Margie Engle knew she’d lost precious seconds on one  turn in the jump-off for the  $75,000 Budweiser World Cup  of Syracuse CSI-W on Nov. 6.

She’d swung a hair wide in her turn to a triple bar as the second starter in a nine-horse jump-off, and she knew her time (38.48 seconds) was beatable.

“For sure, with all those good horses behind me, I was worried,” she said.

But even with seven of the fastest riders and horses chasing her, she and Hidden Creek’s Perin held onto the lead and went home from Syracuse, N.Y., with the top check from the feature event of the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament.

The very next pair in the ring–Laura Kraut on Anthem–posted a blazingly fast round in 34.09 seconds, but they paid for their flat-out gallop to the last vertical with 4 faults. And McLain Ward’s fast pace ended when Oasis got surprised by a tight turn to the triple bar and stopped. He finished with 4 jumping and 4 time faults.

That triple bar proved the nemesis of most of the jump-off contenders. Kim Prince and Marlou picked up 4 faults there by coming down on the back rail, as did Harry Smolders of the Netherlands aboard Exquis Oliver Q and the hometown crowd favorite, Beezie Madden on Authentic.

Only Christine Tribble McCrea on Promised Land could produce another clear round–and it put her second, less than .2 seconds off Engle’s time.

“I didn’t see Margie go, and I didn’t know how fast I’d have to go to win. I just went in and tried to ride as fast as I could, and, fortunately, he tried so hard to jump clear,” said McCrea.

McCrea bought Promised Land in August 2004, and they concluded the year by winning the $100,000 Grand Prix at the Marshall & Sterling Indoor Finals (Mass.) in September. This summer, they traveled to Europe to compete on the regular Nations Cup tour at Lummen (Belgium) and Falsterbo (Sweden), and on the Samsung Super League Nations Cup team at Rotterdam (the Netherlands).

“Going to Europe really helped me with him, and George Morris helped me so much too. He helped me get confidence on him. I showed a lot over there, so we were always in the ring and always practicing, and I think that’s paying off now,” McCrea noted.

McCrea may still be refining her relationship with Promised Land, but Engle knows Perin–her mount for the 2000 Sydney Olympics–inside and out. And she believes that, at age 15, he’s just getting better. “He’s been in 13 grand prix classes this year, and he’s been in the ribbons in every one of them. And I’ve only really done the big classes–I’ve used him sparingly,” she said.

“I’ve got such a soft spot in my heart for him. He jumps the big jumps better than any horse I’ve ever sat on–and probably any horse I ever will sit on. He may not be the fastest, but he’s for sure the scopiest,” she said.

Leslie Howard was all about speed in Syracuse, as she won the TK99 Speed Derby on Youp in what most agreed was one of the fastest, most exciting speed classes. And she then concluded the week with a victory in the $50,000 Animal Planet Sporthorse Cup, riding Mivenno and Youp.

The Sporthorse Cup has an unusual format. Seven riders qualify for the competition by accumulating points in the open jumper division throughout the week. Then, those seven face off in a three-round competition. The first leg is a speed round, with faults converted to seconds, and the times from that class are converted to faults. Then, the seven compete in a four-round four-bar class, where the faults decreased as the jumps increased. And finally, there’s a jump-off class.

Fast Debut
While Howard was busy picking up all her blue ribbons, one of her former mounts earned his own win. Howard’s student, Sarah Ryan, piloted Orleen to win the children’s jumper grand prix in just their first show together.

Ryan, 15, just started leasing Orleen the week before Syracuse. “He’s just so much fun to ride. I didn’t even have to think about seeing a distance. He did it all himself,” she said. “But showing him here has been kind of like a learning experience. I had to learn as I went.”

Orleen, who used to compete at grand prix with Howard, turned in a jump-off time 4 seconds faster than the second-placed horse in the 17-horse jump-off for the children’s grand prix. “He’s like a hot hunter. He’s smooth, and you can’t touch him–you just float the reins–but he’s so fast,” said Ryan.

Ryan, of Westport, Conn., also finished third in the class on It’s Cruising, with the fastest four-fault jump-off. She got the gray Irish sporthorse last year as her first jumper, after moving on from the ponies and children’s hunters. She hopes to move up to the low junior jumper ranks next year.

Kris Hoffman Kennedy only had to beat one horse in her jump-off for the top prize in the adult amateur jumper grand prix. But she and Quest d’Or made short work of the jump-off track.

Kennedy, of Newtown, Pa., has had “Quest,” now 12, for six years. “He knows his job by now, that’s for sure,” Kennedy said. “The course was pretty big for the classic–it was a good 3’9″, but that’s good for us, because it makes him pay attention more. He loves a jump-off–he thinks turning and running fast is fun.”

A freelance graphic designer by trade, Kennedy is able to juggle her work with riding and showing. Her husband, Mike, who’s in title insurance, competes in the amateur-owner jumpers and earned ribbons in the low division at Syracuse on Marco.

“This year we’ve shown a lot more. Both horses are sound and in their prime, and we decided to take advantage of it,” Kennedy said. The Kennedys don’t train with anyone. “We always go together and do our own thing. He helps me, and I help him,” she said. And they do all their own work for the horses at shows.

Trust Pays Off
Clementine Goutal has done her share of watching her older sister, Brianne, win in the equitation and jumper divisions (see Young Entry p. 100). But in the low junior jumper grand prix at Syracuse, the blue was all hers with Rastella. Goutal also claimed third aboard Laurin.
Clementine, 15, has only been showing in the jumper divisions for a little over a year. She’s had Rastella, an experienced junior jumper, since July.

“She gives 150 percent every time. She has the best mind and heart. She’s older than a lot of horses I’ve ridden, so she’s seasoned and such a smart horse,” Clementine said of the 14-year-old mare.

Rastella and Clementine were one of only two pairs to jump clean over a large and technical first-round course. She and Laurin picked up 1 time fault over the first round for the yellow ribbon.

“When I walked the course, I noticed a lot of difficult parts. And then as people were going, there was no one clear. Before I went on my first horse, two people had fallen off already. So, I knew it would be difficult, but I trusted my horses. I knew that if any horses could jump it, it would be mine,” she said.

Clementine, of New York, N.Y., insisted that there’s no sibling rivalry between her and her sister. “She’s the most supportive sister anyone could have. She helps me and encourages me. And having her to look up to sets a great example,” she said.

One win that escaped the Goutals was Syracuse’s $40,000 Beacon Hill high junior/ amateur-owner grand prix. Addison Phillips claimed that honor aboard Trezebees, relegating Brianne and Onira into second place.

Phillips has only had Trezebees for this year, and the 9-year-old mare has come along quickly. “She has a big stride and a lot of scope,” Phillips said.

That scope came in handy when Phillips galloped down to a very long distance to one fence in the jump-off. “She’s so amazing–she really saved me there,” she said.

Phillips and Trezebees have contested some smaller grand prix classes, but Phillips, just 15, has to wait until she’s 18 to compete in FEI-sanctioned events.

Eleanor Bright didn’t have to worry about going fast in the jump-off to win in the masters jumper grand prix. After the first rider in the two-horse jump-off had 16 faults, Bright knew she could be conservative on Rosey.

“I was surprised that there were only two clear. And then, when I saw that it was Robbi [Greenberg] and Princess, I knew they’d be tough to beat. Unfortunately for Robbi, she left the door open for me to just be clean,” said Bright.

Bright, who rides with Frank and Stacia Madden at Beacon Hill, got Rosey just a year ago. Last year, during Syracuse, Stacia went to John and Beezie Madden’s farm in Cazenovia to ride a few horses. “She came back and told Frank, ‘There’s a young horse there that I think would be perfect for Eleanor.’ It just clicked, and I love her,” Bright said.

Rosey, just 7, showed in the 7-year-old jumper division in Florida with Beezie aboard, and Bright took over the reins in May.

“It’s just one of those matches that works. Even though she gets a little green in some places, she never tries to do anything wrong,” she said.

The Other Patton
What do you do when your sister is Olympic team gold medalist Beezie Patton Madden, and you never get to see her? If you’re Stewart Patton, you throw on some breeches and head to where Beezie is showing. At the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament, he did just that, and went home with ribbons from the masters jumper division.

“They were a little short of entries for this division, and Beezie called on me to do it,” said Patton.

There was one hitch–he hadn’t been on a horse in 25 years. Patton, a computer programmer, grew up riding and showing, but hung up his boots when he went away to college. He lives “a normal family life” in Atlanta, Ga., with a wife and daughter.

With Beezie’s busy show schedule, he only gets to see her “once or twice a year,” he said. “I have to go to a horse show to find her. The last time I saw her, I went to Athens to watch her in the Olympics.”

Even though it had been decades since he sat on a horse, Patton was game to give showing a go. “I took a couple of lessons in Atlanta, a couple weeks before coming up here, to try and get the feel for it again. It took about three or four lessons to feel more comfortable, but it got better each time,” he said.

Riding AK Mickey, Patton placed third in the masters jumper grand prix, with just 1 time fault in the first round. He was also third in an earlier class and fifth in the speed round.  “I’ve never ridden a jumper before. When I was growing up, it was all hunters. It was my first jumper experience, my first jump-off. Obviously, I don’t know how to go for time,” he said wryly.

“It was very rewarding just getting back into it again and knowing I could still do it,” he said.

And he might be going to more horse shows, since his young daughter got her first new pair of boots at the show. She’s asking for lessons too.

Vincent Is Victorious
When Anna McWane’s advanced event horse, Kiwi Bay, started to reach the end of his eventing career in the late ’90s, McWane looked for a new job for him. She started showing him in the jumpers, and it sparked a new passion for her.

“I didn’t know anything about it, but it was fun for me,” she said. Now, she shows in the amateur-owner jumpers, and she topped the low amateur-owner jumper grand prix at the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament with Vincent.

“I was very nervous before the first round because it was big, and I was glad there were only four in the jump-off,” McWane said. She and Vincent sped to a winning time more than 3 seconds faster than the second-placed horse.

“He is fast. He’s very efficient across the ground,” she said. In fact, McWane’s trainer, Kim Prince, also shows the 9-year-old Oldenburg in the open speed divisions and showed him at the Las Vegas World Invitational (Nev.) in October.

Prince found Vincent for McWane in Europe, and while he’s a different kind of ride for her, she enjoys him. “I’m used to the little horses that really take me to the fences,” McWane said. “He’s got a lot of scope, and he’s so even and relaxed around the course. I’ve had to learn not to pressure him, but to trust that he’ll get it done.”

McWane, of Middleburg, Va., moved up to the high amateur-owner division this summer, but “I knew the highs here were going to be pretty big, and I just wanted to have a good experience and practice,” she said. She plans to compete in the medium amateur-owner division at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.).

For a few years, McWane tried to do both eventing and showing, but she found it was too complicated. “You have to do so much conditioning work at home with the event horses, and you have to spend so much time at the shows with the jumpers. I found I couldn’t really do both,” she said.

McWane still has Kiwi Bay, now in his mid 20s, and hops on for a ride every now and then.