Rocher looked good yesterday, but today she and George Williams made that ride look like a warm-up as they soared above the competition to win on a score of 73.84 percent in the Grand Prix Special at the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Grand Prix Championships in Gladstone, N.J.
“Rocher’s been back for a month, and today I came back,” joked Williams after his ride. “With Rocher you have to have confidence.”
Though Williams was thrilled with his test, now he’s looking to strengthen Rocher’s passage. She struggled a bit, losing the connection occasionally in her passage, although her piaffe was improved from the first day.
And Rocher wasn’t the only one to improve. Pierre St. Jacques and Lucky Tiger took second place in the Grand Prix Special (67.84%) after a slow start in the Grand Prix.
“Yesterday I had a really nice warm-up, but he got behind me in the arena,” explained St. Jacques. “Today I tried to own the arena.”
Though Arlene “Tuny” Page moved down to third with Wild One (67.00%), she wasn’t disappointed by her ride. “I love the way my horse felt today,” she said. “He was a little more hot, a little more sensitive, but we also made a few more mistakes.”
One of those mistakes included adding two extra one-tempi changes as they came down centerline. “Shouldn’t that be extra credit?” joked Williams.
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Anne Gribbons scratched Aureate from the Grand Prix Special because she injured a muscle.
In the Intermediaire I class, the Peters couple again took top honors, although this time Steffen recorded the highest score (73.10%). “It’s her fault that she warmed me up so perfectly,” he joked about Shannon.
Marlando looked relaxed and elegant in the ring until his final halt and salute. The audience began clapping, and he bolted before Steffen could replace his hat. The judges disagreed about whether he completed the halt or not, with some scoring 8, and one scoring a 4 for the early exit.
Shannon explained that she’d pushed a little in Luxor’s trot work. “I took a few risks and they didn’t pan out,” she said.
Jane Hannigan again took third with Maksymilian (70.20%), breaking the 70th percentile for the first time at the FEI level. “I kept my chin up today,” she said with a laugh.
Though ecstatic over her rides, Hannigan said that she will wait to move up to Grand Prix. “He needs to gain more self-carriage to move up,” she said.
