Hannah Holik and Cupido de Laubry (Phelps Media Group)
"I always go in, especially with him, hoping and thinking that we could win," Holik, of Jackson Hole, WY, said. "I know he has the scope and the speed and the stamina to win every class - it's really up to me and how well I ride him that day."
Guilherme Jorge built an inviting course to get the week started in the Kathy and Brad Coors Family Grand Prix Arena, with straightforward lines and two double combinations. Riders were able to give their horses confident, forward rides in preparation for the days to come. Rails were scattered around the course, with the first double combination (fences 6ab) tripping up a number of horses.
For the jump-off, riders began over the same line as the first round course, an oxer to a vertical, and then had a tight rollback turn to the right to fence 13, a tall red-and-white vertical that horses were seeing for the first time. From there, they headed to the in-and-out, fences 8ab, and then made a rollback to the left to reach an oxer. They executed another right-hand rollback to the Holiday Inn/Hampton Inn vertical and finished over the last red-and-white vertical.
The first two to go, Matt Cyphert on Carat V and John Pearce on Chantico, both moved on to the jump-off but had a rail each there, with Cyphert's time of 39.754 seconds giving him the early lead over Pearce's 41.167 seconds. Holik and Cupido de Laubry quickly stole that lead away with their fast double clear in 35.378 seconds.
None of the next eight riders were able to join the fray in the jump-off, many dropping just a single rail to prevent them from moving on. Bjorn Ikast and Iz's Viva La Vida broke that streak with a clear first round, but had fences 13 and 11 down in the jump-off for eight jumping faults in a time of 37.640 seconds. Janet Hischer and Livia Z followed suit, incurring faults for rails at fences 8a and 11 and coming home in 39.406 seconds. Ikast and Hischer took fourth and fifth place respectively behind Holik, Cyphert, and Pearce.
Holik said the distances in the jump-off rode well, and she focused on a few fences in particular to ensure a clear round.
"I wanted to make sure he cleared the beige rails (of fence 2, the Parker Adventist Hospital vertical) since we've had trouble with that one in the past," she said. "It was a tight rollback to the candy stripe vertical (fence 13), and I just wanted to be efficient there in the least amount of strides. After the in-and-out, I wanted to make sure he got his eye on the oxer soon enough and cleared the back side. He was perfect - he knew it was coming."
Holik has fine-tuned the warm-up routine for "Cupi" so that he has the right energy level when he enters the ring.
"When we first got him, we did harder flat lessons in the morning," she explained. "But he's slowly transformed. He can do a light workout in the morning and then a harder workout before we go in to jump, and he seems to be happy with that. We sometimes go on trail rides before the class or take it easy in the morning, and then we gear him up for the class later in the day."
She takes advantage of the Colorado Horse Park's extensive trail system to keep her horses fresh during the show.
"Here, where they have great trails, we take them for a nice trail ride on Tuesdays just so they can relax," she said.
Holik is keeping busy with schooling and competing her horses at Summer in the Rockies, but she fit in some time for a college visit as well, touring the University of Denver. The rising senior at Jackson Hole Community School is hoping to attend a large university and keep riding and competing at a high level on the side.
$2,500 Open Jumper 1.30m
John McConnell and La Bella Soiree (Phelps Media Group)
This is the first horse show for La Bella Soiree, a 9-year-old Hanoverian mare owned by Molly Precourt, since she was imported from Germany about three months ago. She competed at the 1.40m level in Germany, and McConnell's goal is to step her up to the grand prix. While she didn't fare as well as hoped in the last week's $25,000 Littleton Equine Medical Center/Platinum Performance Grand Prix, she showed she is back in the game, and McConnell plans to give Thursday's $15,000 Open Welcome Stake a try.
"We're trying to move up to do the big courses," McConnell explained. "We stepped up last week and weren't so fortunate, but we'll do the Welcome again tomorrow and see where we're at."
"She's got a great attitude and a really sweet disposition, and she's great in the barn," he added. "She can be a little strong in the bridle sometimes, but goes in a loose ring snaffle. She's really a nice horse."
Thirteen horse and rider combinations gave Jorge's first round course a try, and seven of those advanced to the jump-off. Delaney Flynn and Quite Quick posted the first double clear midway through the class, finishing in 39.346 seconds.
McConnell was next to reach the jump-off and took a neat, efficient track, making the best of opportunities to save ground and leave out strides. He and La Bella Soiree clocked in at 38.639 seconds, moving into the lead.
The three pairs immediately following them were all double clear, but none managed as quick a time, leaving McConnell and La Bella Soiree to take home the top prize. McConnell said the course rode well and was a perfect way to start out Summer in the Rockies III.
"Guilherme (Jorge) is a great course designer," he said. "Everything is set to make the horses get better as the week goes on. There are no traps out there. Everything is set to make them jump, and he'll build as the week goes on."