Sometimes, in a grand prix, waiting and watching are the hardest parts. Janine Carhart learned this on her way to winning the $25,000 Grand Prix of Estes Park, held during the Estes Park Festival II in Estes Park, Colo., Aug. 2-6.

The Omaha, Neb., trainer turned in two of the four clear first rounds–the other two clears belonged to Sharn Wordley. And Carhart not only had to go first in the jump-off, but she also went second.

With an eight-fault score on her first horse–Lieutenant Kije–and a quick clear aboard Panache, Carhart could do nothing more than watch from the sidelines. Wordley rides very fast, and Carhart was worried. “If I was clean, he would have to beat me, which I knew he could if he left them up,” she said.

Wordley, a native of New Zealand who now rides out of Buellton, Calif., took a relatively cautious approach with his first horse, Medrano. Even so, he very nearly caught the time set by Carhart and Panache, but came up a couple of tenths of a second short.

Then, Wordley let it all hang out in his second ride, Epsom, and beat Panache’s time by more than 3 seconds. But a rail down dropped them to third and left Carhart holding the blue.

“He went fast on the first horse but not fast enough, and then tried on the second, but luckily enough he had the rail,” said a relieved Carhart.

Panache represents somewhat of a rarity in the show jumping ring these days–an American Thoroughbred. Carhart got him off the track as a 3-year-old six years ago. She gave full credit for the win to the talented gelding. “He saved me in the in-and-out at the end,” she said, referring to the one-stride oxer-to-vertical planks that were the last jumps in Doug Russell’s demanding course. “It was difficult enough–you had to be right.”

Winning Is A Family Affair
Charlie Dennehy is one of Colorado’s newest trainers. Charlie rode professionally for a short while after his junior years but then took back his amateur status. He showed successfully in the amateur ranks well into his 30s.

When the opportunity arose last year to help his father Wilson run the family horse business, he jumped at the chance. What he likes best about being a professional is the opportunity to be a real help to his students. “It’s really fun to watch people when you explain something to them and it clicks. That’s the biggest reward I think there is,” he said. “I love nothing more than having one of my riders come out of the ring with a smile on their face.”

Charlie was the one smiling in the green working hunters. He rode the Cottonwoods, Ltd. entry Oksana to the championship. “She’s lovely to ride,” he said. “Sweet as could be, great manners, you would never know she was a mare.”

Charlie has had more on his mind than just finding the right spots in the hunter ring. He and his wife Renee celebrated the birth of their first child, Carter Dennehy, in late July.

Their son was born almost two months premature. He’s doing very well but remains in the neonatal care unit at the hospital until he gains a bit more weight. During the Estes Park shows, Charlie drove down the mountain 80 miles every night, and then back up again, so he could visit his son. “It’s wearing me out, but I couldn’t imagine not doing it,” he said. “There’s no way I’d miss it.”

Charlie Dennehy’s sister-in-law, Ashley, did the family proud in the amateur-owner ring. Ashley took Burberry to the championship in the amateur-owner hunter, 18-35 division, and added the victory in the junior/amateur hunter classic as well with impressive scores of 90 and 95.

“It was shocking,” she said. “I’d never broken 90. I was thrilled.” And while Burberry has been taking the hunter rings by storm, the talented mare didn’t even begin to jump until she was 9. She was living a quiet life as a broodmare in Louisiana when Ashley and her husband, Colorado trainer Michael Dennehy, had the good luck to run across her.

A friend of theirs came to them at a horse show in Louisiana and told them about the mare. “He told Michael and me and several other trainers,” Ashley recalled.

None of the others could be bothered to go check out the prospect. “We were the only ones to go look at her,” Ashley said.

Now, those other trainers are wishing they’d made the effort; Burberry is the real deal. “When we took her back east, we got lots and lots of offers,” Ashley said. “Michael and I decided she was the horse of a lifetime for us, and we didn’t want to sell her. We’ll probably never get another one like her.”

Carole O’Brien was the amateur-owner, 36 and over champion with her Good Thing. “He’s the love of my life,” she said. O’Brien, who lives on a horse farm in Larkspur, Colo., lost her favorite amateur hunter last year. Good Thing was intended to ease the pain a little.

“My husband bought him for me when Glenhaven died,” said O’Brien, who still grows a little teary-eyed when she thinks about the horse she lost. “He had big shoes to fill, and he is such a sweetheart.”

Good Thing lives up to his name. “I’ve ridden lots and lots of hunters, and I’ve had some really good jumpers, but this is a pretty special one,” she said of the chestnut Westphalian gelding. “I don’t think I’ve ever had one that was quite this simple. As long as I just get straight to the jumps, I know he’s going to jump up in the air for me.”

O’Brien, a large R judge, spends much of her year officiating at horse shows all over the country. That leaves less time for showing than she might like. “I would like to pick and choose some special shows, because I know I can have a great time almost anywhere with him,” she said.

There’s one show she would particularly like to go to, based both on its reputation and the recommendation of a friend. “I really want to go to Devon [Pa.], because Cathy Morris-Schmitt says, ‘It’s the best horse show ever,’ ” O’Brien said. “That is a big goal for me and Good Thing.”

New Plans
Georgie Murray of Scottsdale, Ariz., had hoped to ride her Opus in the grand prix, but decided to drop back to the high amateur-owner division instead. “Things weren’t going so well, so we decided to go back and do the amateur stuff,” she said. “It was a good decision. It was frustrating, because I really want to do the prix. At the same time, I have to do what’s best for my horse.”

The step down proved to be good for both horse and rider as they won the junior/amateur jumper classic. “He felt confident going in,” Murray said. “It was a small class to him, compared to what he has done. I wasn’t too worried.”

Murray, who trains with her mother Audrey Murray and her aunt, Janet Hischer, plans to travel to Germany for several months this fall. That will give her horse a chance to rest up after a hectic summer schedule. “I might just give Opus some time off and then start back in the winter,” she said.

She’ll not get much time off herself–not only will she ride as often as she can in Germany, but she’ll also continue her education. “I’m going to take some online courses while I’m in Germany, so I’ll still sort of be in school,” said the Arizona State University student.

Jessica Jackson took the championship in regular working hunters with Bizi Ferguson’s Spellbound, who has been learning the hunter ropes very quickly. “We started him off in the pre-greens, and he was really good,” said Jessica Jackson, who rode him to the regular working tricolor. “Then, we moved him up to the first years and he was even better. He seemed to jump around the second years just fine. So, we started doing him in the regular working, and he’s been either champion or reserve champion ever since.”

Jackson, who assists Jane Schweiger, said they almost didn’t haul the lovely hunter up the mountain to Estes Park this year. “He’s been on the road non-stop, and he’s been showing at every show,” Jackson, of Kansas City, Kan., said. That was before they checked the points. “We were going to give him a break, but he’s actually sixth in the country in regular working, so we decided to bring him here.”