We hear all the time about horses at the top of the sport, but what about the next generation of equine talent? EN’s Got Talent introduces the future superstars of the sport, interviewing riders about how they’re tackling training with these youngsters. Have you spotted a spectacular young horse at an event you think should be highlighted in this column? Tip me at [email protected].
Jessica Phoenix and A Little Romance at Red Hills. Photo by Samantha Clark.
When Jessica Phoenix first saw A Little Romance, the mare instantly reminded her of Exponential, her Olympic and World Equestrian Games partner. A coming 8-year-old Trakehner mare owned by Don and Anita Leschied of Ontario, A Little Romance, better known as Blue Eyes or Blue, has been turning heads on the spring circuit this year. She most recently finished eighth in the CIC2* at Red Hills, showing that she has the talent to match the color and conformation similarities to Exponential that initially caught Jessica’s eye. “She also has a very similar jumping style to Exponential,” Jessica said. “She has a great work ethic. She tries hard and she shows up every single day. She loves learning and she loves working.”
A Little Romance — sired by Gail Rogers’ A Fine Romance, the Thoroughbred stallion who is making quite the name for himself as an eventing sire, and and out of the Leschieds’ Trakehner mare — started her eventing career with Jen Irwin, who had competed the mare through training level. When Jen finalized plans to move to Europe in 2011 for an indefinite period of time, she called Jessica and asked her to consider taking over the ride. Jessica liked what she saw and took then 6-year-old Blue to two events at training level before moving her up to preliminary. “She’s a very focused individual,” Jessica said. “The jumping comes very naturally to her. She has a lot of natural movement, but dressage is the thing we work on the most with her. The pressure of the actual ring creates a little bit of tension, but she gets better and better every time she comes in.”
Jessica Phoenix and A Little Romance at Pine Top Advanced. Photo by Samantha Clark.
Jessica moved Blue up to intermediate right before the Ontario Eventing Championships last September. She jumped double clear around cross country and stadium to win the preliminary championships on her dressage score. That win helped Jessica and Blue finish as reserve champions in preliminary for the Ontario Horse Trials Association year-end awards. “You always have high expectations for the horses when you go into championships like that,” Jessica said. “Then it’s just up to you and horse to show up on the day. She put in a great dressage test in really crazy conditions. There were gale-force winds and torrential rains. She did her job and is a really competitive horse by nature.”
Blue put herself on the map in the eventing community two months later at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, where she competed in the indoor eventing. She won the class on Saturday night in front of a packed, electric crowd and finished third overall. “She was incredible and showed maturity beyond her years,” Jessica said. “She went in and looked for the flags and just loved it. She’s a very cat-like horse. She loves going fast and making tight turns. It was right up her alley. She was very well-suited to it. I thought she had a really good chance to finish well because of how her natural jumping style complements that type of eventing. I was thrilled with her performance. She really tried her heart out.”
Next week on EN’s Got Talent: We’ll learn more about how Blue’s 2013 season has progressed so far and what Jessica envisions for the rest of her year. We’ll also hear about a very specific moment when Jessica realized Blue had the makings of a true upper-level event horse. And we can’t wrap up Part 2 without talking more about Blue’s sire, A Fine Romance, also known as Fred. Selena O’Hanlon’s A First Romance, sired by the same stallion, has also been making a name for herself as a promising upper-level prospect. I got to see this mare go in person last fall in the CCI3* at Fair Hill. I have to admit that I’m a big fan of A Fine Romance babies, better known as “Fredlets.”
