Laura Kraut knew what she had to do when she walked into the ring as the first of three to jump-off in the $50,000 Kilkenny/ICH Internationale Cup, the feature event of the Kilkenny/ICH Internationale, Feb. 9-13 in Wellington, Fla.

“Katie Prudent was helping me, and she said, ‘Go in and make them have to chase you,’ ” Kraut said.

And she followed the instructions to the letter, guiding Anthem to a neat and clean 43.50-second jump-off round. “I rode fast, but I don’t think I took any unnecessary risks,” she said.

“He was perfect as always,” added Kraut about Anthem, a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood. “He just has such a big heart and tries so hard. He slipped on one turn back to an oxer, and he managed to somehow get his feet back underneath him and jump it like it was no problem.”

Lauren Hough was the first to chase after Kraut. She and her 2000 Olympic mount, Clasiko, made a concerted effort, but an early rail put them third (47.92 seconds).

Cayce Harrison, just 21, challenged Kraut in her biggest grand prix performance to date. A former junior star and the individual gold medalist in the 2002 North American Young Riders Championships (Ill.), Harrison has been steadily working her way into the top grand prix level.

She rode Coeur to a clean first round as the last in the 47-horse field. In the jump-off, she looked to be on a good pace, but a rail fell late on the course, leaving her second. Harrison wasn’t too disappointed, however.

“I’m ecstatic. This is almost surreal for me,” she said. “I never really thought I could get to this level, but I’ve got so many people behind me and supporting me that I feel I can go on.”

Harrison bought Coeur, a former ride for England’s John Renwick, in June last year. She admits that it took a while to master the ride on the 9-year-old German-bred.

“I had a rough couple of shows, and I was doubting our partnership a little bit,” she said, giving credit to trainer McLain Ward for his advice. “We’ve come a long way since the summer.”

Kraut was impressed with Harrison’s performance. “She just put in an amazing round,” she said.

And Kraut was thrilled that Anthem showed well in his first week back in the ring after winning the $100,000 Budweiser AGA Championships on Dec. 5. “He feels like an 8-year-old again. He’s been incredible,” she said. She’s aiming Anthem for the Budweiser FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas, Nev., in
April.

And her younger mount Miss Independent gave Kraut the second of her two grand prix wins of the weekend. The 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood sped to the top of a 17-horse jump-off field in the $25,000 WEF Challenge Cup Series Round 3. Kraut also took second on Anthem.

This is Miss Independent’s first season on the big grand prix field in Wellington. “I had shown her the Sunday before and had a really unlucky 4 faults. I’d planned to give her the week off, but I said to Katie, ‘I think I have a win coming up.’ And she was incredible. I don’t think she rubbed a jump in either round,” Kraut said.

Due North Navigates To Blue

Not many amateur riders can say that they’ve made their winning mounts, but Avery Dimmig can proudly claim that of Due North, whom she rode to the championship in a section of the amateur-owner hunter, 18-35 division. And then Brianne Goutal guided Due North to the tricolor in a section of the large junior hunter, 16-17 division.

“I’ve always had young horses that I brought along to some degree. I enjoy it because it’s a learning experience for me
and for them,” said Dimmig. “I think it’s a really unique experience to start one from the beginning and see how they grow and learn how to become a true competitor.”

She bought Due North two years ago, when he was 6 and had just done a few baby green hunter classes. The flashy chestnut gelding, by the Hanoverian stallion Rio Grande, impressed her with his looks and attitude.

“He’s like a Labrador Retriever. He’s very smart, which is fun when they’re young. You teach them something one day, and they come back out the next day and remember it, which is really rewarding,” said Dimmig.

Dimmig, who won the ASPCA Maclay Finals in 2000, was busy in school at Vanderbilt University (Tenn.) when she bought “Duey,” so they didn’t show much the first year she had him. “I was just playing around with him. I kept him at a farm in Nashville and did the adults maybe twice with him at Kentucky in the spring,” she said. “But then I had an internship in New York that summer, so I let my mom just trail ride him.”

Dimmig, of Rougemont, N.C., picked the reins back up in the fall of 2003 and started showing Duey in earnest during the 2004 Winter Equestrian Festival. They debuted in the amateur-owners, and Dimmig also showed him a few times in the green conformation division. She enjoyed playing in the professional divisions.

“There was actually a lot less pressure. It wasn’t as competitive mentally for me, since I was doing it just for the experience and the fun of it. He’s a lot of fun as a young horse–every single time he goes in the ring, he figures out a little bit more,” she said.

Guidance from trainer Rodney Bross helped Dimmig smooth over Duey’s green moments, and professional rider Shachine Belle showed him just a few times as well. “He would make baby mistakes, like bulging toward the in-gate or things like that, but the jumps were never an issue,” said Dimmig.

After graduating from Vanderbilt in May 2004 with degrees in psychology and business, Dimmig took some time to devote to riding. She chose Goutal to show Duey in the junior hunters to help round out his resume.

“She rides in a different style than I do. He’s only had me or Shachine show him, so it’s good for him to have a different ride,” she said. “Brianne’s a lot more fluid and loose; she gets into a two-point and goes for it. I get much more technical and thinking about steadying and riding. She’s very natural, and
I think it’s good for his mind to have someone else other than his mother holding his hand.”

In The Game

Patience has paid off for Penny Lombardo too. She spotted Game Plan as a just-started 4-year-old in Holland three years ago and bought him for her client, Nancy Breedlove, as an investment prospect. Her choice proved apt, as Game Plan took the green conformation hunter championship.

“It’s been three years making him up, and it’s nice to see it come together. We’ve worked hard with him and taken our time, and so it’s exciting to see it pay off,” Lombardo said.

While Lombardo was drawn to Game Plan because of his good looks and talent, she also noted his bloodlines. He’s by Coriano, the same sire of another horse Lombardo brought along, Back In The Game. “Since we’d had another one in the family, we were excited to see how he grew up,” she said.

Game Plan hasn’t disappointed. “His style of jumping stands out, and he’s a very pretty horse. He’s got a great topline and a beautiful head. He’s a small horse–just 15.3–but he’s got plenty of step and an amazing jump,” Lombardo said.

Game Plan won the model, was second in the hack, and then collected two blues and a red over fences for the tricolor.

“He was consistent. He’s very brave to the jumps and straightforward,” said Lombardo. She credits trainer Rodney Bross with helping her develop Game Plan, serving as a ground man and advisor.

Winning at WEF was also a special thrill for Lombardo. She’s been a trainer in Wellington for 25 years, with a busy string of amateur and junior students. “There’s a lot of competition there, and it’s always an honor to be able to win among so many good professionals and great horses,” she said.