Brandie Holloway completed a hat trick at the HITS VI Arizona Desert Finals, March 8-12 in Tucson, Ariz. She guided Argentina, a 9-year-old stallion owned by the Hays Investment Corporation, to her third grand prix win in six weeks at the Arizona Winter Circuit.

Scott Starnes designed a course that was technical enough for the experienced riders but forgiving for the newcomers. “It’s a forward, technical course without a lot of turns,” he said. “The fences are quick to come up rather than big and wide. I’ve tried to make a fair course that lets the younger horses get around with scaring or hurting them. I still want it to be challenging.”

He correctly anticipated that most of the faults would come at fence 11AB. The approach from fence 10 was a bending line, with an option to go inside fence 6. More than half the faults occurred on these two fences. “There is not the best approach and it is right up there size-wise,” he said.

Argentina and four other horses successfully navigated the course. Unlikethe first round, the jump-off course twisted around one end of the arena. Holloway went first, taking all the inside turns and finishing with a tight rollback from fence 14 to fence 8.

“I didn’t think that speed on the flat was the right way to go, even though I’m a person who will really gallop to the jumps,” she said. “I decided to take very tight turns, and I didn’t leave steps out anywhere.”

They were clear with a time of 39.32 seconds; now they had to wait. Alex Granato was up next, on Monsoon, the first of his two jump-off rides. He took all the shortest paths and had a time of 38.46 seconds but with a rail down at the combination. Michelle Parker on her new ride, Nouska, had a clear round but a time of 39.76 seconds left her just out of first.

Holloway and Sharn Wordley dominated the grand prix events at the Arizona Winter Circuit. Between them, they accounted for all six victories.

Holloway grew up with cattle and Quarter Horses. She ran barrels, but even then, her focus was jumping. “I put boards over the hay bales and jumped them,” she said. “I even jumped the big round bales bareback.”

She credited Mike McCormick for her success in the grand prix ring. “I would never have won one grand prix without him. Once a month, I load up my horse trailer, and drive 500 miles to Mike’s,” she said. “I ride my horses; he gives me a bunch of his to ride. I can learn more from him in five minutes than anyone else in a year.”

Argentina, an Argentinean Warmblood purchased in Ecuador, won the grand prix in weeks 3 and 6. But before Holloway could show him, she had to make him more rideable.

“We worked on galloping and turning and stopping,” she said. “He’s really scopey. When we added the rideability it made a big difference.”

S&L So Be It and Holloway scored the only clear round in week 1. Holloway has had the 15.2-hand chestnut mare for more than two years. “She’s a totally different ride,” she said. “She’s hot.”

The Holloways’ success didn’t stop at the grand prix ring. Her daughter, Hunter, rode the pony hunter champion, Sleeping Beauty, during week 1. Chanel Z, second in the nation last year as a 5-year-old, showed at levels 6 and 7, winning several classes. They’ve bred her to Argentina and transferred two embryos.

“This way we are able to keep our good mares showing,” she said. “Crossing those is better than crossing average mares to a great stallion.”

Unbridled, imported from the Nether-lands, came to her first show and took the reserve title in the pre-green division with Holloway and was champion in the adult amateur, 36-49, with Sherri Kahn holding the reins.

“She was a lot of fun to ride,” said Kahn. “She jumps well. It’s nice to ride nice horses. She’s quiet and has a sweet personality.”

The Winning Dennehy Duo
The trip from Colorado proved worthwhile for the Dennehy family. Ashley Dennehy rode Burberry, “Berry,” the circuit champion in the amateur-owner hunters, 18-35, division. Ashley and husband Michael Dennehy found her 11?2 years ago in Louisiana, where she’d been a broodmare.

“She had not shown to that height in her life,” said Michael. “A friend in Louisiana told me about her. She was pulled out of the field and ridden and jumped for a month, then put back into the field. Ashley told me she didn’t want to go look at a 9-year-old, chestnut broodmare. Now, she loves her. Although we have had many offers, she’s not for sale. She’s the sweetest, kindest horse I’ve ever dealt with.”

Michael was the high-point hunter rider, including a reserve second year green cham-pionship with Berry and the pre-green tricolor aboard Gianni. They purchased Gianni, a 7-year-old Polish Warmblood, in October from Peter Pletcher; they sold him in Arizona to Paula Randall.

“We schooled him, then showed him here in November and a couple more shows at home,” said Michael. “He came into his own. He’s a really sweet horse, beautiful and elegant. He went very well here.”

Michael also rode Marlee Hoffman’s Piano Man, a horse he started riding in November, to the green conformation title. “Marlee sent him home with me to see what he could be,” said Michael. “He was injured here last year. When I started to ride him, for the first five days all he wanted to do was buck me off. I worked him for two weeks and took him to the National Western Stock Show. He did well. He gets better every week. Kaitlyn [McGuinn] filled in for me the weeks I couldn’t be here. Kathy [trainer Kathy Johnson] deserves just as much credit. It was totally a group effort.”

Dennehy trained Limoges, a Westphalian mare who Audrey Carlson rode to the small junior circuit championship. Carlson kept her focus, despite losing her other horse, Touche who colicked at the show and died in surgery.

“Audrey was riding Touche here in children’s jumpers,” said Dennehy. “They won quite a bit. She had only done jumpers for five weeks. Touche was a wonderful teacher and helped her. He was really special. I showed him here years ago in the grand prix.”

Limoges just started showing again in November, after coming back from an injury.

“I work on getting Audrey to believe in herself,” said Dennehy. “She’s really smart and knows how to do everything. She’s just lacking in confidence.”

McGuinn and Dennehy also split the ride on Hoffman’s Ja ‘Loup, the regular conformation champion. He’s qualified to compete at Devon (Pa.) in May in both the regular working and regular conformation divisions.

“We work on making him land on both leads and keeping him simple for the amateur,” he said. “We don’t make the training complicated. Marlee does a lot of equitation on the flat with the horse. It keeps him simple over fences. We do a short equitation on the flat lesson before she goes in the amateur-owners.”

Pony Prizes
Kathy Johnson’s student Christine Gabel rode Over The Rainbow, an Appaloosa-Thoroughbred to win the circuit equitation, 12-13, championship and the children’s, 13 and under, hunter championship.

“In equitation, you do tight turns and counter canters,” she said. “I like both the same right now. It takes less energy to do equitation. She’s a really good horse. She loves her job. She knows what she’s doing and saves me.”

Jeri Hormel steered her pony With Wonder, a Quarter Horse-Appaloosa, to the circuit championship in the larges.

“We work on getting him to go forward smoothly,” she said. “He does whatever you want him to do.”

Trainer Gretchen Lof credited Hormel. “Jeri is so accurate,” she said. “It makes all the difference.”

Barn mate Alicia Gasser cleaned up in her equitation divisions, winning the circuit title in pony equitation and equitation, 11 and under. She and Queen Frostine were also champions in the mediums. They found the 8-year-old Welsh in a pasture in California.

“Her ears got frostbitten in Canada,” said Gasser. “She lost half her ears. We had to teach her practically everything. She was very green. She would gallop around the arena. I had trouble holding her.”

They bought her as an investment and concentrated on flatwork; the pony loved to jump. “They did lots of counter cantering to balance and hold leads,” said Lof. “We taught her to swap only when asked. We’re hoping to go to the USEF Pony Finals.”

Gasser’s equitation mount was her 10-year-old, Holsteiner gelding, Polar Express. They moved him up to the children’s hunters at this circuit; he was champion weeks 2 and 5.

Back To Win
For the first year, the zone offered a separate adult amateur, 50 and over, division. Susie Stroh won the circuit title on Dauntless, her Hanoverian. It was an especially meaningful victory since Stroh had to stop showing when she was diagnosed with breast cancer last April; she kept riding through chemotherapy and radiation.

“The horses kept me going,” she said. “I tried to keep as fit as possible. I was really mad. I wanted to keep horse showing. I did yoga and meditation. It made me focus.”

According to Stroh, Dauntless always wins the hacks. “He is a ’10’ mover and has the most rhythmical canter in the world,” she said. “We work on staying straight and looking forward. I’ve been riding for 50 years. My dad put me on a horse instead of sending me to ballet school. I love to compete. I’m thrilled to be back riding.”

Heather N. Christie names all her horses after movie actors; they repay her by acting like stars. She won the circuit title in the high adult amateur jumpers on Wilder, an Oldenburg.

“Wilder came to the barn with the ear half ripped off and stapled together,” she said. “I named him after Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein.”

Christie had never done jumpers before, but Wilder taught her. “I work on turning and staying in the tack and riding faster and more efficiently,” she said. “Wilder knows his job better than any other horse on the property. When the buzzer sounds, he goes and does it. I practically do not have to learn the course. He has not had a rail in six weeks. He won the Marshall and Sterling week 5. I finally beat all those kids.”

She just purchased Chapelle from Peter Pletcher in February; he was reserve circuit champion in the green conformation hunters with trainer Kris Nixon. Christie showed him for the first time at the Desert Finals and was champion adult amateur hunter, 18-35.

“He’s a pretty high powered model,” she said. “It took me four weeks to get ready to ride. He has a really big jump. I got hit in the face a couple of times. He has the biggest jump of any of my horses. When I learn to ride him I’ll do the amateur-owner hunters.”

Christie grew up in Florida, riding ponies. Her father had always wanted to ride and he encouraged her. “It was always something I loved to do with my father,” she said. “He died unexpectedly a few years ago. I believe this is something he would want me to do.”

A Strong Finish
Michelle Senner won the low adult amateur jumpers on Beautiful Day. This summer, she traveled to horse shows with her mother, Jane Fraze, and trained with Archie Cox. Since Fraze was at the HITS Indio circuit (Calif.), Senner used different trainers, including Vicki Miller.

“Vicki teaches you how to win,” she said. “She tells you what she would do to win as you walk the course but also talks about your specific horse. She told me where I needed to gallop and where I needed to balance up. I’ve won more than I have won in a long time.”

Senner is recently married, and her husband took her rock climbing. “That gave me stronger upper body strength,” she said.

She strengthened the horse’s muscles and cardiovascular system by galloping through the washes in Tucson.

“He was really fit but fresh since he hadn’t been in an arena a lot,” she said.

Taylor Howell won the high children’s jumpers weeks 5 and 6 on Vegas, a Canadian Warmblood she’s had for less than one year. At the Desert Final, she was first on Vegas and second on Tailor Made, an Oldenburg mare, in the Marshall and Sterling Adult Amateur Jumper Classic.

“He’s really smart and fast,” she said. “He’s always hunting for the jumps. He just recovered from an injury. This is his first show back. We’re getting him back into shape. I have a big goal. I want to make it to the Olympics.”

Her grandfather, Jim Dack, rode in rodeos. “It’s a whole new world and really fun to watch,” he said. “Taylor came from zero and is now beginning to have a little success. [Harriet] Bunker is a terrific trainer.”