Scan the entry list for the CIC* at Red Hills and you’ll see various purpose-bred or imported horses—Fernhills, Cooleys, FEs and more.
Watch them go, and they’re pretty amazing. But Sophia Middlebrook will tell you Sky Blue Dakota is just as amazing, though she never quite expected the Paint gelding to be tackling the notoriously tough cross-country course at Red Hills.
Fernhill Fugitive has always been a solid campaigner for Phillip Dutton, but he may have moved up a few places in his string after his brilliant weekend at Red Hills.
Four years ago Katherine Coleman packed up her bags and her one horse and left New Orleans for England as a young rider with just a single one-star under her belt a few years before. Now she returns to tackle Red Hills on her journey to Rolex.
You might not have bet on Czechmate to win the CIC*** at Red Hills this weekend based on the entry list, but the 9-year-old Czech Warmblood stepped up to the plate for Lauren Kieffer and came home with the win in his first CIC*** after jumping a double clear round over Fuzzy Mayo’s show jumping track.
Each rider has his or her own style on cross-country, but all of us have to learn from somewhere or someone. We asked some of the top riders at the Red Hills International Horse Trials in Tallahassee, Fla., who their cross-country idols are and why.
There were a lot more experienced horses in the CIC*** division at Red Hills than Czechmate, but at the end of cross-country day, he and Lauren Kieffer came out on top.
