Allison Kroff and her Nomograff sped to the blue ribbon in the $25,000 Arizona Finals Grand Prix, the final day of the HITS Arizona Desert Finals, held March 14-18 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Nomograff, a 12-year-old Dutch Warm-blood, narrowly defeated Brandi Holloway’s young mare Gabriella Z. Both had clear rounds, but Nomograff squeaked to victory in 40.07 seconds, .89 seconds ahead of Gabriella Z.

Six of the initial 23 horses successfully negotiated Ken Krome’s 13-fence course. “I’ve made a nice flowing track for these guys,” he said. “We have testing lines. There’s a mixture of experienced and starting teams. The footing is fantastic.”

Krome correctly identified fence 13 as one of the challenges.  The final fence, a spread after a sharp right-hand turn, accounted for four knockdowns.

“Alicia [Johnsson] and I had talked about how to take it,” Kroff said. “We both thought we would do it in eight [strides], but she went first and ate it so we did it in seven and it worked out. “

Fence 9, a narrow vertical on a bending line after an oxer, accounted for seven more knockdowns. “The No. 9 fence was galloping five to the skinny,” she said. “If you got there too flat, they weren’t able to get their front end out of the way. They dove at it. Luckily, I had my Nomograff horse first.”

Krome added fences 14 and 15 for the jump-off. After 14, there was a tight turn to fences 12BC from the original triple combination.  Holloway checked her 6-year-old mare slightly before 12B and that made all the difference.

Nomograff is the more experienced of the two jumpers Kroff rode in the grand prix; she was third with 4 faults on Grazioso 4. She imported Nomograff from Alan Waldman of the Netherlands.

“Alan said this is a great horse and we had to buy him,” she said. “He did young riders in Europe. We thought he might make a junior horse or be good for the smaller grand prix [classes]. We pressed him up into the big classes and found that he could jump more than we thought. We won $25,000 in Estes Park [Colo.] and we went to California where he was second twice.”

Kroff just missed qualifying for the Rolex FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas in April; she stands fifth on the list of West Coast qualifiers. She and Nomograff will still go to Vegas to compete in the Las Vegas World Grand Prix.

“He’s been jumping great since [HITS] Thermal [Calif.],” she said. “I never felt he jumped his best at Thermal. When we bought him, Alan said he was better indoors, although I fell off him indoors. The Thermal ring is way open, and he looks around a lot.”

She was pleased with her third-placed finish on Grazioso 4; the horse has been taking a backseat to her other grand prix horses.

“I’ve had him for two years,” she said. “We haven’t done a lot with him. He had a quarter crack, and we rested him so it would heal. And then I had five grand prix horses. His first show was back in January at Thermal. Every week, I was expecting him to be a little green and unsure, but he stepped up to the plate.”

This was Gabriella Z’s second grand prix. Holloway won the grand prix during the previous week’s Arizona Winter Festival with her experienced horse, the 10-year-old Argentinean stallion Argentina.

“There were four in the jump-off,” she said. “We had the only clear. I was in a very lucky position. There was only one horse after me. Both horses before me had one rail down.

“I felt the course got harder and more technical as [it] went on,” she added. “My horse is calm, so he didn’t get more excited as he went along the course so I think we’re able to be very accurate. I’m used to riding more excitable horses, and he requires more leg and more energy. He’s very straightforward; he gives 110 percent.”

Holloway is waiting for three foals by Argentina this season, including an embryo transfer from another of Holloway’s grand prix horses, S&L So Be It.

The Arizona circuit is the place where trainers’ children try their wings. Holloway’s 8-year-old daughter, Hunter Holloway, showed in the jumper ring for the first time on her mother’s veteran grand prix horse, Luuk II.

“At 17.2 hands, he’s really big,” said Hunter who contested the children’s jumper division. “I have to hold him together. I have to sit in the saddle with my shoulders back. People call him St. Luuk. He tried a triple combination with me and made it clear.”

In the hunter arena, she rode Burberry, a Dutch Warmblood, and picked up a reserve championship in the children’s hunter division during week 6.

“He’s lazy and bigger than my pony,” she said. “I have to kick him more; I have no hair left on my legs.”

Sterling Performances
Trainer Leslie Nelson had an incredible show with a record-breaking number of blue ribbons and circuit championships. Her Sterling Silver Stable collected 18 circuit championships, and during the Finals she entered 20 classes and came out with 20 blue ribbons.

Nelson kept her concentration despite the fact that her husband Dan hit a cow while riding his motorcycle through the desert and suffered a broken leg.

In one class, she finished first, second, third and fourth. One of her favorite ribbons, though, was awarded to their 2-year-old son, Noah Kai Nelson, the leadline circuit champion on The Velvet Hippo, a Miniature Horse.

Makin’ A Splash, 6, an Oldenburg gelding, was champion in the pre-green division five out of the six weeks for Leslie.

“I purchased him two years ago at this horse show when I was seven months pregnant with Noah,” she said. “I didn’t do anything with him for a year. My assistant showed him last year. He was young and immature and needed time to grow up. This year brought maturity. He’s a beautiful mover with a huge stride, and he’s elegant over jumps.”

Leslie has a small, private business in Santa Barbara, Calif., and never trains more than 15 horses at a time. “I specialize in hunters,” she said. “That’s where my heart is. I love the precision of the hunter ring.”

Her student, Cindy McGuire, brought Rock Star and Puzzel and accounted for two of the circuit championships. Rock Star, 16, a Thoroughbred, earned the adult amateur, 50 and over, division title, while Puzzel was reserve. McGuire was also adult equitation, 36 and over, circuit champion.

“The two horses are extremely different,” said McGuire. “Rock Star is like a metronome. He gets on his step and stays there, tick tock, tick tock. Puzzel changes daily, between fences, around corners or whatever. It’s always a new ride. It’s fun and more of a challenging ride.”

McGuire, 61, has been an athlete most of her life. “I participated in sports at a high level,” she said. “I played women’s tournament tennis. I was an All-American adult volleyball player and a competitive squash player. I like competition and challenge. Riding is a very humbling sport. Whenever you get to the point where you think you know what you’re doing, something proves you don’t.”

Another Leslie trainee, Justinian, succeeded in multiple divisions with different riders. With Talia Kline, stepdaughter of owner Susan Kline, the horse was circuit champion in the children’s hunter, 13 and under, division and Talia was equitation, 11 and under, champion week 5.

“No one had any expectations,” she said. “I’d only ridden him in one lesson before the circuit. Before, I had a Thoroughbred Palomino, Sandy. ‘Justin’ has a much larger stride and I have to work to make sure I’m on my 12-foot stride. Sandy took care of me more, so if I made a bad decision, he’d adjust. Justin doesn’t fix my mistakes. I have to be clear and definite with my decisions, otherwise he won’t go. He’ll teach me how to ride instead of going around. I love that he listens to exactly what you tell him. If you believe it, he believes it.”

Jasmine Betis shared Justin, winning the adult equitation, 18-35, and the adult amateur, 18-35, circuit awards. According to Nelson, Betis is a very elegant rider. She’s also been a successful polo player, riding for the United States in the Ambassador’s Cup, where she was the only woman.

“This show was about me getting back to showing over fences and finding out what I need,” she said of returning to showing after a break. “I started to ride Justin six weeks before I showed him.”

She got her first horse at 12, and eventually she trained with grand prix rider Richard Spooner and rode some of his horses at home. “After school in Paris, I worked in New York in advertising and met my fiancé,” she said. “My fiancé knew nothing about horses, and I gave him a couple of lessons and he was hooked. We have a 22-acre farm and polo ponies.”

Sarah Invicta Williams steered Carly Graf’s Pablo to the first year green hunter championship. She’s had the 9-year-old Mecklenburg for four years. He also proved his versatility in the children’s hunter, 13 and under division, where he was champion weeks 1 and 2 with Stephanie Nagler.

“The first two weeks a little girl was borrowing him,” Williams said. “She won the Marshall & Sterling [classic] with an 80 and an 86. She had to learn how to be patient. He gives the impression that he’s not going to make the striding but he does. He has a big step and is a fabulous jumper. He’s the kindest horse we have.”

The second year green champion was Unsurpassed with Charlie Dennehy in the irons. Pat Carlton is co-owner of the 7-year-old, Westphalian mare.

“Debbie and Katie Rosensweig said they found a horse that wins the hack every time,” she said. “I saw her in the fall of 2004 and decided I had to have half. She’s the best mover I had ever seen. She won every hack on the circuit. She’s a great junior hunter prospect.”

Jumpers Rock
Michelle Senner rode Beautiful Day, the high adult amateur jumper circuit champion. Senner is the daughter of Jane Fraze, owner of the conformation hunter Mandarin. She trains with Tim Herrick.

“I was going to sell him at the fall shows,” she said. “He was so good that my husband was dead set against selling him. At 10, he’s finally a mature amateur horse. He was a Thoroughbred race horse and on the slaughter truck when a cowboy bought him and sold him to Judy Martin. I bought him, 6 and green, from her. He’d never been to a horse show, so we took him to horse shows everywhere. He always jumped to the other side of the fence, and now he gets it. He likes to be fast and win.”

Herrick’s 007, captured the high children’s jumper circuit championship with Kaylee Hollingsworth. The 7-year-old Hungarian Warmblood got his name because of his 00 brand.

“He’s super, super, careful,” said trainer Sue Herrick. “He’s one of those horses that you have to keep your body tall. You can’t loop the reins. The more you press and run, the better he jumps. He turns on a dime.”

Sonja Wolf dominated the high junior/amateur-owner jumper division the four weeks she showed. She and the 13-year-old Holsteiner Dr. Zeus earned the circuit champion and won the classic weeks 5 and 6.

“Dr. Zeus; he’s like a god,” she said. “I bought him off a video from Arsia Ardalan. Zeus is uncomplicated compared to all my other horses. He loves his job and wants to please. He loves to go fast and can turn like no other. ”

She also showed Concerto Royal, an 11-year-old Holsteiner, and was champion the final week.“ ‘Goliath’ is super scopey, super strong,” she said “Zeus is more broke. Goliath requires more arm strength while Zeus is more adjustable.”

Lamiro, another horse Wolf rides, won the low junior/amateur-owner classic week 5 to add to her ribbon collection.

“He had a lot of injuries,” she said. “I was told he would never jump for me again. It’s amazing when he jumps around and wins.”