Ocala, Fla.—Feb. 16

Carolina Villanueva Suarez left the HITS Ocala showgrounds feeling a little frustrated yesterday. She brought three horses to the show to compete, and her first trips around the grand prix stadium weren’t what you’d call successful.

She picked up 12 faults aboard Chenoa to finish last, and her junior Nations Cup mount Zabel D was eliminated.

“Yesterday I had just gotten back because I am a full-time high school student, and I live in New York,” she said. “So I was kind of ruffled. I had two horses in the FEI, and they were back to back in the class, so my brain was kind of scattered. I wasn’t riding as well, so we didn’t get the results we would have hoped.”

Suarez was named to the U.S. team for the Junior Nations Cup in Ocala this weekend.

After a rough start to their week, Carolina Villanueva Suarez topped the $5,000 City of Ocala Grand Prix for juniors with Zabel D. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

But she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet. With the help of her trainers, she got her game face back and turned things around in the $5,000 City of Ocala Grand Prix for juniors.

Suarez was first in the ring on Zabel D and turned in a clean round over fences but picked up 2 time penalties. But the other riders struggled as well, and no one turned in a double-clean performance. And after finishing last yesterday, Suarez got her chance to lead the victory gallop.

“Today it was just focus,” she said. “We planned alongside DiAnn Langer to go in the first class in the stadium with my other horse Think Big today. We did the $10,000 open prix, so that helped me get a sense of the stadium. And with this horse I owed it to him because these horses give me everything, and just to go in there and not give them your all.”

Carolina Villanueva Suarez got her head back in the game to ride Zabel D to the win in the $5,000 City of Ocala Grand Prix for juniors. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Suarez first paired up with the 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood (Larino—Lady M, Ekstein) last winter. “Zee-Beast,” as he’s known around the barn, showed in grand prix competition under riders like Darragh Kenny, Sharn Wordley and Kerry McCahill before Suarez purchased the gelding.

“They’ve always said that he is the most competitive horse that they’ve ever seen,” said Suarez. “He wants it as much as the rider wants it and even more. Even just training he hunts for the jumps, and he’s a really different horse. All my horses are really different. I love the bigger rides, the huge horses. He was out of my comfort zone, but I just loved him.”

Want more HITS Ocala? Read all of our coverage here. Results from the junior grand prix is here, and you can find full results from the FEI classes here. 

Puerto Rico’s Claudia Villamil rode Quite Close vd Smis to second with the fastest four-fault round. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Faith Davis had an unlucky rail on Da Vinci to finish third. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Carlos Rodolfo Molina Gordillo of Mexico dropped one rail and added 2 time faults to his score to finish fourth on C Dallas L Z. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.