Brentina Cup Winner Elisabeth Austin and Olivier (SusanJStickle.com)
“I am so proud to be a part of it. Brentina and Debbie both have done so much for this sport in this country and certainly around the world. They make it fun, so I think that to be part of that and to represent that is really, really important.”
Despite having mono, Austin had a solid performance. “Yesterday I was a little behind him. The mistakes were mine. He was a genius. He said I’ll do whatever you want, but why are you telling me to do that. Today I felt more with him. I was a little bit stronger. I made sure I slept a lot last night.”
Austin, a senior at the University of Vermont, started competing the homebred stallion at third level and has been very happy with his progress. “We just didn’t feel the need to campaign him a lot. He’s very happy in his job, he loves to show, but for me I don’t think it’s important to show a ton. I really like training, and then you come somewhere like this and they love it.”
Olivier is a breeding stallion and was bred on Monday before he got here. Austin commented that he probably already paid their way on this trip. Austin and her mother did nearly all of Olivier’s training themselves in Vermont. She remembers being there when Olivier was born. “I remember when he came out my mom said, oh look he has expensive markings, because he has four pretty white feet.”
It is obvious that the special relationship that needs to be present in a top horse and rider combination is there between Austin and the horse she has nicknamed “Fizzy” after a Muppets character who is known to be very mouthy. She says he is very much a pet; he does tricks and eats watermelon.
“I know how special he is. I know that he will be as special as I can ride him. For him the limit is me so I’m going to ride him as well as I can and keep him as happy as I can and see where we go. He is a charming, charming horse…He loves his job and he loves to show up. It’s so easy, he’ll get a little strong and a little stalliony but he loves it and that’s the best part.”
In second place, with a score of 69.171 was Bethany Peslar, winner of yesterday’s warm-up class. Peslar, of Wellington, FL, rode her 14-year-old Westphalian gelding, More Magic. The two have only been a pair since April, when Peslar bought him in Germany. “It’s a great stepping stone for young riders moving up into grand prix to compete against people in your own age group before jumping into the professional ring at grand prix.”
Third place winner, Lauren Sprieser, agreed that being a part of the Brentina Cup was an amazing opportunity. “The goal of the program was obviously to take young riders and gear them up for the grand prix program. And it is particularly exciting to be getting in on this program at the ground floor to be in the first generation of kids to go through it.”
Sprieser, of Oak Brook, IL, did her best canter imitation in the award ceremony after her horse, Bellinger, gave her reason to believe he didn’t have the best award ceremony etiquette. “He’s a little difficult and he was passed around a lot. He’s a little tricky. He’s one of those horses that doesn’t trust people right away, but he has the most tremendous heart. I feel like he would give anything for me and it would be wildly unfair to not give everything I have to him…He’s a funny horse because no matter what horse I have in the warm-up, he’s going to be completely different when I come down the center line so it’s just a matter of riding the horse I have in the ring. He warmed up yesterday like an old Quarter horse, he came in the ring today and said, ‘oh man the letter C,’ and that was sort of the end.”
Klaus Balkenhol was at a dinner held for the Brentina Cup qualifiers on Thursday night which Sprieser said made her feel “really important”. “We actually had a very nice conversation yesterday. It was so amazing to hear him be so complimentary of us. We’re all in our early 20s riding at Gladstone, up and coming grand prix riders, so we’re competitive with the professionals here. To have the team coach, a coach who’s won medals himself say you have a really nice horse makes you want to smile.”
Despite his difficult personality, Bellinger is a perfect match for Sprieser now that she knows what to expect. “Belli came to me about 300 pounds underweight and terrified of everything, so to see him here three or four years later, he’s still hyper ventilating a little bit but when the going gets tough and he gets nervous he listens to me when I tell him it’s okay…I think he’s one of those horses who’s going to be sound until he’s 30 and then he’s going to pace up and down the fence line saying, you can’t retire me, I am the king.”