Penny Rowland hopes to be competing Windswept on the Canadian team at the Pan Am Games this summer, and her win at Pine Top, March 3-4 in Thomson, Ga., showed her that she’s on the right track. In addition to winning the advanced, FEI test, division on Windswept, she also topped advanced, division 2, on Roundabout.

Since Windswept has completed six three-stars, Rowland isn’t planning on doing a spring three-day with him, just running him at horse trials to show he’s on form and hoping the selectors will notice him.

Rowland, Orangeville, Ont., was surprised at how course designer John Williams had increased the difficulty of Pine Top’s cross-country. “They’d beefed it up quite a bit. It’s usually a nice first advanced of the year,” she said. “The double corners at the end were quite a four-star question. It was tough—bending lines in the water and a bounce bank with a huge drop.”

Even though he had only run one event this spring, Windswept, a Connemara-Thoroughbred, didn’t put a foot wrong. “He went out like he’s been doing this every week,” Rowland said. “I was just ecstatic.”

She was especially pleased to have a perfect show jumping round. “It’s been my weakest link,” she said. “I think I’ve finally got it much more secure. He had a beautiful clean round.”

Don Good owns Windswept and Roundabout, and he discovered Roundabout, a former Mennonite carthorse. “He was pulling a cart and running away with it,” said Rowland with a laugh.

The Canadian Sport Horse—who Rowland believes contains some Standardbred, Hanoverian and Quarter Horse blood—is a talented jumper but very strong.

“Not many people could ride him, strength-wise,” said Rowland. “You have to compromise. The first five fences on cross-country are definitely hairier than I would like, not a lot of brakes, but then he’s absolutely fabulous.”

Not surprisingly, Roundabout had the fastest time of the day at Pine Top. “He smoked it,” said Rowland. “And he loved every minute of it. He had his ears forward and flew around it.”

Rowland spends two weeks at a time in Ocala, Fla., where she’s training with Canadian team clinician David O’Connor, then flies home for a week to work in her clinic as a small animal veterinarian, then returns to Florida again for two weeks. Her groom, Lisa Tripp, keeps the horses going while she’s away.

“This isn’t Rolex, but it’s part of my training program, and let’s face it, it feels good to win,” said Rowland. “I’m just happy with my horses. They did nice tests and had clean cross-country and stadium. It’s nice to come home and tell your owner you won.”

Another Canadian, Jessica Ruppel, scored her first advanced win in the advanced rider division. Ruppel, 23, Collingwood, Ont., rode her 15-hand Naughty By Nature.

A friend of Ruppel’s owned the mixed breed, who Ruppel said has Morgan, Arab and Appaloosa blood, as a young horse, and Ruppel helped her break him as a 3-year-old. Ruppel kept riding him, eventually buying him, and he’s become her first advanced horse.

“He’s absolutely amazing cross-country,” she said. “He just loves it and has a heart of gold. That’s where he’s at home.”

Ruppel was impressed by the course at Pine Top, but it didn’t cause her any trouble. “Every time I walk an advanced course, I think it’s the hardest I’ve ever done,” she said. “I always worry because he’s small, that he might get tired, but he was going like a freight train at the end, hardly blowing or sweating.”

She was especially pleased with how he handled the water complex. “I did it on a long rein, just pointed and kicked, and he went,” she said.

Although he can sometimes get strong and flat in show jumping, Naughty By Nature jumped a perfect clear round this time. “I stayed relaxed, so he stayed relaxed,” she said.

Ruppel came up with her horse’s name while flipping through some old CDs and thought the name of the rap group fit her horse. “His name is a complete reflection of his character, especially when he was young,” she said with a laugh.

Ruppel is also training with O’Connor and the Canadian team hopefuls, and she plans to compete at the Jersey Fresh CCI*** (N.J.).

“It’s really cool [to win] because there’s always been a question in everyone’s mind if the horse is capable of doing what we’re asking him to do,” she said. “It doesn’t happen often, but at least there’s one event where I can say we did everything well.

“I’m just really excited to be down here doing what I’m doing and have the opportunity to ride this horse,” she added. “He’s very special.”