Jan Ebeling had an unusual way of preparing for the Great American/USDF Region 7 Championships and California Dressage Society Championships, Oct. 9-12 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center (Calif.). He didn’t ride his horses.

“I had a pretty good weekend, especially considering I had been on the East Coast showing [another mount, Rafalca], for 31⁄2 weeks and hadn’t ridden any of my horses,” said Ebeling, of Moorpark, Calif. “My assistant, Jontel Forbes, had to hold the fort and keep my horses in shape. I think she was a little bit nervous about me going to this show only a week after I came back.”

Forbes didn’t have to worry, as Ebeling and Sandrina (Sandro Hit—Stutbuch) won the GAIG/USDF open Intermediaire I championship (71.87%) and Louis Ferdinand topped the CDS open Prix St. Georges championship (67.75%).

“She was just really on,” said Ebeling of Sandrina, a 10-year-old Oldenburg mare owned by Ann Romney, of Belmont, Mass. “We’ve been really pushing her in her training, and she’s had a little bit of a break in her show schedule. We’ve been really working on putting the Grand Prix together and have been doing a lot of one [tempis] and a lot of piaffe and passage.

“I think the break [from showing] was probably good for Sandrina,” he continued. “Jontel did a lot of trail riding and a lot of long and low, which I typically do with all my horses. She was relaxed, her back was loose, and she didn’t really have any mistakes in the test.”

Louis Ferdinand, a 9-year-old Westphalian stallion owned by Barbara McLean, of Phoenix, Ariz., also placed third in the GAIG/USDF open Prix St. Georges championship.

“He was really on in [his winning CDS championship] test,” said Ebeling. “He was really easy to ride, and he was focused. On Saturday [in the GAIG/USDF class], he had a great test and then all of a sudden in the four tempis, he had a big mistake. He did three really good changes and then in the fourth he just didn’t change. I think we ended up just not doing the last two changes. But the rest of the test was really good. But stuff like that can happen.”

Big Win For Big Tyme
Marissa Festerling won the CDS open fourth level championship on Big Tyme after the pair earned a 74.09 percent in the A portion of the championship, and a 67.92 percent in their fourth level, test 3, ride.

“He was really good both days,” said Festerling. “The [fourth level, test 3] was the second day, and I was still thrilled with how he went. He’s only 7, and it’s only the second time I’ve ridden that test with him at a horse show. That test is demanding, with half-pirouettes.”

At just over 17 hands, Big Tyme (Saros Van’t Gestelhof—Wendekreis) is leggy and elegant. Marie Meyers imported the gelding for herself as a 31⁄2-year-old. Unfortunately for Myers, Big Tyme grew too big for her.

Festerling purchased the gelding from her in partnership with clients Ann-Marie and Dave Walters, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., in 2006. The gelding stayed in Meyer’s barn, as Festerling, now 32, is Meyer’s assistant trainer, and has worked for her for 16 years.

“He’s a big, big mover,” said Festerling. “Usually with big horses it takes a little bit of extra time, but luckily he’s so talented that the movements come really easy for him. It’s just a matter of taking time for his body to get strong enough to handle all that movement.

“I’m just happy every day I get to ride him. It’s a pleasure. I was just so excited that he qualified for fourth level and that he could do the tests like he did. I didn’t want to over push him and make him do the [GAIG/USDF] finals too.”

Festerling plans to show Big Tyme at Prix St. Georges in Del Mar (Calif.) in November.

Cross-Training Works
Charlotte Jorst, of Reno, Nev., won the CDS and GAIG/USDF amateur Intermediaire I championships on her 9-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding Asterios. Last year the pair won both of the Prix St. Georges championships.
Jorst won her CDS class with a 68.37 percent and the GAIG/USDF class with a 68.12 percent.

“I just sat him down a little bit more and just settled him in a little bit more,” said Jorst of her second win. “I tried to focus on riding the corners and to focus on riding him more uphill and to just flow more with the test. He’s always in a good mood and tries so hard.”

Jorst also competed in the open Intermediaire I freestyle championships, placing second in both.

“This was a big step up for me; I’mnot used to riding in the open classes against the pros,” said Jorst. “The classes being held at night were just phenomenal. It was so much fun. Just three years ago I sat and looked at those classes and thought to myself, ‘Gosh, if I could ever do something like this.’ And then three years later I’m there. I think this is such a great sport.”

Jorst didn’t start riding until she was 35. For the past two years, she’s trained with Volker Brommann, who
lives just down the street from her. She keeps her horses at home, and Brommann comes over at 6 a.m. to give her lessons.

“Volker’s so calm and wonderful, and I’m so wild and crazy and out there,” said Jorst. “We work so well together. Sometimes we work together several times a week, and sometimes we don’t see each other for weeks. But it works out.”

Her two daughters show hunters, so Jorst also competes with her third level horse, Livingston, in the 3’3″ and 3’6″ medal classes.

“It keeps the horses and me really happy and motivated,” said Jorst.

New Friends For Freels
Michelle Freels, of Loomis, Calif. took two new horses to the show and won championships on both.

Freels sold her young horse last year and retired her FEI-level mare after the CDS championships last fall. After a year of shopping, she found Laurio, a 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding, and Undercover, a 7-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, this spring.

“Both horses were just on fire at the beginning of the show,” said Freels.

Undercover (Olympic Ferro—Nirvana) won the GAIG/USDF amateur third level championship with a 67.44 percent.

“I just have a great time every day riding him,” said Freels. “He’s supple and forward and really easy off the leg, and really good in the bridle. He’s got a really good work ethic. He goes right to work and does his job.”

Freels won the GAIG/USDF amateur Prix St. Georges with Laurio (Lauries Crusader—St. Pr. Dakarina) with a 65.75 percent, but their CDS Prix St. Georges ride had some major spooks that dropped them out of the ribbons.

“He’s difficult,” said Freels. “He’s hard to sit. He launches you out of the saddle. It’s all I can do to use my core and stay there and make him come back to earth again. And he’s a little bit spooky.”

Freels started competing in dressage six years ago. Prior to that, she evented. She trains with Heidi Gaian, of Hollister, Calif.

Sandra Burns-Gardner, of San Marcos, Calif., won the CDS and GAIG/USDF open second level championships on her 6-year-old Rhinelander stallion Hit Parade SFS.

The first portion of the CDS championship was in the Equidome, and Hit Parade was a little nervous going into the dark arena by himself. His score of 65.69 percent put him in ninth place going into the second half of the competition.

“I was nervous and a little conservative in the first test,” said Burns-Gardner. “The second day was outside, and he gave 100 percent in his test. He was much more expressive and obedient.”

Their 72.50 percent on the second day gave Hit Parade SFS (Showstar—Ehrentusch, Pasternak) a 69.05 percent average for the championship. His GAIG/USDF class was also outside in the small oval, and he scored 71.42 percent to win the championship.

“He’s just a dream to ride,” said Burns-Gardner. “He’s just so agreeable and so easy to work with that you forget he’s a stallion.” Burns-Gardner purchased Hit Parade SFS as a 3-year-old in the Netherlands. She trains with Guenter Seidel.

 Sheri Scott