Maarten Rocks At King Oak Dressage Days

Alexa Rice proves she and her mount are ready for the FEI North American Junior And Young Rider Championships.

For Alexa Rice, King Oak Dressage Days on July 10-12 was a final preparation for the FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships in Kentucky this July, and it couldn’t have gone any better for the 20-year-old from Medfield, Mass., and her partner, Maarten.

“I was looking to keep him tuned up, and he was great,” said Rice. “He performed well in the heat, and he really showed up to the plate. I’d been having a lot of trouble after my pirouettes to get a nice big change at C, and we nailed it. We’ve been working on getting that perfected; it’s a good place to pick up points.”

Rice and Maarten won a section of Prix St. Georges (65.13%), were third in the Prix St. Georges Stakes (62.89%) and also won the Young Rider freestyle (64.87%).

“I’ve been working on the freestyle a lot,” said Rice, who rides to a rock and roll medley featuring Queen, Van Halen and Bon Jovi. “It’s a lot different than riding a real test because you have to keep everything in focus—the music, the tempo, the horse. It’s a lot to juggle. But when you get it, it’s awesome. There’s nothing better than being in the arena performing to the coolest music you can think of.”

Rice will be representing Region 8 at the NAJYRC and hopes to showcase her freestyle there. Only the top 15 riders from the individual test are allowed to compete in the freestyle.

Rice and Maarten have the definite advantage of a longtime partnership—the Rices imported Maarten from the Netherlands 11 years ago as a 4-year-old with three months of training.

“My mom rode [Maarten] until he was at second level, but then I stole him from her for the past seven years,” Rice said with a laugh. “She put a great start on him, and I put all the changes and the lateral work.”

While Rice tried to do most of the training herself, she had trouble teaching the 18-hand gelding tempi changes and looked to Bill Warren and Bill McMullin for help. After becoming a working student for the pair, she took a year off from school to concentrate on riding. She’s now attending Suffolk College (Mass.) and studying chemistry.

“When I started working with them, I could hardly get one tempi change, let alone five,” said Rice. “We did a lot of exercises with circles and changes and using my back and seat to keep him up and through instead of manufacturing the changes. It made me a lot better rider as well—it improved my seat and position and ability to affect my horse.”

In addition to competing at King Oak, Rice also took the time to coach her mom, Beth, who was riding third level on Nightwind.

“It was a little weird at first [coaching my mom], but we’ve gotten through,” said Alexa. “We have a ring at home and a little barn, and I help her as much as I can when I’m home. She tries really hard, and sometimes we butt heads, but she’s happy to get help because she works full time and doesn’t really get a chance to seek out a real trainer.”

Beth, competing for the first time in several years, won third level, tests 1 and 2 (61.53% and 62.82%) and was second in the third level stakes class (61.79%).

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