Rocking Horse Winter II: Canadians Dominate First Advanced of 2018

Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High. Photo by Lisa Madren.

Rocking Horse Winter II Horse Trials hosted the first Advanced event of the 2018 season this weekend in Altoona, FL. Forty-one Advanced combinations competed in two separate divisions distinguished by which dressage test was required (Test A or Test B, with the latter considered more difficult).

The Canadian riders had a banner day winning both Advanced sections. Lisa Marie Fergusson and her 12-year-old Welsh Sport Horse, Honor Me, topped division A. They were 12th after dressage but catapulted up the leaderboard with a double clear show jumping round followed by a clear cross country round and only 3.6 time penalties.

West Coast wonders Jordan Linstedt and her 15-year-old Hanoverian Revitavet Capato held fast to second place throughout, scoring a 25.4 in dressage but adding a rail and some time to their score. Clara Cargile and John and Nancy Cargile’s 18-year-old Irish Sport Horse, White Indian, were another pair to make a big move with two good jumping phases, going from 20th after dressage to finish third overall on a 46.9.

Buck Davidson and Carlevo. Photo by Lisa Madren.

Buck Davidson was busy with multiple horses in both Advanced divisions. Carlevo, an 11-year-old Holsteiner owned by Carlevo, LLC, and Carl and Cassandra Segal’s 16-year-old Irish Sport Horse, Park Trader, were fourth and fifth respectively in Advanced A. In the B division, he finished second with Kathleen Cuca’s 13-year-old Thoroughbred, Jak My Style, and fourth with Copper Beach, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse owned by Sherrie Martin and Carl Segal.

Lauren Kieffer placed sixth and seventh in Advanced A with Jacqueline Mars’ 11-year-old Anglo Arabian, Vermiculus, and Team Rebecca LLC’s 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, Veronica. The stablemates were remarkably consistent in their performances, with each adding a rail in show jumping and two seconds difference in time on cross country to ultimately finish within 0.1 penalty points of each other.

Lauren Kieffer and Vermiculus. Photo by Lisa Madren.

Canada’s second win of the day came from Selena O’Hanlon and John and Judy Rumble’s 15-year-old Canadian Sport Horse, Foxwood High. They finished on a 27.8 to win Advanced B in their first outing since claiming victory at the Fair Hill International CCI3* last October. The pair were tied with Buck Davidson and Jak My Style through the first two phases, but Selena and “Woody” broke the tie by finishing cross country a mere three seconds closer to optimum time.

Elisa Wallace and the Simply Priceless Syndicate’s 17-year-old Australian Thoroughbred, Simply Priceless, rounded out Advanced B’s top three. They scored a 33.1 in dressage and added a rail and a handful of time penalties for a final score of 42.3.

Year after year, Rocking Horse successfully hosts early season events with huge numbers of entries. This weekend’s second of three winter horse trials welcomed well over 500 horses from Beginner Novice to Advanced. Click the link below for complete results. Go eventing.

Rocking Horse Winter II H.T. [Website] [Results]