The tension was palpable at the USEF Markel Young Horse Dressage Eastern Selection Trials for the FEI World Breeding Championships. The main ring at Raleigh CDI***/Y, held at the Hunt Horse Complex at the N.C. State Fairgrounds June 2-4, is a daunting venue even for seasoned veterans.

The field scratched down to 11 5-year olds and six 6-year olds, but the talented youngsters drew a crowd and marched down center line with impressive confidence for judges Anne Gribbons, Natalie Lamping and Jane Weatherwax.

Currency DC proved he’s a true professional even at a tender age, as he topped the 6-year-old class. Tim Dutta Corporation’s Oldenburg gelding (Clintino–Cinderella X Classiker) and Susan Dutta were undefeated in this hemisphere and ranked 11th in the world last year in the 5-year old division.

As odds-on favorite, there were no surprises as Currency captured the 6-year old championship with a 9 on his trot to boost his overall scores to 8.6/8.7/8.6. The bay gelding is a light, leggy, modern type with a loose-jointed but powerful way of going. Physically the horse still looks growthy and a bit underweight, but in the ring his focus and confidence belie the immature appearance.

“This is what we like to see,” said Weather-wax. “He is showing the ability to carry behind and a tremendous amount of ability.”

Dutta, of Wellington Fla., has been partnered with the horse since he was an unbroken 2-year-old. “He was fantastic,” she said. “He really concentrated. It’s a very hard test for a 6-year-old.”

According to Dutta, Currency has had a recent growth spurt, sleeping a lot, and is hard to keep weight on. “He’s a cuddly, quiet horse. Sort of like a diesel to ride, he starts off slow, then feels normal, and suddenly he kicks it into gear,” she said.

Interestingly, both champion and reserve champion 6-year olds came out of the same barn in Germany. Dutta’s European business partner, Guido Klatte and his wife Britte, sold both Currency DC and the reserve champion, Diamante Farm’s Don Angelo.

Michelle Gibson of Wellington, Fla., piloted Don Angelo, a big dark bay Don Larino stallion, to the reserve championship with 7.8/8.0/7.9. The judges were impressed with his power and presence.

As first to go in the 5-year old preliminary class, Teresa Butta-Stanton thought she had drawn an unlucky ride time with her Unitas (Niagara–Nellyzora X Harald). But she set the bar with a light and rhythmic test, evoking the judges’ comment, “He moves as if he’s on a cloud.”

Her score of 8.34 held up, with Jan Brons and Pieter Ruig’s Up To Date (Flemmingh–Ola) finishing second (8.08).

Unitas was “even better” in Sunday’s finale test to claim the USEF Markel Eastern Championship for 5-year olds, earning a 9.3 on his trot and a 9.0 on general impressions for the winning score of 8.76 in the finale and an overall average of 8.59. “He was right with me the whole time,” said Butta-Stanton.

Butta-Stanton, a full-time trainer based in Maryland, bought the horse off a videotape two years ago on the advice of friend and importer Mike Norwood. She gets occasional help from Scott Hassler but said Unitas has been easy. “He really wants to do it, he’s always trying,” she said.

Brons, of Wellington, Fla. and Up To Date earned the reserve championship. Their scores, 8.08/8.38/8.26 were as steady and
consistent as their performances. The judges admired the horse’s balance and collectibility.

The top five in each division split $2,000 in prize money, and the selectors will review the results to choose which horses will represent the United States in Verden, Germany this August for the FEI World Breeding Championships.

It was interesting to note that of the 17 finalists in Raleigh, there were no mares, and only one horse bred in the United States–Joanne Balling’s Donegal, a 6-year-old ridden by Hokan Thorn who finished sixth with a score of 7.04.


Close Competition In The High Performance Division
Cesar Parra and Horses Unlimited’s12-year old French stallion Galant Du Serein (Apache D’Adriers–Sojornet) edged out a strong field of 14 starters in the CDI Grand Prix (66.79%). Only .4 percentage points separated the top three places.

“This is good competition,” said Parra. “For us to beat [this field] makes me feel good. We are best by average, and the points add up. Systematic training shows results.”

Parra, a native of Columbia, runs a training barn in Wellington, Fla., and works occasionally with Hubertus Schmidt. But he credits his student and assistant Katie Riley with daily ground help. “She helps coach and is very good. I have learned to be humble, and listen, and trust.”

Nine starters for the CDI Grand Prix freestyle drew a near capacity crowd on Saturday night.

Leslie Morse, of Beverly Hills Calif., and her 12-year-old Swedish stallion Tip Top 962 produced a bold, buoyant ride to swing music to win (72.25%). Tip Top started to spook in the walk tour, and Morse yelled out “Hey! Stop that!” to a maintenance man changing garbage bags on the coliseum concourse. The next moment she took off on a curved line of two-tempis, never missing a beat.

The top three from the previous night’s Grand Prix just switched places in the freestyle. Michael Barisone of Long Valley, N.J., placed second both nights with Jane Suwalsky’s Neruda, with heartbreakingly tight scores. He was .2 percent behind Parra in the Grand Prix, and just 2 points behind Morse and Tip Top in the freestyle.

But even more of a heartbreak–he needed a 64 percent Grand Prix score from a foreign “O” judge to earn a FEI certificate of capability for the World Equestrian Games selection process. The two foreign “O” judges, Elizabeth McMullen and Cara Whitham, gave him 63.95 percent and 63.54 percent, respectively.

But Barisone had no trouble pleasing the crowd with his bold freestyle to a Queen rock medley. The test started out smoothly, but as he boosted the rpm’s for some dazzling passage and piaffe, Neruda got strong, opened his mouth, and the transitions suffered.

Parra and Galant du Serein looked like winners again throughout a brilliant first half to a Latin beat. But they blew the canter tour with costly mistakes in the pirouettes and tempis.

“He felt so great!” Parra said. “I was thinking this was the best ever. He was so dynamic, it was breathtaking. I don’t know what happened in the canter.”

Nancy Pugh Later of Florida and her flashy 14-year-old Oldenburg mare Alexis-D (Archipel–Gisi) topped the Grand Prix Special with a steady and expressive ride (63.56%) in the CDI closer on Sunday.


So Close
Chris Hickey of Westhampton, Mass., was two for three on the CDI small tour with Brenna Kucinski’s 8-year-old Flemmingh gelding Regent. Kucinski keeps the horse at home in Amherst, Mass., and does all the grooming and hacking, and Hickey drives 40 minutes to ride.

“It works out, because I have clients there to teach,” Hickey said. “She felt like he had the talent for Grand Prix, and made the decision that he was good enough quality for me to do the [high performance track] with him this year.”

Hickey and Regent won the CDI Prix St. Georges (68.33%) and the CDI Intermediaire feestyle (69.16%).

“We are at a tricky place now,” said Hickey. “We can do a clean test. But when I go for more brilliance, I make mistakes.”

Hickey’s run was upset in the CDI Intermediaire I by Melissa Jackson of Parrish, Fla. with her new horse Wellington (66.41%).

“I’ve had better tests,” Jackson admitted. “We didn’t quite have the fluidity, but I’m still getting to know him. He always tries, but this is his first summer [in the U.S.], and I think the heat is getting to him. “

Jackson imported the Wolkenstein II gelding from Germany just last fall. “He wasn’t a horse I was even looking at, but I saw him and thought ‘wow’. I bought him off one ride. It’s been fast forward–we’ve come together so quickly. I feel like we’ve developed consistency and trust; now it’s time to start pushing the boundaries.”

Jackson operates her own training facility and is coached by Parra. Her husband and two daughters, aged 5 and 6, travel to shows, and the family camps out. “I’m so lucky my husband is very supportive, even though he’s not a horse person. He has a tire store, and likes race cars,” she said.

Jennifer Sirrine, 19, of Apex N.C., and her 15-year-old Woody Allen (World Cup–Elmira) dominated the Young Rider division with two firsts and a third. Out of a strong field of 15, the pair finished third in the Team test (65.25%), then stepped on the gas to claim the Prix St. George (67.91%) and freestyle (68.16%).

“The musical freestyle was the most fun of all,” Sirrine said. “We both love the music [Celtic and contemporary violin] and get very excited doing the freestyle.”

Sirrine is a full-time student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and commutes to Raleigh to train with Dennis Callin.

“Jennifer is very serious, and she does most of her own riding,” said Callin. “I really feel like she’s a [North American Young Riders Championships] medal contender this year.”