PrintFour years ago, if someone had told Sue Halasz she would be competing Julius, a 15-year-old, Dutch gelding by Zuidhorn, and winning the Grand Prix classes, she would not have believed them. But at the RMDS Winter Wake-Up Dressage Show, held March 18-19, in Parker, Colo., that's just what happened.
While attempting to jump out over a five-foot gate, Julius hung a leg and flipped himself, causing extensive damage to the nerves in his shoulder. The 2000 Rocky Mountain Dressage Society Interme-diaire champion required 18 grueling months of rehabilitation, with Halasz and owner Jan Jaspers of Southern Pines Farm, Parker, Colo., wondering if he would ever recover.
"He's been amazing!" said Halasz, who slowly and carefully brought Julius back after the injury. "Most of the time you would never notice his injury, but when he gets tired he will drop that shoulder a bit."
Halasz and Julius didn't have much competition in the Grand Prix, but they faced other challenges. Threats from local forecasters predicting the "biggest snowstorm of the year" prompted organizers to move the show indoors.
"Usually we can school in the arena ahead of time, but we didn't this time. So on Saturday he was pretty tense, and the piaffe was not as good. He was much better on Sunday, our second time in the arena," said Halasz, who said she wished more people would have entered the high-performance classes. "It's too bad. If we do not support these classes when they are offered here we may not have them anymore."
Despite the tension of the first test in an unfamiliar indoor arena Halasz and Julius earned a respectable 61.59 percent from judges Janet Brown Foy, Lilo Fore and Maryal Barnett for the Grand Prix B test. The pair's marks improved the following day with a 64.00 percent in the Grand Prix Special.
"Because of the circumstances in the indoor I think overall everyone scored slightly lower than normal," said Halasz.
Lector Tops Small Tour
Halasz walked away with four wins in each of the USEF high performance qualifier classes for the 2006 World Equestrian Games selection trials.
Switching mounts for Intermediaire and Prix St Georges, Halasz rode Lector, a 12-year-old, Dutch gelding also owned by Jasper. Competing against two other pairs in each class, Halasz managed to best the field with narrow victories over Kristi Wysocki in the open division.
"Lector is usually quite reactive to noises, but he was good and consistent. We had a couple of minor mistakes, but this horse really puts forth a lot of effort," said Halasz, who competed in eventing in the 1980s. "I was first fairly regularly after dressage, but I would crash into trees and things in the jumping. Then I had an opportunity to go to [the North American Young Riders Championships] in dressage on a very nice borrowed horse. I stuck with [dressage] because I realized I was good at it."
In the Prix St Georges, the pair took the win with a score of 64.58 percent, only a fraction of a percentage over Wysocki's 64.25 percent. The two squared off against each other the following day in the Intermediaire with similar results. Once again, Halasz came out on top by an even closer margin (63.58%) over Wysocki (63.33%). Lauren Smith, who trains with Halasz, also competed in the two classes, finishing close behind Wysocki in the Prix St Georges and tying her score in the Intermediaire.
While attempting to jump out over a five-foot gate, Julius hung a leg and flipped himself, causing extensive damage to the nerves in his shoulder. The 2000 Rocky Mountain Dressage Society Interme-diaire champion required 18 grueling months of rehabilitation, with Halasz and owner Jan Jaspers of Southern Pines Farm, Parker, Colo., wondering if he would ever recover.
"He's been amazing!" said Halasz, who slowly and carefully brought Julius back after the injury. "Most of the time you would never notice his injury, but when he gets tired he will drop that shoulder a bit."
Halasz and Julius didn't have much competition in the Grand Prix, but they faced other challenges. Threats from local forecasters predicting the "biggest snowstorm of the year" prompted organizers to move the show indoors.
"Usually we can school in the arena ahead of time, but we didn't this time. So on Saturday he was pretty tense, and the piaffe was not as good. He was much better on Sunday, our second time in the arena," said Halasz, who said she wished more people would have entered the high-performance classes. "It's too bad. If we do not support these classes when they are offered here we may not have them anymore."
Despite the tension of the first test in an unfamiliar indoor arena Halasz and Julius earned a respectable 61.59 percent from judges Janet Brown Foy, Lilo Fore and Maryal Barnett for the Grand Prix B test. The pair's marks improved the following day with a 64.00 percent in the Grand Prix Special.
"Because of the circumstances in the indoor I think overall everyone scored slightly lower than normal," said Halasz.
Lector Tops Small Tour
Halasz walked away with four wins in each of the USEF high performance qualifier classes for the 2006 World Equestrian Games selection trials.
Switching mounts for Intermediaire and Prix St Georges, Halasz rode Lector, a 12-year-old, Dutch gelding also owned by Jasper. Competing against two other pairs in each class, Halasz managed to best the field with narrow victories over Kristi Wysocki in the open division.
"Lector is usually quite reactive to noises, but he was good and consistent. We had a couple of minor mistakes, but this horse really puts forth a lot of effort," said Halasz, who competed in eventing in the 1980s. "I was first fairly regularly after dressage, but I would crash into trees and things in the jumping. Then I had an opportunity to go to [the North American Young Riders Championships] in dressage on a very nice borrowed horse. I stuck with [dressage] because I realized I was good at it."
In the Prix St Georges, the pair took the win with a score of 64.58 percent, only a fraction of a percentage over Wysocki's 64.25 percent. The two squared off against each other the following day in the Intermediaire with similar results. Once again, Halasz came out on top by an even closer margin (63.58%) over Wysocki (63.33%). Lauren Smith, who trains with Halasz, also competed in the two classes, finishing close behind Wysocki in the Prix St Georges and tying her score in the Intermediaire.
