Even though Jane Hannigan earned the blue ribbon in the Grand Prix freestyle at the Centerline Events CDI***, she graciously noted that she and Courtney King should have been tied.

“Some of the judges placed her ahead of me, and I won by just a quarter of a point, so I’d say this really is a win for both of us,” Hannigan said.

Riding Maksymilian, a 12-year-old, Dutch Warmblood, Hannigan won the opening day’s CDI/FEI Grand Prix (65.37%) and Saturday evening’s Grand Prix freestyle (70.40%) at the show, held Aug. 18-20 at HITS-On-The-Hudson in Saugerties, N.Y.

Hannigan’s freestyle score was just a tad higher than the 70.15 percent earned by King and Idocus. But it certainly didn’t matter to King whether she was first or second–she was simply happy being back in the Grand Prix ring with her old partner.

King spent four years without Idocus. She had taken him to Europe for training and while there competed him at Grand Prix. The pair did well, scoring more than 70 percent at one show. But when King returned to the United States, Idocus stayed behind. His owner, Christine McCarthy, opted to keep him in Europe under contract to a rider there. When the contract was up, Idocus returned home and to King.

King said rebuilding her partnership with the now 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood has not been easy. “I’ve had a really hard time getting him to feel like he’s having fun and enjoying showing again. I’ve had a lot of trouble with him shutting down in the ring,” she said.

King said Idocus seemed to enjoy his freestyle performance at Saugerties. “He took off with me in that extension, which I loved. He was like my old ‘Iddy’ again,” she said with a smile.

For her part, King said her riding has also improved in the years she was apart from Idocus. Now, she said she’s more capable of working with a horse of his talent. But how long their partnership will last in the show ring is unknown.

“I had high hopes to get back in the international scene with him. I feel that now I finally have the ability to have that horse, and it just depends on how much more he wants to give,” King said. “He’s had a lot of experience and he’s older, but right now he feels really, really fit and he has really clean legs. I’m hoping for another year or two on him. I’d like to go for the World Cup Final, but I don’t know if it’s in the cards.”

If it’s not, King said she won’t be disappointed because Idocus is for now giving her more experience at Grand Prix. And if the day comes that Idocus no longer seems happy in the show ring, King said he’ll simply retire.

Fresh Faces
Retirement, however, is not on the horizon for Hannigan’s Maksymilian, a horse in his first year of Grand Prix action. Hannigan co-owns Maksymilian with Carolyn Ain and has trained the horse since he was six. The pair’s winning score in the Grand Prix was 65.37 percent, which Hannigan called “not great but a good start.” She was pleased, though, that he earned some 8s on his two-tempi changes.

She and Maksymilian competed at Intermediaire last year and placed third in the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Intermediaire I Championship (N.J.), but after spending time in Germany training with Klaus Balkenhol she felt Maksymilian was ready for Grand Prix.

“So this has been our first year doing Grand Prix, and it started out badly because he was just green and the Grand Prix was new to him,” she said.

With a 70.40 percent in the Grand Prix freestyle, Maksymilian is well on his way, but Hannigan sees the freestyle as still a work in progress.

“This is the third time I’ve ridden the freestyle, and each time I ride the choreography a little differently,” she said.

Hannigan rides to music by a band named Bond and it was her sister, Kerry Hannigan Munz, a computer engineer by trade, who designed the piece. Although the music came out great, Hannigan said she needs to rework the choreography.

“I’m going to change it before the next show because the beginning part just didn’t work. It was a little rough,” she said. “It wasn’t so good in the beginning, but he was a good boy.”

In the East Coast Rider’s Cup Grand Prix, Debra Wiedmaier, riding the 12-year-old, Selle Francais mare Gazelle du Perron II, came out on top (65.41%). It was the mare’s first weekend competing at the Grand Prix level.

“Friday was her first Grand Prix, and today was her second. So we’re thrilled,” said Wiedmaier. “We didn’t really think of taking her to this level, but I’ve taken over the ride for the owner, Terry Regan, who has unfortunately developed a problem with her hip and can’t ride any more.”

Wiedmaier said the mare was purchased in France from her friend Sarah Magnasson.

“She was about at Prix St. Georges when we bought her. Sarah and her husband were starting a family. She was pregnant and realized she’d have to do the role of mother for a few years before she could continue with her riding. So we were lucky to get her,” Wiedmaier added.

She said the 17-hand mare has everything she’ll need to be a top Grand Prix horse. “She is electric. Her piaffe and passage transitions are super easy. It’s a walk in the park for her. Her extended trots are fantastic. Her whole demeanor just pulls in everybody, even in the barn,” Wiedmaier said.

She and Gazelle du Perron II will return to the HITS show grounds in September to compete again at Grand Prix, but Wiedmaier said they’ll remain in the open division so the mare “can get her feet wet and not be over challenged.

“My eventual goal is to do the CDI with her and possibly take her to Florida and show her down there,” she said. “But the open division is good because it lets us see how she does without the additional stress of a CDI. To be in the CDI competition, you really need to have some miles.”

Prized Moments
In the East Coast Rider’s Cup Prix St. Georges, Tine Zinglersen realized what a precious gift she’d received when she and Neumunster won the cup. Their winning score after two days of competition was 68.12 percent.

She acquired the 10-year-old Trakehner two years ago from her husband, Darin Oliver, (who was then her boyfriend) as a gift. “Instead of the ring, he brings me a horse. But I held out and got the ring too,” she said laughing.

It wasn’t as clear in the beginning just what a good gift Neumunster would make. “He was a complete maniac when he came from Germany,” Zinglersen said. “He paced in the stall. He couldn’t be turned out. Then he blew his tendon and had to have a year off. He just came back into work in January of this year. I got a maniac gift, but the quality of the horse is awesome. It’s just unfortunate that his mind was a little messed with.”

She plans to take the horse to Florida for the winter circuit, which will be her first time there in 10 years. “I’ve always liked spending time there, but I also like to ski in the winter and I’ve used the winter to train,” she said. “But I train with Robert Dover, and as he’s pointed out to me, being in the big shows means going to Florida. There aren’t that many here in the Northeast.”

Before she hits Florida, however, she’ll be moving Neumunster up to Intermediaire. They’ll give it their first go at the New England Dressage Association’s Fall Festival, which will be held Sept. 13-17 at the HITS-On-The-Hudson show grounds.

“He has the piaffe and passage, but the tempis will be an issue. We’ll work on that,” Zinglersen said.

One other very happy winner at the Centerline Events CDI*** was 19-year-old Micaela Mabragana. The young rider, who trains with Lendon Gray, won the CDI/FEI Young Rider Team test (64.88%), Individual test (62.66%) and freestyle (61.58%) with the 14-year-old Ballywhim Ardan Mor, owned by Gray.

“I’m very excited. I can’t believe it. It’s really huge for me to be here at a CDI. For an Argentinean rider, in particular, it’s special,” she said.

Mabragana, who is from Buenos Aires, said she has a five-year visa, and while she misses home, she intends to stay in the United States as long as possible. Dressage isn’t a big sport in Argentina, and she said it’s hard for young riders in that country to have the same opportunities as young American riders.

Mabragana met Gray several years ago when she competed in Gray’s Youth Dressage Festival. That contact made it possible for her to return to the United States. Mabragana credited her success at the Centerline Events CDI*** to Gray, but also to Ballywhim. “He’s teaching me a lot, and I feel that we’re a team now,” she said.

Lyndee Kemmet