Hard work and a bit of luck helped Jonathan Holling pull off a double win aboard his horses Lion King II and Direct Merger at Poplar Place Farm Horse Trials, Sept. 8-10 in Hamilton, Ga.

Holling won the CIC*** with Direct Merger, who was third after dressage with a score of 53.8. Their fast and careful round on Tremaine Cooper’s demanding cross-country course then bumped them up to take the lead.

“I thought it was a very challenging course; there were a lot of tough questions early on in the course. He’s quite strong, so I just tried to manage him, and I only went as fast as I felt comfortable. I didn’t really plan to make the time, and I had no intentions of smoking around as fast as I did,” said Holling.

Holling maintained his lead, even after dropping a rail in show jumping on Sunday. “I was shocked by the rail. [Direct Merger] is such an incredible show jumper. It was on the last fence and I saw a gappy distance, and we shifted a bit too much to the left,” said Holling.

The last of 29 horses to go, Holling assumed that he’d lost when he heard the rail fall because he thought that Mike Winter, the second-placed finisher, had gone clean. However, Winter, too, had knocked a rail aboard Kingpin, and Holling was announced as the winner.

“They announced I’d won right when I was walking out of the ring, so I was pretty surprised. Mike really kept the pressure on all weekend; it was great competition,” said Holling.

Holling was quite pleased with how far the high-strung, 10-year-old Irish Thoroughbred has come along. “He’s a bit difficult on the flat and can be a handful to manage. He usually gets in the ring and the atmosphere gets to him. This was definitely our best dressage test so far; it’s the first time he’s gone from the warm-up to the ring and stayed consistent.”

Holling purchased the English-bred gelding with his client Janet Olsen three years ago from Peter Green.

“This was [Direct Merger’s] first win at any level, and up until now I’d considered him my second-string horse. [The events] were always mentally challenging for him, and this was such a thrill for him to finally put it all together. I’ve promised him [I’ll] no longer refer to him as my second string horse!” said Holling with a laugh.

Acing The Advanced
Holling’s gelding Lion King II was equally impressive as he won the advanced division. The 12-year-old English Thoroughbred was tied for second after dressage with a score of 35.8.

“He can be quite stiff in the jaw and mouth at times, but I’ve gotten a lot of dressage help from David O’Connor. I can’t overtrain him, because he can be such a head case sometimes, he’ll just shut down when he tries to overdo it,” said Holling.

Even though Holling credits Direct Merger with being the better jumper, Lion King II finished in first on his dressage score after two clean rounds of jumping.

Holling and his wife Jennifer, who have a training business in Ocala, Fla., have owned the chestnut gelding for five years.

“I’ve ridden him a long time, and we’ve got a good relationship. He’s very efficient and smart and good at his job. He’s much more experienced [than Direct Merger] and stays very competitive,” said Holling.

Lion King II and Holling qualified for the FEI Eventing World Cup Final (Sweden) at Red Hills (Fla.), in March, when they lost by mere points to Phillip Dutton in the CIC*** division.

“His second-placed finish at Red Hills was such a big deal for me because of all the people I was competing against. I was very excited to be ranked right up there with Phillip,” said Holling.

“We’ve been very fortunate this season with no serious injuries, knock on wood. Lion King got a cut on his knee goofing around with his pasture buddy, but there’s been no long-term trouble from that,” said Holling.

The beautiful grounds and well-maintained facility at Poplar Place Farm impressed Holling. “This was such a special place, with some of the best footing in the country. I think they did a great job with the cross-country course. I know the ground was really hard, but they were out there aerating all Friday night. It wasn’t an accident that this was the last event I chose to run Lion King II in before the World Cup; I’m glad the timing worked out,” said Holling.

After competing at the World Cup in Malmo, Sweden with Lion King II in September, Holling plans to run Direct Merger at Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.) in October.

Battling The Flu
Elisa Wallace, suffering from a horrible case of the flu, overcame her sickness to snag the win in the CIC** on her mare Leap Of Faith.

Standing fourth after dressage with a score of 59.4, the pair galloped to first place after cross-country with just 2 time penalties and finished with a clean show jumping round.

“I was so sick that I really didn’t feel any pressure. I wasn’t too worried because I had a rail in hand, but truly I wasn’t even thinking about winning,” said Wallace, of Alpharetta, Ga.

The fervent Thoroughbred-Holsteiner mare has had to overcome some issues in dressage. “She gets 8s and 9s on her trot, but she’s sort of a hot type, so she’ll tense up in her canter. Once we get over that hump, I think we’ll be unstoppable,” said Wallace.

“Mia” has never had any problems with show jumping, which Wallace credits to lots of cross training at hunter/jumper shows. When Wallace goes into the ring, she imagines that she’s just doing a jumper round, and she doesn’t get nervous.

“Mia’s a lot of fun and she really gets the crowd going because she has sort of an unorthodox style. At the show, she jumped so big over an oxer that I thought I was going to fall off afterwards,” she said.

Wallace purchased the mare in May of 2005 and has spent the last year preparing for the higher levels. “She’s a low-confidence horse, and she used to just shut down on cross-country. She’s come a long way, and I’ve spent a lot of time getting her confident and building her trust. During these last few months she’s really been awesome,” said Wallace.

Mia’s turning point came at the Florida CCI* in April, which was the mare’s second one-star event. “We came to the water, and she jumped in bold, but when she landed her knees buckled and at one point her whole head was under water. But she pulled herself together and finished the course. It was such a huge confidence boost for her to get up and finish and show that she could do it,” said Wallace.

Wallace trains with her father, Rick Wallace, who used to show Mia at the preliminary level. “He comes to the big events and supports me. It’s nice to have someone around to bounce ideas off of,” said Wallace.

Wallace also credits her boyfriend Chase New, who’s also her farrier, with Mia’s improvement. “Mia used to have severe foot issues, and his work has made such a difference in her movement and jumping,” said Wallace.

Mia will compete at the Virginia CCI** this November. “Eventually, I’d like to breed her and let her have lots of event babies,” said Wallace.

Wallace also competed her 7-year-old Thoroughbred Jackson in the CIC*** division. The pair had a shaky dressage ride, which placed them 21st after the first phase. “He had two months off after Maui Jim [Ill.], and so he was fit to be tied. He was awesome in the warm-up, but he just had a snarky ride once we got in the ring. I can’t be mad though because he’s so young,” said Wallace.

Jackson had a run-out cross-country, but Wallace took the blame for the refusal. “It was completely rider error. I was so exhausted at that point [because of my illness] that my energy just gave out,” said Wallace.

The gelding won the CIC*** at Maui Jim Horse Trials in July, and she hopes to compete him at the Fair Hill CCI*** this fall. “He’s the best cross-country horse I’ve ever ridden,” said Wallace.


Emily Daily