Kessler Keeps Her Cool On Ice d'Ancoeur

They all put the pressure on Reed Kessler. Rider after rider jumped clear rounds in the final round of the USEF National Individual Junior Jumper Championship, Oct. 10 in Harrisburg, Pa. Sitting on top, Kessler had just a two-fault cushion lead over Lucy Davis.

“I was pretty nervous. Normally, I don’t get nervous, but as soon as Lucy went clean, I felt the pressure,” Kessler said. She kept her cool on Ice d’Ancoeur and turned in a clean round of her own to clinch the individual gold medal.

“It feels great. I feel like I’ve done everything I came here to do. My horse went beautifully. Yesterday, in the first round of the Nations Cup, I didn’t give her a very strong, accurate ride and she was awesome. It’s a long weekend for the horses—four rounds—and she was just as good today as she was the first day,” Kessler said.

Kessler had won the first round of the individual competition, the speed class on Oct. 9. She followed that up with 4 faults in Round 1 of the team competition and a clear round in Round 2. Kessler was on the Zone 2 team, which took bronze the night before in the Prix Des States competition, run in a Nations Cup format. The team had to make some last-minute plans after Katie Dinan, who was slated to ride with them, had a fall in junior hunter class and suffered a concussion.

“Jackie Lubrano stepped in at the very last minute, so our team was a bit chaotic. As soon as Katie fell off, Jackie was on her cell phone arranging to get her horse shipped here. Jackie had no preparation and she really deserves to be applauded for that,” Kessler said. “Bronze was great, but we were a little bit down. To bring it today was awesome.”