to keep the round from being a totally epic failure, and the two scraped into sixth place.
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$5,000 NATIONAL HUNTER CLASSIC.[/b] had a positively beautiful round on Paint The Town that earned her first place and the prize money of five thousand dollars. Ade and Rino are such a consistent team that they are incredibly difficult to place above in any of their classes, and the fact that they look so good together doesn't help either.
Molly Parker really ramped up her performance for this class; I'm assuming by then her hand had finally stopped smarting after that punch she landed on Brayden the night before. She and Nine In The Afternoon sailed elegantly over every fence, the black gelding's form neat and consistent as always, to earn second place.
Lizzie Marks and Paperdoll's output in this class was exactly the kind of thing I like to see from these two, and while it didn't win them the class, the round was solid and pleasant to watch. Fourth place went to
Jamie Manlow and Captain Obvious for their round, clear but nothing incredible.
Isaac Rook had a much easier time with Wicker Man in the Classic, the stallion now calm and more willing to work. The two ended up in fifth place. Sixth place went to
Lenore Castel and Quintessential, who sank even further below their standard in their most important class. This time around she wasn't even on auto-pilot, more rattled than anything, and her mare definitely picked up on this.
Kaylee Parker and Princeton earned another seventh place ribbon, and
Vince Black earned eighth for his ride on Unclassified. He was followed in ninth by fellow newcomer
Nate Weston and Conversano Honora; both Vince and Nate did incredibly well in such a big class for their first show, as it's difficult enough to place in the Classic.
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PONY JUMPER.[/b] and Salty Eyes took a quick, neat trip around the course, the little bay with her knees always beautifully tucked and plenty of room between her and the jump, and again came out on top. I like my guys on top -insert provocative wink here-.
Jesse Deguire and Bon Voyage, Mr. Bones secured second place, the pony's tiny, oddly fast strides propelling them around the course and his strange jump blasting them over every obstacle. Katherine Moffat and Pajama Party put in a great round and stole third place right from under the noses of Evanne Keppler and Luke Skywalker, who instead settled for a respectable fourth place. Amanda Illuminati and her leased Welsh pony Raven placed fourth after a round that was sure to make trainer and owner Alayna Thomas proud of both her pony and her student. Zack McGinnis and the little mare Letitia scooped up sixth place, and the kid was absolutely ecstatic to receive his first ribbon ever.
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CHILDREN'S/ADULT JUMPER.[/b] on his stallion Unclassified. These two really didn't catch my eye until they took the course, the chestnut clearing every jump with room to spare with Vince perched neatly on his back in a careful two-point. From this first show, I expect that Vince and his stallion are going to go on to do very well on the circuit.
Adriana Sheppard and Paint The Town earned just another second place in a whole damn stream of them, and
Nate Weston earned third place for his ride on Conversano Honora, the beautiful Lippizan jumping with nice scope but not fast enough to out-place Adriana and Rino. Fourth place was awarded to
Emmelina Sullivan on Coventry Hills school horse Benevolent Prince. Emma is finally getting back into showing after her hiatus to work with her injured OTTB, and will keep showing with Prince until her own horse is fully recovered. Charlotte Marcantonio and Odysseus placed fifth, the pair really beginning to come into their own, and Paul Witkop on his Hanoverian gelding Benvolio placed sixth just behind them.
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OPEN JUMPER.[/b] and his mare Absolution positively mopped up the floor with the rest of the riders entered in the Open Jumper class. Their ride was incredibly fast and amazingly accurate, Daniel navigating his horse expertly through tight turns with fluidity and ease. I also particularly like this mare's very careful technique, all of her legs snapped up close to her body. The red ribbon was given to
Andy Marks as a reward for his round on Baton Rouge; the pair were a little over a second behind the winning team, and while their ride was not as fast it was just as accurate.
Ackley Steiner and his giant of a mare Gorgon Eyes claimed third place for themselves, and I can say for certain that all eyes in the stands were glued on the pair not only because of the mare's stature and cremello coloring, but because their round was so exciting to watch. Fourth place honors were bestowed upon
Robert Chase and his Oldenburg stallion Rude Awakening for a quick, clear round.
Lenore Castel and A Clockwork Orange picked up fifth place, Lenore still noticeably out of whack but a little calmer this time around.
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$5000 GRAND PRIX.[/b] really rallied in this class, blasting up from a fourth place in Open Jumper to snatch away the win in the Grand Prix. Rude Awakening was as ready and willing as ever, his powerful strides providing enough momentum to carry both himself and his rider easily over every towering fence in their path. It was nice to see these two at the top of their game after they'd been passing on this class at the past few shows.
Andy Marks and Baton Rouge again found themselves in a very close second place, and this time with a frustratingly narrow margin. Andy still rode like no tomorrow and Sammy was incredible as always, so I'm sure he's proud even if he would've liked to go home with that five thousand lining his pockets.
Ackley Steiner and Gorgon Eyes took away another yellow ribbon for another solid, exciting round, almost a perfect duplicate of their Open Jumper round. George Macmillan and his gorgeous Holsteiner mare Constance swept into fourth place with a time just a split second slower than that of the third place team. Annemarie Grossman and her gelding Mardi Gras landed in fifth and Cristina Collins on Rosalie swept away sixth.
[/ul]While I really enjoyed the Saugerties show, the heat definitely put a damper on the day and I was very glad when the last course had been ridden and the last placing posted. I'm definitely hoping that the next show is either a little cooler or a little shorter. That's all the updating and complaining for now; until the next show![/blockquote]
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