Tommy Greengard and That’s Me Z. Photo by Cassidy Klein / USEA.
Tommy Greengard knew from the moment he saw That’s Me Z as a young horse that he was special.
He’s been slowly developing the Zangersheide gelding (Take A Chance On Me Z x Venetia), winning the USEA Young Event Horse Championship – West Coast as a 5-year-old in 2022, then heading to the FEI WBFSH Eventing World Championships for Young Horses at Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France, with help from the Holekamp/Turner Grant and Dutta Corp. Prize in 2024.
Now as an 8-year-old, “Z,” who’s owned by Greengard and Andrea Pfeiffer, has moved up to the Advanced level, and is putting in strong performances each time out.
The pair started their weekend at the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds on top of the $60,000 Adequan® USEA Advanced Final after dressage, and a strong cross-country performance yesterday over Clayton Fredericks’ course increased their winning margin to 16.3 penalties.
With that four-rail margin, Greengard was almost assured the win tonight as the sun set at Galway Downs for the exciting show jumping finale, but with two rails down partway through William Robertson’s course, the crowd still held their breath.
That performance was still enough for them to take the win ahead of Karen O’Neal on Clooney 14, who finished with one rail down. Megan McIver and Igor B finished in third place with the only clear jumping round of the six riders who finished the weekend.
“He’s been exceptional from day 1, you know, like he picked us,” said Greengard of Z. “The universe sent him to us. There was just something about him. We just had to have him, and he’s picked us, and he has a forever spot with us. We love him. He’s amazing.”
Greengard found the shadows were tough during the 6 p.m. class, which he attributed his two rails to.
“The shadows were crazy. I don’t think he even saw the two rails he ended up hitting, but he was spectacular,” he said. “He’s such a good boy. He’ll continue to get stronger. He loves the job. He has such a good attitude for it, and we couldn’t be prouder of him.”
Greengard is hoping to run a CCI4*-L next year with “Z,” and he’s been working on getting him stronger on a treadmill at home.
“We’ve just put one in, and that’s been really helpful to his strength, and we hope that it will continue to help him grow strength going forward,” he said.
While the Advanced field was small, Greengard appreciated the chance to jump in a big atmosphere in front of a crowd. “They did such a great job,” he said of the Galway Downs organizing team. “They’ve all worked so hard to make it happen, and we were very appreciative to all the bodies and people involved who made that possible.”
Karen O’Neal and Clooney 14. Photo by Veronica Green-Gott/USEA.
O’Neal and Clooney 14, Annika Asling’s 11-year-old Westphalian gelding (Captain Jack x Zauberfee), added one rail and 2.0 time penalties to finish in second place.
O’Neal has been spending time in the show jumping and hunter rings with Clooney, and she’s found it’s helped her own riding.
“I think it’s really helped me because it’s giving me more confidence to just know him,” she said. “wWhen we event, we get one shot [in show jumping]. So that’s really helped me a lot. I feel like both of us are more confident at the height now, and I’m more like, oh, we’re getting there; we can do this. I don’t always like long related distances. I like to turn and use my eye. [Tonight’s course] was probably more of a challenge for me. It pushed me a little out of my comfort zone with long nines and sevens and stuff like that. But, you know, it just makes me better.”
Megan McIver and Igor B. Photo by Veronica Green-Gott/USEA.
Third-placed pair Megan McIver and Igor B, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Vittorio x Erica B) jumped a clear round, adding 3.2 time penalties to finish in third.
She and “Rupert” have been together about a year after she bought him from England with four-star experience.
“I have always produced horses myself, and I got a phone call that was like, you have to come to England tomorrow,” she said with a laugh. “And I went, and I saw him, and I rode him at nine o’clock at night, and it was so windy and pitch black. I jumped him under the lights. He had never jumped under lights. I almost fell off of him because he was so spooky. It wasn’t like a picture-perfect trial, and it’s a horse that was a bit made by somebody else who rides quite different.”
Though they’re still learning each other, McIver was thrilled with her weekend and felt that it solidified their partnership.
“Now he feels like my horse,” she said. “He’s just an amazing cross-country horse. We had a slight miscommunication up the up bank where I wanted to be patient, and he didn’t. And basically, we jumped down, and I was literally laying on his neck, and I thought to myself, like, ‘OK, I’m gonna take the 20 here.’ And I look up, and he’s like already taking me to the chevron. That’s a partnership, you know, where he just kind of took the wheel for a moment, and I’ve never actually felt that on a horse before. So, even if today didn’t go as it did, he showed me yesterday that what we have is really special and that he is just going to be a really, really special one. And then today he jumped the only clear round. I’m proud of him for that. I’m quite lucky.”
USEA AEC, $60,000 Adequan Advanced Final and ATC Finals (CA): [Website] [Digital Program] [Schedule] [Live Stream – Equine Network] [Live Stream – H&C+] [Entries/Ride Times] [Scoring] [Volunteer]
