Thunder, lightning, hail, tornado warnings and torrential rain twice stopped the Golden State CDI*** on Friday afternoon in Rancho Murieta, Calif. But Leslie Reid of Canada felt right at home, as she and Mark won the Grand Prix (70.04%) and the Grand Prix freestyle (73.07%), April7-10.

Deryol Andrews of British Columbia owns the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood, who was the 2003 Pam Am Games gold medalist and represented Canada at the Olympics last year. Golden State was their final preparation for the FEI World Cup Dressage Finals.

Mark also won Thursday’s open Grand Prix (72.91%), which Reid used to improve Mark’s trot half passes and his tempo in the collected trot in preparation for the World Cup.

“I knew if I did two Grand Prix tests back to back the second one would be a bit flatter,” she explained. “But it’s still good training to take what you get and do the best with it, because that’s what you’re going to have to do [at the World Cup Finals].”

Mark perked up with the music in the Grand Prix freestyle, which was held Saturday evening in front of an appreciative crowd.

“I was pretty conservative because he’s done quite a bit the last two weeks,” said Reid. “I stayed a little conservative with my warm-up. I should have done more changes and more work with him, and he went in the ring a little too fresh. So he stayed a little tight in the changes, and I had some mistakes in the changes.”

Reid’s second star of the show was Orion, a 9-year-old, chestnut Dutch Warmblood owned by Patty and George Hatch of Langley, B.C. Orion had a hat trick in the small tour classes of the CDI, winning the Prix St. Georges, the Intermediaire I and the Intermediaire freestyle in his first CDI.

Orion, who is by Jazz, was still a stallion when the Hatches imported him as a 4-year-old as a resale prospect. He was gelded and started in training with Reid at the end of his 6-year-old year. Reid considers him green for a 9-year-old, as he missed half a year’s training in 2003 and 2004 due to her trips to the Pan Am Games and the Olympics.

“He’s not been an easy horse, but I hope that he pays off now,” said Reid. “It’s very easy for him to do everything; he just hasn’t been concentrating. The Rancho Murieta arena is probably as tough as it gets for an arena so I was really happy with his concentration here. He’s very smart–you just have to keep him on your side. He’s very quick and very athletic too. I think as long as he knows what his job is and he doesn’t get confused, he’s fine.”

Orion won Thursday’s open Prix St. Georges (68.25%), but the weather distracted him on Friday afternoon. Walking from the warm-up in the small covered ring to the competition in the large covered arena, through wind and rain, spooked him. His Prix St. Georges test in the CDI had more tension than the previous day’s test but still scored a 69.30 percent.

Orion won the Intermediaire I with a relaxed test (68.15%). “I had to kind of carry him through some things,” said Reid. “We had some mistakes that I shouldn’t have had. They were more my fault for not helping him enough. Overall I’m really thrilled with how he’s come along. “

Reid has ridden Orion’s winning freestyle (72.75%) with four different horses, including Mark, and she has been undefeated with every horse. The music is the tango, which she also uses for Mark’s Grand Prix freestyle.

“The trot music is a little slow for Orion, as the tango has kind of a slower swing to it,” Reid said. “Orion moves really quite actively and quick with his knees, so I tried to slow him down a little bit in the tempo to make it work, but it still doesn’t quite work for him. But it beats making a whole new freestyle at this time.”

Karen Robinson of Ap-plause Dressage in Vancouver, B.C., puts the music together for all of Reid’s freestyles. Robinson did the music for all of the top five competitors in the Intermediaire freestyle, all of whom are from Canada.

Better Than Ever

Jennifer Schrader of Wash-ington continued the northern sweep of the CDI classes. She rode Summervale Farm’s Phirst Solo to the win in the Grand Prix Special (65.28%).

Mary Giddens of Olive Grove Farm bred the 17-year-old, Oldenburg mare (Pik Solo–Dumpty Will xx) when she lived in Wilton, Calif., only minutes from Rancho Murieta. Phirst Solo has also been a broodmare herself and had her last foal in 2002.

“She’s been just wonderful the last four years,” said Schrader. “Ever since that last baby she’s been healthier than before.”

Phirst Solo was the U.S. Dressage Federation Region 6 Grand Prix champion in 2003 and 2004. This was her first CDI and her first time to perform in what Schrader calls the “lights, camera, action” electric feel of the Rancho Murieta arena during an evening performance.

“She was great,” said Schrader. “She was super relaxed. She’s always been a hotter, more sensitive horse, especially in that type of situation. We had one mistake in the Special in the two tempis. Then we had a communication problem and she almost cantered just before the transition to piaffe.”

Schrader spent the past month training with Jurgen and Jennifer Hoffman in Encinitas, Calif. “I think the work we did there, the regimen that we kept to, and the attention to detail, made it that much easier riding in this kind of competition,” said Schrader.

Schrader is pointing Phirst Solo and her second horse, H.S. Wistar, toward the Grand Prix Championships at Gladstone (N.J.) in June. She has been invited to train with U.S. team coach Klaus Balkenhol later this month and hopes to spend more time working with the Hoffmans this spring also.

Phirst Solo and H.S. Wistar are both owned by Charlene Summers of Summervale Farm in Roy, Wash., where Schrader is the trainer.

First Time’s A Charm

Ashley Schempp of Pleasanton, Calif., won the Young Rider Team Test (65.66%). It was the first time Schempp, 17, and her Dutch Warmblood gelding Mowgli had performed this test at a show.

“I wasn’t really sure how it would go,” said Schempp. “It went smoothly for the most part. We still have to work on our pirouettes and perfect our half passes and the collection. We still have a long way to go. We’re learning together.”

Mowgli was a bit more tense in Sunday’s Young Rider Prix St. Georges class. “We had some minor mistakes on both his part and my part,” said Schempp. “Overall it was a good show and a great learning experience. You really get to feel like a part of the young rider experience. Selling the raffle tickets and running the tests made it completely different from any other show that I’ve been to.”

This is the first year at the young rider level for both Schempp and her horse. Last year they competed at the USEF Junior Championships in Pebble Beach, Calif.

While at Golden State, the Region 7 young riders raised approximately $1,000 toward their expenses for the trip to the North American Championships, which will be in Lexington, Va., this summer. They sold raffle tickets, and show manager Connie Davenport paid the young riders a dollar per test to pick up tests in the CDI classes. With five judges in the CDI classes, that added up quickly. The young riders dressed in their formal riding attire to run tests and bring attention to their fund raising efforts.

The 5-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Twan, ridden by Sheri Bresee of Black Falls, Alta., produced some of the highest scores in the open show. Twan won Sunday’s FEI young horse selection trials for 5-year-olds with a score of 77.60 percent from judges Elizabeth McMullen and Jane Ayers, who commented that he was a lovely mover with an elastic canter and a gorgeous walk.

Twan, by Juventus and out of a Darwin mare, is owned by Jennifer Dance of Vancouver, B.C. Dance is a student of Reid’s and wasn’t able to make the trip to California.

“Leslie needed someone to ride him and I got lucky,” said Bresee, who, for the third time, spent her winter training with Reid. “I started riding him in January. He’s a lot of fun. He has a really good mind, works hard, and learns so fast.”

Bresee and her parents breed Canadian Warmbloods at their Aspelund Ridge Farm, which is near Red Deer, Alta.