A week before the Tucson Dressage Club Winter Heat, Jan. 21-22, in Tucson, Ariz., Cyndi Jackson attended the U.S. Dressage Federation’s FEI-level Trainers Conference (Fla.)–and left inspired.

So when Jackson arrived in Tucson, she and Illion scored a 67.70 percent in the Grand Prix to take the win with their best score to date. “I came back inspired to be more daring,” said Jackson, a Scottsdale, Ariz., trainer. “I put my piaffe in place and made my pirouettes smaller. I was braver. I brought the piaffe back to me more. That gave us the extra points.”

The pair went on to score 66.60 percent in their first Grand Prix Special. “I was happy to make it through the Special and not make any mistakes,” she said.

“I had done it a few times, but I hadn’t done it in three weeks. Once I memorize the test and know logistically how I’m going to do it then I do pieces of it every day. I don’t do the same pieces every day.”

Jackson has had Illion about a year and a half. He was given to her by his previous owner, who’d bought him to be a Prix St. Georges schoolmaster. “He was a handful for [his previous owner], and it wasn’t the right match,” Jackson said.

She wasn’t sure if she should keep the horse so she took him to a Kathleen Raine clinic. Raine told her he would be doing Grand Prix within the year.

“He was a weak Prix St. Georges horse,” Jackson said. “Getting him to Grand Prix took a lot of work–practice, practice, practice. At 17.1 [hands] he was a big, strong horse. I put all the Grand Prix moves into him. He had his tempi changes and a bit of a pirouette. We went to a lot of clinics and a lot of shows. He was a wild man at shows, and I wanted him to get accustomed to going.”

She had help from her mentor, Dolly Hannon from Colorado, and from Arizona’s Julie Sodowsky.

Currently, she keeps Illion at her mother’s property, where he can be turned out most of the day.

Jackson’s mother, Kay Lorenzen, showed Maxine, the Tennessee Walker-Quarter Horse who started Jackson in dressage. The pair earned a 65.00 percent at third level, giving Lorenzen her first score for her USDF bronze medal.

Fantasia Shows Her Power
Karin Lencyk travelled from Texas to Tucson and went home with a blue in the FEI Intermediaire I on Fantasia, an American Warm-blood by her Dutch Warmblood stallion, Banjo.

“I raised her from a baby,” she said. “I owned the stallion, Banjo, and leased the mare. I bartered training for the lease.”

Despite hi-jinks in the hold, Fantasia settled down to score a 65.75 percent.

“Fantasia is a very sensitive mare and requires a lot of tact,” Lencyk said. “She’s a little on the spooky side. She almost bucked me off in the hold. She’s very powerful.”

Lencyk has been training for 30 years. “When I was 11, we got property with enough room for horses,” she said. “I bought my own horse for $250.”

Her student, Joy Smith, scored 70.85 percent and 67.50 percent in adult amateur first level, tests 3 and 4, on Dutch White Lace, by Banjo, to take a first and second place.

“We’re working on throughness and developing more pushing power,” Lencyk said. “We do lots of transitions and make sure the horse stays over her back.”

Currently in Arizona, Gintara Slavinskas, winner of an Intermediaire I class, has worked with trainers all over the United States and in Europe. In 1984, at age 15, she rode with Major Hector Carmona in New Jersey and later became an apprentice trainer at Carmona’s barn.

Slavinskas and her 18.1-hand Holsteiner, Catano, won with a score of 66.00 percent. She found this grandson of Cor de la Bryere four years ago in Germany.

“Before I got him he had been pushed too fast and taught the changes incorrectly,” she said. “He was late behind. He’s an over achiever. It’s difficult to tell him he’s doing it wrong. One successful technique has been to do a small figure eight–almost a loose pirouette–to collect him and get him on my aids before the change.”

They’re beginning to work on the Grand Prix movements.

“He has the best piaffe and passage,” she said. “I can hold him with a lead rope and halter, position my body, and cluck–no bridle–and he’ll squeal and then start piaffing. He loves extensions. He’s going to make a great Grand Prix horse. He needs to learn his changes better and to relax when he does his test.”


Unbeatable
Kim Yacobucci’s student Barbara Duzan and her Dutch Warmblood Ilford had the highest Intermediaire score of the weekend (67.25%). Although the adult amateur rider has had Ilford for four years, she hasn’t shown for the last two.

“This is our first show back,” she said. “I was a little nervous, but he’s pretty reliable. He does as well as I ride him.”

Duzan grew up on a ranch, riding cutting horses. After 20 years, she returned to dressage at Yaco-bucci’s Horseshoe Springs Farm.

Yacobucci’s assistant, Bobbie McKee, has been riding Jamelone, Sue Leutwyler’s Dutch Warmblood, for about six months. She’s hoping to represent Region 5 at the North American Young Riders Championships in Virginia this summer.

She scored 65.44 percent in the Young Rider Team class and 67.12 percent in the Young Rider Prix St. Georges. Leutwyler, who received her silver medal on him, loaned the horse to McKee so she could try for the NAYRC.

“He can get hot,” said Yacobucci. “Bobbie is quiet and sensitive. He had a big blow up on the way into the arena. Bobbie rode with the confidence he needs. It was a nice team test.”

McKee started riding when she was 11. She’s always worked for her lessons and horses. “I like the discipline of dressage,” she said. “Dressage asks so much of the rider and horse. There’s always a challenge, always something I can learn. It keeps you on your toes.”

Leutwyler rode Laudatio, last year’s second level state champion, in the Prix St. Georges, receiving a 61.25 percent for third place. This was the third time he’s been shown in Prix St. Georges.

Leutwyler bought him as a 4-year-old, and they’ve had their trials and tribulations. Laudatio blew his right front suspensory and was off for two years. He spent a year coming back.

“It was the only hope for the horse, to take the time coming back,” said Yacobucci. “Sue was willing to take the time and had the patience to rehabilitate the horse. It’s important for a horse of his size to come back slowly. Now, he’s very confident. Hopefully, in a year he’ll be doing Grand Prix.”

Amateur rider Barbara McLean earned her USDF silver medal on Calimbo, a 12-year-old Brandenburg. Although she’s had him for seven years, this was their second show. They took a blue (60.25%) and a red (63.50%) in Prix St. Georges.

The scores were especially meaningful to McLean since Calimbo wasn’t initially an easy ride for her.

“It was worth the wait,” said McLean, who takes lessons almost every day. “It was really hard work. He did the best he could. It’s more me staying steady and consistent and keeping my balance. I need to keep him and me more steady and him stretching his back.”

McLean never thought she’d get her silver medal. She’s going to continue to keep working on the Prix St. Georges until she rides a solid, steady test.

Kaylee Hollingsworth rode Inxcess, a Dutch Warmblood stallion belonging to her trainer, Reta Conner. Hollingsworth grew up riding; her grandmother, Kay Davis, is the Horsemanship Director at the Orme School (Ariz.). Hollingsworth used to ride hunters, but Conner made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.

“She offered to let me ride Inxcess if I would work for her,” she said. “I ride babies for her. I didn’t think I could go any further in jumping, and I got an itch for dressage.”

She satisfied that itch by getting an FEI Junior Team score of 61.75 percent and an FEI Junior Individual Score of 64.50 percent. She hopes to go to the NAYRC.