Derek Petersen showed he believes the adage “cleanliness is next to godliness,” as he rode Cisco to the only double-clear rounds in the $25,000 Grand Prix during the Atlanta Summer Classic II, June 21-25 to earn the horse’s first grand prix win.

“We’ve been nursing him along because he hasn’t had much experience, but he came around and did what we were hoping he’d
do,” Petersen said. He had reason to hope, since the 8-year-old, Holsteiner stallion (by Concerto II and out of a Corrado mare) is “bred to do big jumps.”

And, as the only Concerto II-approved bloodline in the United States, Cisco has a pretty busy pastime standing at stud at Petersen’s Legacy Farm in Archer, Fla. “Cisco’s a very easy-going stallion. If my geldings were as well behaved as Cisco, it’d be great. My 14-year-old son Jared rides him,” Petersen said.

The Buddy Brown first-round course on the grand prix field at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Ga., was “really long–like a derby course–a 14-obstacle endurance track,” Petersen said.

With Cisco, Petersen said, the biggest challenge is getting him fit. “He doesn’t need much riding, just lots of trotting. The breeding season got his hind end strong, and I try to keep him as fresh as possible,” he said.

Petersen will jump four or five jumps before heading into the ring. “There’s nothing complicated about him. I’m tempted to bring a mare to the ring to wake him up,” said Petersen.

Petersen’s grand prix successes didn’t end with Cisco. He also rode Heaven Bound, Cisco and Cliff 28 to double-clear rounds and ribbons in the NHJL open jumper classic. Heaven Bound was also second in the Horses Helping Horses Grand Prix during the Atlanta Summer Classic I.

All this time in the grand prix ring was made possible by one special horse, Promised Land, who Petersen calls his “dream horse.” Petersen and Promised Land won multiple grand prix classes and placed seventh in the $200,000 Budweiser American Invitational (Fla.) in 2004.

“I bought Promised Land as an equitation prospect in Germany for not much money, and he started to look pretty special. God told me he’d be my special horse and he’d bring me to the promised land,” Petersen said.

But in late 2004, he sold Promised Land to Christine Tribble McCrea. “It changed our lives when we sold him. We got to expand the farm and continue playing in the grand prix ring. I had to start again, but I had Cisco coming along behind him and bought a few others,” he said.

Petersen doesn’t have the typical grand prix rider background. He grew up in South Africa, where he started riding by catching wild horses and riding them home bareback and show jumped as a junior. The family moved to the United States in 1986 “with the clothes on our backs. I came here thinking I was done with riding,” Petersen recalled.

But he started working as jump crew for Gene Mische, setting up the courses for grand prix classes and telling himself he’d be doing that someday. “I started with a big dream–to show in the Budweiser American Invitational,” he said.

Petersen then was a working student for Jean Brinkman in Lake City, Fla., and evented for five years. “I’d always dreamed of doing grand prix, but getting a horse was a challenge,” he said.

Promised Land made that dream a reality, and now Petersen is a regular in the grand prix ring. He credits his wife, Anita, as the “backbone to the business here. She’s the organizer, the manager. She does the office work. She’s really the hard work behind the scenes,” he said.

The Petersens have two sons, Joel, 12, who will show in the pony jumpers soon, and Jared, 14, who is planning to show in the junior jumpers next year.

Adding To The Collection
Petersen wasn’t the only one decorating the Legacy Farm tackroom with blues. His students, Jenny Childs and Kristianna Lindgren, kept pace with him. Childs, 17, rode Valentino and Gulfstream V to the championship and reserve in the high junior/amateur-owner jumper division. It was just her second weekend showing at the level 7 height.

“I was not expecting such a great weekend,” she said. “I’d never done a whole weekend of the highs. But even if I’m nervous about getting around, I know that if Derek is going to put me in the class, I can do it.”

Childs, from Roswell, Ga., did more than get around, taking two firsts and a second on Valentino and seventh in the EMO NHJL high junior/amateur-owner jumper classic. Childs bought the 17-hand chestnut Dutch Warmblood from Amy and Jonathan Millar in early 2004.

“I’ve been learning him and the skills I need to do higher jumps,” Childs said.

She also rode Gulfstream V to a second, third and fourth, and then to 12th in the classic. She bought the 16-hand Belgian Warmblood from Daniel Geitner last winter. “They are both identical, with white socks to the knees and a big white blaze. I never know if anyone knows I’m riding a different horse,” Childs said.

Childs began riding with Petersen during the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit (Fla.) this year and meets up with him at shows. “The first week [the Atlanta Summer Classic I] did not go as well,” Childs said. “When I have a good solid two weeks working with Derek, the progress is incredible. Whenever Derek trains me, the horses perform their best because they’re relaxed and I’m relaxed.”

Soon, Childs will not have to commute to shows to have that time with Petersen. She is spending the summer as Petersen’s working student. And the Childs family bought 10 acres adjoining Petersen’s Legacy Farm in Archer, Fla., so Childs can attend college in the Gainesville area.

“There are so many great schools all near [Derek’s] house, so why not kill two birds with one stone–go to college and pursue a career. I know it’s what I want to do–buying and selling horses and riding in grand prix.”

Petersen said that Childs is a very talented rider. “She’s going to be someone you’ll be talking about winning classes. She’s got a natural talent, eye, seat and understanding of horses–those things that you can’t teach,” he said.

Fellow Petersen student Lindgren, 26, has only been jumping for a year, but at the Atlanta Summer Classic shows, “I was ready to try to actually win,” she said. And win she did, riding John 3:16 to the top of the NHJL adult amateur jumper classic by going double clean and claiming the adult amateur jumper championship.

Petersen imported John 3:16 from Germany in 2004 as a grand prix horse, but Lindgren bought him a year ago. “We really clicked,” Lindgren said of the 11-year-old Holsteiner. “He’s the best-looking horse I’ve ever seen.”

Lindgren started showing in the adult jumpers a year ago. “He’s pretty forward and an excellent turner,” she said of John 3:16. “I just look and he’s already turned, so much that I’ve fallen off before when he turned.”

Lindgren worked in riding time as she finished her master’s degree in ecology at the University of Florida, and plans to do the same as she starts law school in the fall.

“I’ve been pretty fortunate so far,” Lindgren said. “I was done with classes and was writing my thesis and going to horse shows on the weekend. This is my only hobby, so I’ll be putting all my extra time into riding.”

Play Station Wins High-Score
Lana Currie and Play Station were the pair no one could beat in the adult amateur hunter, 46 and over, division during both weeks in Conyers. They won six of the six over fences classes she entered as an adult amateur. And that was only the second week–the pair were also adult amateur hunter, 46 and over, champions at the Atlanta Summer Classic I.

Their blues the second week included the championship in the adult amateur, 46 and over, division and wins in the NHJL/NAL adult amateur, 46 and over, hunter classic and the NCE adult equitation, 46 and over. “He loves his job,” Currie said.

“He’s a really made horse now. He’s the same every time you get on him and go. You just pick up your circle and pick up your pace and go.”

Currie got “Joey,” a Thoroughbred, off the track as a 7-year-old. The dark bay gelding raced for four years, but “he’s the easiest horse I’ve ever had to convert. We’ve had lots of horses off the track, and some make a better conversion than others. But he loves his job,” she said.

Joey loves his job so much that he has been the Zone 4 champion in the adult amateurs for the past three years, even though he’s only been showing five years. He was also the 2002 Georgia Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Sport Horse of the Year, which is an honor for taking race horses and converting them to another job.

And at 12, he is still going strong. “We’ve met every goal we’ve set for ourselves,” Currie said. “He’s one of those horses that don’t come around very often. He’ll stay with me. He doesn’t owe me anything.”

Currie, of Cumming, Ga., keeps her horses at home and shows with Elizabeth Warmington. “I know how to find jumps,” Currie said. “But Elizabeth is really good at helping me pick out the small details to improve. She’s helped me with him all along.”

To keep Joey fit, Currie does mostly fieldwork, riding up and down the lanes, rarely jumping between horse shows.

And Joey also has his own anti-smoking campaign, Currie said. “Any time he’s anywhere near anybody smoking a cigarette, or even if someone pats him on the nose that just smoked a cigarette, he turns his nose up and his head away,” she said, laughing.