Immediately after winning the Poplar Place CCI*, Maren Foster called her mom.
“My mom is really sick, and I was sad she couldn’t be here,” said Foster. “She’s always been a big supporter of mine, so I called her right after, and she was really happy.”
Foster and Walter Welser had a rail in-hand going into the show jumping on Sunday, Nov. 15, but they posted a clean round to seal the blue ribbon, ending their weekend on 40.0 penalties.
“He was very good,” Foster said of their efforts. “It was a pretty twisty course, and everything came up pretty quickly, but it rode really forward, and he was fine.”
Tiffani Loudon-Meetze kept the pressure on Foster when she posted a clear round with Lo Fino, and was thrilled with her second-placed finish (44.4).
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“The biggest thing I have to be careful with him is that he overjumps,” said Loudon-Meetze. “The distances between the fences can get really tight. It was really trying to jump, land and half-halt.”
Lo Fino has already run at the intermediate level, so Loudon-Meetze is hoping to run a two-star at some point next year.
“He has a firey steak in him,” she said with a laugh. “It’s good for cross-country, but not so good for dressage. He’s a neat horse.”
Lizzie Snow and Pop Star’s clear round moved them up one placing to third (52.5) after Kelli Temple and Sandpiper added two time penalties to their score and finished fourth with 55.1. Lioness and Julie Richards kept their fifth-placed position (57.2) after a clean trip, and Mandar and Arden Wildasin also jumped fault-free to stay in sixth (58.7).
