Wellington, Fla. – Jan. 2

“It’s fun to add a bit of competition. All of these kids are here because they’re competitive.”

Olympic gold medalist Laura Kraut described the reasoning behind her “brain child” of Day 3 of the George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session Saturday morning at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.

For the event’s final session, she organized a Nations Cup-style event for the 12 participating riders, each chosen for his or her riding accomplishments throughout the previous year. She broke the riders into three groups and recruited fellow Olympic veterans Beezie Madden, who coached the riders through gymnastics on the second day of the clinic, Lauren Hough and Anne Kursinski to coach them for the two-round test, by far the greatest the riders had faced throughout the course of the three-day clinic.

Conrad Homfeld, a former Olympic gold medalist in his own right and multiple winner of the William C. Cox Memorial Trophy for Show Jumping Course Designer of the Year, set a 1.35-meter track for the riders, one that Kraut said she would “have concerns about” were she walking it at a 1.60-meter height for a real Nations Cup.  

“This is a great introduction to being a part of a Nations Cup,” Kraut said.

“It’s a passion of mine,” she added. “It’s the pinnacle of the sport.”

The teams were comprised as follows:

Team Red
TJ O’Mara
Daisy Farish
Ransome Rombauer
Kelly Cruciotti
*Chef d’equipe: Beezie Madden

Team Blue
Ailish Cunniffe
Mitch Endicott
Vivian Yowan
Lucy Deslauriers
*Chef d’equipe: Lauren Hough

Team White
Katherine Strauss
Eve Jobs
Danielle Roskens
Victoria Colvin
*Chef d’equipe: Anne Kursinski

Kursinski-coached Team White goes over their course plan.
Photo by Catie Staszak

What Would George Do?

To prepare the riders, Kraut and her enlisted chef d’equipes sought inspiration from none other than the clinic’s namesake: George Morris.

“We found George’s notes that he used to read to us before every Nations Cup,” Kraut said. “We got together and read his thoughts, ideas and demands.”

“People, when it gets tough, you have to get tougher,” Morris told the riders on the final day of last year’s Horsemastership Training Session. “You’ve got to step up to the plate.”

Perhaps the riders were reminded of that Saturday, as they rose to the challenge, many on green and unfamiliar horses. After accumulating 20 faults in the first round, the Kursinski-coached Team White rebounded with just an eight-point total in Round 2 to win the event with a 28-point total score.

Katherine Strauss was the team’s – and the event’s – most valuable player. The 17-year-old New York native was the only rider to produce a double-clear effort on the day, executing two nearly flawless rounds aboard the newly turned 8-year-old Hanoverian gelding Executive. Although Strauss owns the horse, he is a relatively new mount for her. The two have only competed in two shows together.

“A double-clear effort is very hard to come by in any Nations Cup,” said Kraut, who critiqued each round at its conclusion. “You were spot-on with the time allowed and came through for your team.”

Kursinski’s team also possessed whom Kraut called the training session’s “most improved” rider. Danielle “Dani” Roskens, who won the Emerging Athletes Program National Training Session Championship (Ohio) in Nov. to earn her invitation to the clinic, rebounded from a 19-fault first round – her team’s drop score – to produce a four-fault effort in the second round. In the first round, Roskens’ mount Dynastic Up, a 12-year-old Anglo European mare loaned to her for the clinic, refused the seventh fence, a large brush oxer, but in the second round, Roskens handled the strong mare superbly; the duo had just one rail in their second effort.

When Roskens crossed the timers after the final fence of her second round, the crowd erupted in applause, appreciating her effort.

“That was fantastic!” Kraut said. “You should be very proud of yourself. That was a great ride and really a great demonstration.”

“You are tough,” she added. “You were determined to get this done.”

Palo Alto (Calif.) native Eve Jobs, who improved her first round score of 12 faults to have just five in Round 2; and Victoria Colvin, who had eight and four-fault rounds, respectively, completed Team White’s winning performance.

“I’m super impressed by all of you,” Kraut said. “This was a really technical course.”

Danielle Roskens and Dynastic Up
Photo by Catie Staszak

The Art of Riding Two Rounds

“It seems obvious that you can come back and fix your mistakes in the second round of a Nations Cup, but that’s not always the case,” Kraut explained to the riders after the first round. “You’re dealing with a horse. Sometimes they will come back tired and less sharp. Other horses will anticipate what’s to come and become overly strong. It’s not a given that the first round is more difficult.”

True to Kraut’s word, more rails fell in Round 2 than Round 1 for the Beezie Madden-coached Team Red, who led by 14 points after the opening round but ultimately finished second with a 32-fault total.

TJ O’Mara, however, had the right to be happy with his performance. The 17-year-old from Rumson (N.J.) rode a borrowed horse and totaled just six faults for his two rounds. In the first round, as the first rider to navigate the course, he and Gut Einhaus LLC’s Delinda, an 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, jumped cleanly but had two time faults. In the second round, O’Mara successfully completed the course within the time, but one rail fell out of the cups.

“Your time went from 81 seconds to 73 seconds,” Kraut said. “That’s a huge improvement. You’ve given this mare two strong rides.”

Kelly Crucciotti, who captured the Pessoa/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Finals and the $100,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon in 2015, rode arguably the smoothest course in Round 1, but she had an unlucky 16 faults in Round 2 with her own Wallenberg.

“That was a riding lesson,” Kraut said of Cruciotti’s first round. “It was quick, but you never looked rushed. That’s a sign of a rider that has confidence and knows her horse. You followed your plan to perfection.

“In this heat, jumping a second round takes it toll,” she added, taking into account the high temperatures that developed in the early afternoon.

The only other rider to jump a clean round on the day was Lucy Deslauriers, 16, of New York. Deslauriers anchored the Lauren Hough-coached Team Blue, who finished the day in third with a 41-fault total score. Riding her own Hamlet, a fiery gelding whom she described as “green for a 9-year-old,” Deslauriers had a foot in the water in the first round. Determined to correct her mistake in Round 2, she rode a faultless round.

“You have such great feeling. It’s fun to watch you,” Kraut said. “You were on a mission to improve the water, and you did. You corrected your mistake and added confidence to him.”

Friday’s water element constructed by Madden consisted of a makeshift tarp, tape and PVC pipe, but Saturday’s element was as close to the real thing as one could get to a permanently installed water obstacle. Wider, taller and full of water, the jump was daunting, but few horses balked at it.

“You rode the best water of the day,” Kraut told Tori Colvin. “Your horse never went behind your leg, not once.”

“I’m really impressed by the way you all ride the water,” she added.

It was hard not to be impressed by the over all poise the riders showed on the day. Although not a real competition, they performed in front of some intimidating presences.

“This went way better than I think we all expected,” Kraut said. “This is really exciting for me. Hopefully these riders are our future to win medals and Nations Cups.”

Lucy Deslauriers and Hamlet
Photo by Catie Staszak

Read all of the Chronicle’s reports from the 2016 George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Sessions.