Michelle Gibson and the 9-year-old, Hanoverian gelding Lex Barker were back on track at Dressage at Equestrian Estates, winning the USEF
qualifying classes at Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I and the Intermediaire I freestyle with scores of 72.41 percent, 71.58 percent and 73.66 percent.

The pair is now qualified for the Collecting Gaits Farm/ USEF National Grand Prix and Intermediaire I Championships scheduled for June 15-18 in Gladstone, N.J.

“My scores were good through the weekend,” Gibson said. “We were definitely on.”

Gibson, of Wellington, Fla., said their success is partly due to a change she made in the past month to her work program and also due to her finally recovering from a bad flu she had last month.

“At the [Palm Beach Dressage] Derby (Fla.) four weeks ago I was so sick with the flu that I wasn’t together and he didn’t do well,” she said.

Gibson then scratched the Wellington CDI (Fla.) because she didn’t feel she could pull it together after her hiatus from riding due to the flu. Taking the time to fully recover and get back to work mode cer-tainly seemed to pay off for her at Equestrian Estates.

The judges particularly liked Lex Barker’s extended trot and canter pirouettes. “He’s an elegant horse with a lot of movement,” Gibson said. “He’s got a great work ethic.”

Having now qualified for Gladstone, the pressure is off, but Gibson plans to compete Lex Barker (Longchamp–Werther), owned by Elite European Sport Horses, at the June CDI in Raleigh, N.C., to keep them prepared for the upcoming nationals.

Nipping Gibson’s heels in the Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire levels was Melissa Jackson aboard Wellington.

The duo placed second in the Prix St. Georges (68.33%), second in the Intermediaire I (70.91%) and were only .04 percent behind Gibson and Lex Barker in the Intermediaire I freestyle (73.62%).

Jackson, of Parrish, Fla., has only had the 9-year-old, Hanoverian gelding (Wolkenstein II–Macho) since last summer when she and her husband, John, imported him from Europe.

“He wasn’t really what we were looking for, but it turned out to be a good choice,” Jackson said. “The judges really loved his trot. He makes it all look so easy.”

Jackson was somewhat surprised by her strong showing over the weekend. First, she hasn’t been riding the horse for long, and second, she wasn’t feeling well. She and her two daughters were all recovering from strep throat, and she was happy just to have made it to the show.

“The Prix St. Georges was on Friday, and I still wasn’t feeling well,” Jackson said. “I just didn’t have the energy and was struggling to stay with it.”

But her husband took care of their daughters on Friday so that she could get to bed early. After a long night’s rest, she felt much better on Saturday and Sunday, and it showed in her scores–and at a level she hadn’t expected.

“I wasn’t even planning to do the I-1 with him this season, but everything has been going so well that I decided to try it and then I decided to try the freestyle as well,” she said.

Jackson and Wellington have begun “to play” with the Grand Prix movements, but she’s in no hurry to move him along. Right now she’s just enjoying the horse she calls “a dream come true.”

Vying For The Scores
At the Grand Prix level, both Melissa Taylor Yee and Tami Hoag nabbed first-placed wins in the USEF qualifying classes. The two riders are working to boost their averages and rise up in the standings to make it into this year’s National Grand Prix and Intermediaire I Championships.

Yee, of Wellington, Fla., and Success, an 11-year-old, Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Lars Petersen, finished first in the USEF HP Qualifying Grand Prix class (65.49%) and first in the USEF Qualifying Grand Prix Special (69.06%). The pair has now passed the magic mark of having a 65 percent average in qualifying classes, but it still might not be enough to put them among the top 12 riders for a spot at the National Championships.

“The top 12 riders with averages 65 percent or over will get in, and it’s a tough year to get into Gladstone because of everyone trying for the World Equestrian Games,” Yee said.

Yee competed with Success (Blue Hors Silvermoon–Wapiti) at Gladstone last year and has been riding him rather consistently since December. Prior to that, he was shown by Petersen.

Hoag and Coco Chanel finished first in the USEF HP Qualifying Grand Prix freestyle with a score of 67.95. It wasn’t enough, however, to bring up their qualifying average to the necessary 65 percent. But Hoag, a southern California resident who headed home a week after the show, plans to compete at a few CDIs in California this spring in hopes of raising her average.

“So I’ve still got a few chances,” she said.

Even if she doesn’t make it to Gladstone, she’ll still be pleased with Coco Chanel’s performance during the winter season. She just bought the 12-year-old, Rhinelander mare last summer and has only been riding her consistently since January.

“She didn’t arrive until October and then I sent her off to Florida ahead of me,” Hoag said. “We’re still learning about each other. It’s like having a new dance partner.”

Titaan Wakes Up To Win
Titaan, a 5-year-old, Dutch Warmblood gelding known for his love of napping, cleaned up in first level at Dressage at Equestrian Estates. The fact that the youngster spends most of his days down and out in sleep land doesn’t bother rider Betsy Steiner. She figures if the famous race horse Seabiscuit could power nap, why not Titaan?

“He’s a bit like Seabiscuit in that he’s got to take naps throughout the whole day. His naps are important to him,” said Steiner, of Loxahatchee, Fla.

So important that he won’t even bother to get up when people enter his stall. “You can walk in and sit on his shoulder and he’ll stay down. If you start rubbing his neck, he’ll wrap it around you like a big hug.”

Titaan is clearly saving his energy for other things–like ride time. Steiner said he certainly doesn’t lack energy under saddle.

“This horse goes out, does his job. Comes back to the barn, gets his carrot, then goes into his stall and goes right back to sleep,” said Steiner of the 17-hand Titaan (by Metal).

But as calm and low-key as he generally is, up until recently shows frightened him.

“He’s always loved going to shows and being sociable and seeing his friends, but he was scared to death of actually going out and showing. He was so shy. He was like a cartoon character. When you saddled him up and then tried to take him outside, it was like he wanted to wrap his hoofs around the tent pole and say ‘I can’t go out there,’ ” Steiner said.

Steiner has been working with Titaan, who is owned by Jane Rainis, for two years. And only this past season in Florida has she actually taken him into the ring. Last year and through the early part of this season, she brought him along to shows but didn’t compete him. Rather, she or her student Naomi Aryton would just walk or school him around the show grounds.

“This show was a big step for him,” Steiner said. “He’s finally gained self-confidence, and at this show it got better each day. This is a horse that does well with praise and positive feedback because he wants to do the right thing.”

To bolster his confidence, Steiner’s friends and students gathered ringside to cheer on Titaan, and Steiner said the fan club that gathered around him when he left the ring really improved his self-confidence.

“He came out as if saying, ‘I did it! I did it!’ He was so pleased,” she said.

He was clearly well-liked by the judges, who gave him scores of 70.74 percent in first level, test 1, 73.52 percent in test 2 and 73.61 percent in test 4.

Titaan is very forward, elastic and fluid, but he’s also quite leggy and that impacted his balance and coordination, Steiner said. “The corners have been a challenge because he has a little trouble keeping his legs under him. But it’s getting much better.”