Ebeling Flies In To Win At Great American/USDF Region 7 And CDS Championships

Jan Ebeling had an unusual way of preparing for the Great American/USDF Region 7 Championships and California Dressage Society Championships, Oct. 9-12 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center (Calif.). He didn’t ride his horses.

“I had a pretty good weekend, especially considering I had been on the East Coast showing [another mount, Rafalca], for 31⁄2 weeks and hadn’t ridden any of my horses,” said Ebeling, of Moorpark, Calif. “My assistant, Jontel Forbes, had to hold the fort and keep my horses in shape. I think she was a little bit nervous about me going to this show only a week after I came back.”

Forbes didn’t have to worry, as Ebeling and Sandrina (Sandro Hit—Stutbuch) won the GAIG/USDF open Intermediaire I championship (71.87%) and Louis Ferdinand topped the CDS open Prix St. Georges championship (67.75%).

“She was just really on,” said Ebeling of Sandrina, a 10-year-old Oldenburg mare owned by Ann Romney, of Belmont, Mass. “We’ve been really pushing her in her training, and she’s had a little bit of a break in her show schedule. We’ve been really working on putting the Grand Prix together and have been doing a lot of one [tempis] and a lot of piaffe and passage.

“I think the break [from showing] was probably good for Sandrina,” he continued. “Jontel did a lot of trail riding and a lot of long and low, which I typically do with all my horses. She was relaxed, her back was loose, and she didn’t really have any mistakes in the test.”

Louis Ferdinand, a 9-year-old Westphalian stallion owned by Barbara McLean, of Phoenix, Ariz., also placed third in the GAIG/USDF open Prix St. Georges championship.

“He was really on in [his winning CDS championship] test,” said Ebeling. “He was really easy to ride, and he was focused. On Saturday [in the GAIG/USDF class], he had a great test and then all of a sudden in the four tempis, he had a big mistake. He did three really good changes and then in the fourth he just didn’t change. I think we ended up just not doing the last two changes. But the rest of the test was really good. But stuff like that can happen.”

Big Win For Big Tyme
Marissa Festerling won the CDS open fourth level championship on Big Tyme after the pair earned a 74.09 percent in the A portion of the championship, and a 67.92 percent in their fourth level, test 3, ride.

“He was really good both days,” said Festerling. “The [fourth level, test 3] was the second day, and I was still thrilled with how he went. He’s only 7, and it’s only the second time I’ve ridden that test with him at a horse show. That test is demanding, with half-pirouettes.”