PrintTemecula, Calif., April 1
Alexandra Slusher’s been competing her mare Last Call for years, but today she didn’t quite feel like she knew the horse she had on her hands.
Slusher and “Fergie,” her 12-year-old Mecklenburg mare topped the dressage phase at the Galway Downs CIC*** this morning (43.0), and despite the one rail they pulled in show jumping this afternoon, they remain at the top of the leaderboard heading into cross-country tomorrow.
The non-traditional format played a big role in the placings today. Without the taxation of a cross-country run first, many horses in the CIC divisions jumped extremely well, but others—coincidentally many of the top horses from the dressage phase—struggled with the change in the usual three-day schedule.
Even though Slusher’s horse felt different this afternoon, she said excess energy definitely wasn’t a problem she had to worry about.
“I prefer the typical format, but Fergie is very flexible. She can roll with the punches. She doesn’t get too fresh very often. Or ever,” joked Slusher, of Auburn, Calif. “But she definitely did feel different. I don’t think it was fresh. If anything, it was that she was ridden three times today, and she was a little bit heavy. She didn’t feel too tired, it was just a different feeling that I hadn’t felt before.”
Slusher’s planning to head East for the Jersey Fresh CCI*** in May, so today’s results gave her a big confidence boost.
“I’m planning on winning Jersey Fresh!” she said. “I should have ridden a little bit better on that one fence since I had a rail, but I was thrilled with my dressage today. I thought she had a good warm-up and was in a good mental state, and I thought that was the best ride I’ve ever given her.”
Bennett-Awad Doubles Her Pleasure
Double-clear rounds in the CIC*** show jumping were rare, but Slusher’s coach and mentor Hawley Bennett-Awad, of Temecula, posted one aboard Linda Paine's Gin & Juice to move into second place. The pair, who helped Canada win team silver at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, ranked fifth in the dressage on 48.2 penalties. They’re aiming for the Mitsubishi Badminton CCI**** (England) at the end of the month.
“I was really happy with ‘Ginny,’ ” said Bennett-Awad, who’s based across the road from Galway Downs at KingsWay Farm. “I always feel confident going in on her, but she is a little spicy. This format for me is very difficult because she’s a hot horse, and the cross-country usually takes the edge off her.
“I rode her four times before dressage,” she contined. “You can’t get her tired; I’ve never had one tired stride on her. It’s just a mental game with her. And hopefully when we’re on another continent at the end of this month, she won’t be thinking about her friends in a field across the street!”
Bennett-Awad is also competing Ginny’s full brother (Audio—Qtrpastree, Court Ruling), Five O’Clock Somewhere, in the CIC**. In his first outing at this level, the Thoroughbred gelding owned by Sue Church won the dressage (43.4) and dropped to second after pulling one rail in show jumping.
“He stepped up to the plate in the flatwork; it was my mistake on the show jumping,” she said.
While Bennett-Awad has long referred to Ginny as her “little sports car,” the mare’s sibling is almost her polar opposite in looks and temperament.
