Chelsey Sibley topped the scoreboard in three of the four high performance qualifying classes at the Golden State Premiere Dressage show, Feb. 4-6 in Rancho Murieta, Calif.

With three California-bred Dutch Warmbloods, Sibley won the Grand Prix with Landmark, the Grand Prix freestyle with Ijsselmeer, and the Intermediaire I with Lauwersmeer.

“It’s pretty unbelievable!” said Sibley.

Landmark, 12, performed his first Grand Prix test at Golden State and won with a 64.30 percent. Sibley was thrilled with Landmark’s basically clean test and calm performance.

“He even did 15 ones which he’s never done before!” she said with a laugh. “At the end of the ones I thought, ‘Oh my god, he’s just done 15 ones!’ I wanted to stop and say good boy! He was calm, and that’s all he needs to do is to be calm and quiet and listen to me. He’s really getting it together.”

Sibley has high expectations for the gray gelding. “Landmark’s definitely a horse that will excel at the Grand Prix,” she said. “He needs the harder work to keep his mind focused in what he’s doing because he can get a little bit tense. He’s really talented for piaffe and passage. He just needs a little bit more fine tuning to develop it. He’s going to be a really great Grand Prix horse.”

Landmark was slightly tense in Sunday’s Grand Prix freestyle. He scored 65.66 percent to tie with Ijsselmeer, and when the judges broke the tie they placed him second. Since Sibley spent last summer moving from Oakland, Calif., to a 90-acre property in Sonora, Calif., she didn’t have time to create a Grand Prix freestyle for Landmark, so she recycled one that she had ridden on a previous mount, Vosmaer. It just happened to fit Landmark very well.

Landmark (Uniform–Zerona) was bred by DG Bar Ranch in Hanford, Calif. Cindy and Steve Snow of Oakland, Calif., purchased him as a 3-year-old, and Sibley has been riding him since then.

Ijsselmeer, a 15-year-old stallion, became the winner of the Grand Prix freestyle when the tie was broken (65.66%). He was second in the Grand Prix qualifier (60.06%). This was Ijsselmeer’s first show after a year and a half off due to an injury. He had caught a hoof under some plywood last January and spent a year growing out the hoof wall.

“I was happy and shocked that he’s ready to do this,” said Sibley. “He’s doing really well. He was a little full of himself in the Grand Prix, since he hasn’t been out in so long. He can get a little bit too excited. For the freestyle he was much better. He was thinking more about his work.”

Ijsselmeer had only been shown once at Intermediaire II before his injury, and this was his first show at Grand Prix.

Sibley didn’t have a Grand Prix freestyle for Ijsselmeer, either. Creeky Routson of Wild Ride freestyles in Walnut Creek, Calif., does the music and helps with choreography for Sibley’s freestyles. Routson came to Sonora the Tuesday before the show with two freestyles that she had made for Vosmaer, Ijsselmeer’s sire, when Sibley was competing with him more than five years ago. Sibley used one freestyle with Ijsselmeer and the other with Landmark. She had just the one day of practice with the freestyles before the show.

“For the next show, the Golden State CDI in April, I’ll get better freestyles that are just for Ijsselmeer and Landmark,” said Sibley with a laugh.

Deborah Harrison, DVM, of San Juan Bautista, Calif., bred and owns Ijsselmeer. Sibley has been training him since he was 3.

Harrison also owns and bred Lauwersmeer, Sibley’s winner in the Intermediaire I qualifier (65.33%). Sibley has been riding the 12-year-old stallion by Farmer since he was 3 also.

Growing Stronger

Chris Rivlin-Henke of Concord, Calif., won the Prix St. Georges qualifier (65.16%) on Lyra, a 10-year-old, Hessen mare owned by Stacy Hart McCarthy of San Francisco, Calif. Rivlin-Henke showed Lyra at third level last season and made the jump to the FEI levels over the winter.

“Her Prix St. Georges was good, but the Intermediaire I–she’s not ready,” said Rivlin-Henke. “She did OK, but she’s not quite there. Two weeks ago at a show the Prix St. Georges felt like it had a lot of holes. This weekend’s test felt a lot better. The trot work was a lot stronger. The canter work is all pretty good. She had one mistake in the three tempis, but she’s always quick to recover. I think it was more rider error than horse error.”

Lyra placed fourth in the Intermediaire I qualifier (62.41%). “She was a little more tired in the Intermediaire I,” said Rivlin-Henke. “She had a couple mistakes in the twos, and her canter pirouettes were too big. Again, more rider error than horse error. This was the first time I’ve ridden the I-1 test on her, and it’s been a while seen I’ve competed at Intermediaire. So this was kind of a warm-up, a school, and a show all in one ride. But she was good. I feel like everything’s there. It just needs to be a little bit more solid for the rest of the year.”

Rivlin-Henke and McCarthy found Lyra in Germany three years ago. Erich Loenhardt bred the mare, by the Holsteiner stallion Lucky Luke, and she was owned by an amateur rider and kept in her barn at home.

“She kind of didn’t know much when we bought her,” said Rivlin-Henke. “She’d had a baby and was kind of ugly and had no top line. She’s got a great temperament and a super, super work ethic. She was a really good find.”

McCarthy hopes to show Lyra at Prix St. Georges next year in the amateur classes.

Heidi Gaian was the top scoring FEI rider on Just Fritz with a 69.50 percent in the open Intermediaire I. Gaian has only owned the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood since November. She found him at Johann Hinneman’s barn in Germany when she was training there last fall. The 16.3-hand gelding had come to Hinneman from Coby van Balen in the Netherlands. He is by El Corona and was shown under the name Joeri in Europe.

“This was his first show in America,” said Gaian. “On Friday we had a mistake in nearly every movement. On Saturday he was better, but he spooked at the judge’s box. But today [Sunday] he was quite good. I overrode him on the first centerline and had one bad transition but other than that he was really good.”

In hindsight, Gaian realized she’d been giving him too many aids on Friday. “And then sometimes he spooked,” she said. “He’s pretty hot and a bit spooky, but I knew that when I got him. If he gets nervous looking at something then he’s harder to ride, but I prefer a horse more hot than too quiet. So it’s a trade off. But he’s very fun. Jo recommended him and that’s good enough for me.”

Gaian hopes to move Fritz up to Grand Prix in a few weeks. She and her mother, Pam Nelson, are trainers at their farm Villa Rosa in Hollister, Calif. Gaian trains with Dirk Glitz of Toyon Farm in Napa, Calif., and with Hinneman when she is in Europe.
Driving A Sports Car

Christiane Noelting’s Hanoverian gelding Wilco made his debut at Prix St. Georges at Golden State. Wilco won the Prix St. Georges on Saturday (65.25%)
and was second on Friday (64.16%) and Sunday (58.75%).

“His first test was really good, and his second test was really super,” said Noelting. “That was more than I had expected. Today [Sunday] we had a couple mishaps and all of a sudden he was a little looky. He moved a big step ahead this winter. Riding him is like driving a sports car with very sensitive instruments.”

Noelting found Wilco on a trip home to Germany two years ago. He is by Wanderbursch out of Birke and was bred by Marion Thies. He had never been shown before she bought him.

“He knew some tricks,” she said. “He knew a flying change in one direction but not clean in the other. He knew the half passes, but he wasn’t steady. He wasn’t enough through the back–which we’re still working on–it’s a never ending job. He’s really coming along and relaxing more and liking the California lifestyle more than the German.”

Now Noelting is working on perfecting the pirouettes. “That very collected canter is really hard for him,” she said. “But his trot work is pretty nice. I had some really nice scores this weekend in the trot work, which was much better than last October at the Region 7 finals. So now he’s really made a big step ahead in elevation and engagement.

“It’s a fun job with him,” she added. “He’s a sensitive soul, so I don’t want to push him too fast.”

Noelting runs a training barn in Vacaville, Calif. She has taken clinics with Roger Seegert of Germany six to seven times a year for the last seven years. Prior to riding with Seegert, Noelting worked with Anders Lindgren for 15 years.