Saturday Video: What a Five-Year-Old Champion Looks Like

Tim Bourke and Foreign Quality. Screenshot via YouTube.

Tim Bourke and Foreign Quality. Screenshot via YouTube.

In addition to all the other hype at Fair Hill this weekend, they also played host to the East Coast Young Event Horse Championships and crowned winning four-year-old and five-year-old horses.

The winning five-year-old was the lovely Foreign Quality, owned by Marley Stone Bourke and ridden by her husband Tim Bourke. The Dutch Warmblood came to the U.S. by way of The Netherlands and Ireland before ending up in the Bourke’s barn, and the stallion flaunted his skills in all the disciplines, leading from start to finish. You can watch his jumping phases here:

Reserve Champion went to Get Gaudi, also a Dutch Warmblood, owned and piloted by Matt Flynn of Flynn Sport Horses. The Alicante HBC x Second Floor mare danced her way through the phases, holding the second place slot throughout the event.

In the four-year-old division, Matt Flynn didn’t have to settle for second, claiming the championship aboard 2 A.M. after starting out in 11th after the first day.  2 A.M. was the only horse in the division to score in the nines in the jumping phase, and in fact scored a 9.45, the best jumping score of either age group.

Four-year-old Reserve Champion went to the elegant dapple gray mare Hopscotch, owned and bred by Nina Gardner and ridden by Jennie Brannigan.

You can see more photos and get more back stories about all these horses and more at the USEA Website.

Full results for the Young Event Horse Championships – East Coast are available here.