Tag: Hannah Selleck

Highlights From The August 2010 Blenheim EquiSports Show

August 21, 2010: The $35,000 Summer Classic II Grand Prix, presented by Equ Lifestyle Magazine
The weather on Saturday afternoon was close to ideal, with a breeze and temperatures in the 70s. Spectators gathered in the Medal Club, on the hillside and in the hilltop VIP tent to watch the last of the summer grand prix events at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park.

Thirty-three horse and rider duos stepped up (or in some cases down) to the challenge of the Leopoldo Palacios designed course in the $35,000 Summer Classic II Grand Prix, presented by Equ Lifestyle Magazine. Of all those who had aspirations of going clean, only the first two on course, Lane Clarke aboard Bay Rose’s Nikko and Hannah Selleck riding the fiery mare Tosca of Descanso Farm, were able to do so. Both young and ambitious, it was twenty-one-year-old Selleck who came out on top with a stellar double clear ride for the win.

Master course designer Palacios presented competitors with a technical track that demanded a careful, yet gutsy ride. There were a total of 17 obstacles which included a tricky bending line, a combination with a sizeable triple bar, another combination, a very tidy rollback turn to a skinny in five or six strides to the open water in a very tight ride to a vertical-vertical combination, and ended with a right-hand turn to a big oxer at the top of the field. All in a keep-up-the-pace time allowed of 87 seconds. “This was a very tough national grand prix. I tried to challenge the group as much as possible,” Palacios said.

The first two horse and rider teams made fault-free rides a reality. First to gallop onto the grass, Clarke jumped Bay Rose’s Nikko around the course just under the time allowed in 86.72 seconds. Next in the ring, Selleck brilliantly answered Clarke’s call and forced the jump-off, laying down a clean and aggressive first round ride in 79.98 aboard her chestnut mount Tosca.

“The track suited Tosca,” said Selleck of her 14-year-old Belgium mare. “The opening and shortening between fences is exactly what she likes.”

As the rest of the competitors took to the course, Palacios’ challenge was evident. All remaining exhibitors picked up faults of some kind – rails fell, time allowed was exceeded, hooves landed in the water, and refusals, run-outs and accidental dismounts also occurred.

“Leopoldo’s courses are hard, technical and have a tight time allowed,” explained second place rider, Clarke. “He does a great job of getting rails in different places, plus the horses and the riders always learn something.”

As the first to take in the jump-off, Clarke knew his ride had to be strong. “Hannah is a rocket and I knew I had to put the pressure on her,” Clarke explained. Clarke and Bay Rose’s Nikko navigated the shortened track in a time of 48.98 seconds and picked up eight faults towards the end. “I am really happy with my horse,” Clark said. “He is green at the grand prix level and is coming along fantastically.”

Having the advantage of following Clarke in the jump-off, Selleck and Tosca galloped onto the International Field with an air of determination. “In the jump-off, the pressure was on. I just had to go out there and stick to my plan,” Selleck noted.

Selleck presented the crowd with a masterful ride and triumphantly crossed the timers without fault in 45.15 seconds to surpass Clarke and clinch her first win in the grand prix arena.

Although close but not clean in round one, some of the remaining prizewinners deserve mention. The fastest four-fault ride was Mexico City’s Jaime Azcarraga aboard his grey partner Celsius, who had just one unlucky rail for third place honors. Slightly over half a second behind Azcarraga, Susan Hutchison and El Dorado 29’s Cantano had four faults and picked up the fourth place prize. Fifth through seventh went to four fault rides from Mexican riders Eduardo Menezes and his horse Utopia, last week’s winner Otavio Penedo aboard Carando Equisearch and Eduardo Menezes riding Avargo Mercedes Benz.

Earning the eighth spot, Michelle Parker and Socrates De Midos (Cross Creek Farms Inc., owner) thrilled the crowd when they miraculously cleared fence six from a near standstill. It looked as though the duo was going to go clean until, like so many others before them, they lowered the height of the first element in the one stride at 13A for four faults. In addition to finishing second in the competition, Clarke also finished in the money aboard his second mount, Mickey Hayden’s McLord’s First John, stopping the clock just over the time allowed for one time fault in addition to eight jumping faults. Winner Selleck rode Descanso Farm’s Bauer to an eleventh place finish as the fastest of the twelve fault rides.

Highlights From The Aug 21, 2010 Blenheim EquiSports Show

August 21, 2010: The $35,000 Summer Classic II Grand Prix, presented by Equ Lifestyle Magazine
The weather on Saturday afternoon was close to ideal, with a breeze and temperatures in the 70s. Spectators gathered in the Medal Club, on the hillside and in the hilltop VIP tent to watch the last of the summer grand prix events at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park.

Thirty-three horse and rider duos stepped up (or in some cases down) to the challenge of the Leopoldo Palacios designed course in the $35,000 Summer Classic II Grand Prix, presented by Equ Lifestyle Magazine. Of all those who had aspirations of going clean, only the first two on course, Lane Clarke aboard Bay Rose’s Nikko and Hannah Selleck riding the fiery mare Tosca of Descanso Farm, were able to do so. Both young and ambitious, it was twenty-one-year-old Selleck who came out on top with a stellar double clear ride for the win.

Master course designer Palacios presented competitors with a technical track that demanded a careful, yet gutsy ride. There were a total of 17 obstacles which included a tricky bending line, a combination with a sizeable triple bar, another combination, a very tidy rollback turn to a skinny in five or six strides to the open water in a very tight ride to a vertical-vertical combination, and ended with a right-hand turn to a big oxer at the top of the field. All in a keep-up-the-pace time allowed of 87 seconds. “This was a very tough national grand prix. I tried to challenge the group as much as possible,” Palacios said.

The first two horse and rider teams made fault-free rides a reality. First to gallop onto the grass, Clarke jumped Bay Rose’s Nikko around the course just under the time allowed in 86.72 seconds. Next in the ring, Selleck brilliantly answered Clarke’s call and forced the jump-off, laying down a clean and aggressive first round ride in 79.98 aboard her chestnut mount Tosca.

“The track suited Tosca,” said Selleck of her 14-year-old Belgium mare. “The opening and shortening between fences is exactly what she likes.”

As the rest of the competitors took to the course, Palacios’ challenge was evident. All remaining exhibitors picked up faults of some kind – rails fell, time allowed was exceeded, hooves landed in the water, and refusals, run-outs and accidental dismounts also occurred.

“Leopoldo’s courses are hard, technical and have a tight time allowed,” explained second place rider, Clarke. “He does a great job of getting rails in different places, plus the horses and the riders always learn something.”

As the first to take in the jump-off, Clarke knew his ride had to be strong. “Hannah is a rocket and I knew I had to put the pressure on her,” Clarke explained. Clarke and Bay Rose’s Nikko navigated the shortened track in a time of 48.98 seconds and picked up eight faults towards the end. “I am really happy with my horse,” Clark said. “He is green at the grand prix level and is coming along fantastically.”

Having the advantage of following Clarke in the jump-off, Selleck and Tosca galloped onto the International Field with an air of determination. “In the jump-off, the pressure was on. I just had to go out there and stick to my plan,” Selleck noted.

Selleck presented the crowd with a masterful ride and triumphantly crossed the timers without fault in 45.15 seconds to surpass Clarke and clinch her first win in the grand prix arena.

Although close but not clean in round one, some of the remaining prizewinners deserve mention. The fastest four-fault ride was Mexico City’s Jaime Azcarraga aboard his grey partner Celsius, who had just one unlucky rail for third place honors. Slightly over half a second behind Azcarraga, Susan Hutchison and El Dorado 29’s Cantano had four faults and picked up the fourth place prize. Fifth through seventh went to four fault rides from Mexican riders Eduardo Menezes and his horse Utopia, last week’s winner Otavio Penedo aboard Carando Equisearch and Eduardo Menezes riding Avargo Mercedes Benz.

Earning the eighth spot, Michelle Parker and Socrates De Midos (Cross Creek Farms Inc., owner) thrilled the crowd when they miraculously cleared fence six from a near standstill. It looked as though the duo was going to go clean until, like so many others before them, they lowered the height of the first element in the one stride at 13A for four faults. In addition to finishing second in the competition, Clarke also finished in the money aboard his second mount, Mickey Hayden’s McLord’s First John, stopping the clock just over the time allowed for one time fault in addition to eight jumping faults. Winner Selleck rode Descanso Farm’s Bauer to an eleventh place finish as the fastest of the twelve fault rides.

Collective Thoughts On Equitation

By Laura Ware

Laura Ware, winner of the LAHJA Junior Medal in November, 2007. Photo © AC Custom Photo

Riding in the equitation as a junior is almost like a rite of passage. All the top junior riders, regardless of how many horses they own or show, choose to keep their feet in the equitation ring, as equitation is what prepares juniors to have success in the other show rings, and eventually in the high level show jumping classes such as Amateur Owner or Grand Prix. Looking at the previous junior winners of both local and national medal finals and seeing how many of them are now top Grand Prix riders is indeed impressive.

Although waking up at the crack of dawn to chase down medal points gets old (I think there’s a USEF law somewhere that states that all major medal classes must begin at or before 8 AM!), riding in the equitation ring teaches us discipline, proper position, and the ability to maintain poise and composure regardless of what is happening underneath us.

I cannot speak for all the other riders out there, but I think that practicing position gets tedious, and, although my equitation is far from perfect, it would definitely be significantly worse if I were not being judged on it multiple times at each horse show! I am a competitive person, and being scored on my style gives me the much-needed motivation to practice it.
Several riders who exhibit strength in the equitation, as well as in the hunter and/or jumper rings, were kind enough to tell me about their opinions on and experiences in the equitation and medal classes.

Junior rider Hilary Neff: Competing in equitation takes a lot of discipline and patience, but most importantly, it is always fun. Because this division is subjective, it can sometimes be frustrating. It is easy to feel like a judge “ripped you off”, but in the end, good ribbons and bad ribbons even out. I try to remember that the judge knows best 99.9% of the time.
It takes a long time to become a competent equitation rider, but every second is worth it in the end. Also, you have to have a strong relationship with your horse in order to be successful, which to me, is the best part of the sport.

Amateur rider Hannah Selleck: Competing as an adult in Amateur Equitation is similar to competing as a junior, except Adult Equitation is much less competitive. There’s not the pressure to go in and get WIHS points or to have to get a certain number of points to make it to Indoors. Now I just go and ride my best, and have a good time! I’m almost enjoying the equitation more now than I ever have before. I still love doing the USEF Talent Search and I do have a goal to get my gold medal. Even though this is a pretty important goal for me, I still just go into the ring and really enjoy myself. Having the perspective of formerly competing in the equitation as a junior and now as an amateur, I can really see how important equitation is to give riders a strong foundation of basic skills like position and form. I have definitely transferred these skills from the equitation classes to the jumper ring and have found the experience of the medal finals invaluable. Note from Laura: I’m especially curious about this, as my amateur days are looming near. Yikes!

Junior rider Tina DiLandri: By riding in the equitation, you find your best position and learn how to manipulate certain situations in the ring – it is the base of riding. Riding in the equitation classes has taught me patience. It definitely helps me succeed in the hunters and the jumpers as well.

From competing in the equitation ring I have learned that everything is not as easy as it looks. There needs to be a true connection from the horse to the rider. You can have one of the best horses in the world, but if you don’t know how to ride it’s not going to work.

During the George Morris seminar in Florida, he told me not to be an emotional rider. It is so true that if you overreact your horse is also going to overreact and not stay calm. If something happens, fix it in a nonchalant way and stay calm. Overall, just have fun!
Junior Rider (and article author) Laura Ware: I agree with this premise; equitation has taught me to maintain a proper position which will encourage my horse, whether hunter or jumper, to jump in the best form possible.

A Flat Jump: However the growth of the equitation division has created an irony. An ideal equitation horse is one that jumps flat and has little feel in the air so a rider can maintain the most conventional and attractive position. This is fine; it’s nice to be able to leave the ground and feel almost nothing in the air, but having a flat-jumping horse will probably not bring success in other arenas of this sport. This is kind of ironic because the whole purpose of equitation is to prepare riders for other arenas, which demand a good-jumping horse. Plus, if you ask me, detracting from the horse’s form eliminates part of the thrill of this sport. There is no better sensation than cantering up to a perfect distance and feeling your horse explode in the air. And shouldn’t good riders be able to maintain a solid position when a horse jumps well?

Rails: A very controversial issue that gets all of us riders and trainers and parents in a fit is the question of whether or not to penalize a downed rail in an equitation class or final. There are those who believe that a rail is a major error (the whole point of this sport is to jump over the fences without a fault) and should be penalized accordingly. Then there are those who feel that the rail should only be penalized if it is the rider’s error, since these classes do focus on the rider. I’ve always found this a bit confusing. A jumper receives four faults for a rail and a hunter will score no higher than a 50, regardless of whose fault it was. Why can’t there be a solution as simple as this for the equitation ring?

I could go on all day about the pros and cons of this division, but the challenge of a job well done and then being judged subjectively is part of what makes it fun. Having to guess as to the results of each class keeps us on our toes (and in our heels), eager to improve our performances.

So like my colleagues above say, remember that the good and bad ribbons even out, have goals but also have fun, learn to get connected with your horse and don’t be an emotional rider. Most of all, don’t let the subjectivity get to you – it’s all part of the lessons we learn time and again.

Laura Listens is brought to you by Laura Ware. Winner of the 2007 LAHSA Junior Medal Finals and a recipient of the 2008 WCAR Jumper Rider Grant, Laura rides with First Field Farm and often trains with Archie Cox. She is very successful in the all three disciplines on her own mounts as well as catch riding other horses.