Thermal, Calif.—Jan. 31
Florencio Hernandez of Mexico designed a healthy challenge for riders in the $50,000 Go Rentals Grand Prix at HITS Thermal Horse Park, but there was an unexpected element of difficulty in the class—howling winds.
Just four horses of the 18 starters finished double clear to jump again, and when the dust settled (literally!) Camerone and Lindsay Archer were left with the blue ribbon.
The surprise challenges started in the first round when the gusty winds blew down a decorative element of the Go Rentals vertical just as Eric Hasbrouck and his mount, Boukati B, approached it. The 9-year old Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by G&W Equine Partners was undaunted and finished the round clear.
Shortly thereafter, the entire bottom panel of the same fence blew down in front of Paul Rohrbach and Camerino, owned by Wells Bridge Farm. The 11-year old Holsteiner gelding cleared it anyway, but had a rail down later to finish with 4 faults.
The wind did not let up for the eventual winners, Archer and Camerone, owned by Catherine Harvey of RHYS Farms. The pair cleared five fences in Round 1 before officials sounded the tone indicating that Archer should pull up. Obstacles at 9A, 12, and 13 had blown down completely. The ground crew scrambled to reassemble the fences as Archer and Camerone waited.
“When we started out [in Round 1] he felt fantastic,” said Archer of the 12-year old Swedish Warmblood gelding. “Then they toned me out on the way to the double and I pulled up. My immediate thought was “Oh this is great, now he’s going to think we’re in the jump-off,’ which is completely what he thought. So the rest of that round was really ugly, but he’s a careful horse and he tried hard and we got it done. It just wasn’t our prettiest round.”
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Additional sandbags and a bit of cooperation from the weather allowed the event to continue without further interruption. Archer and Camerone were third out of eight to compete in the jump-off, following double clear trips by both Parette and Lisa Carlsen from Okotoks, Alberta as well as Boukati B and Eric Hasbrouck from Arlington, Wash. Later, Jacklyn Duff of Edmonton, Alberta put in a clear jump off round aboard EH All or None, but couldn’t beat Archer’s time; she finished in second place.
“[Camerone] composed himself and was fantastic in the jump off,” said Archer. “I couldn’t have asked for him to have been better.”
Camerone was previously shown by Nicole Bloom, but Archer took over the ride late last year. She won their first grand prix with him in November’s $25,000 Oak Tree Grand Prix at the Paso Robles Horse Park. Archer and her husband, Matt, run Shady Lane Farm in Alamo, Calif. Lindsay rode with Karen Healey as a junior, then rode as an amateur after attending college. She turned professional in 2003 and started Shady Lane Farm, where she and Matt train
While most felt that the weather conditions were less than ideal, Archer wondered if the winds had a positive effect on Camerone. “When I flatted him this morning he was so quiet—I didn’t know if I had enough horse. And then when the winds picked up I think it actually helped. It got him a little amped up,” she said. The Thermal area was under a high wind warning all day Sunday, with the National Weather Service advising of winds 30 to 40 mph with gusts to 70 mph.
“The funny thing is, I have seen it happen a couple times in the past where the lights went out in the indoor or something knocked over a jump,” said Archer “And every time that’s happened, that person has jumped clear. So when it happened to me, I thought this might be a good omen.”
Archer will be back to Thermal for week V and VI, hoping to continue her winning streak with Camerone.
