Richard Rinehart and Julio
The Jumper classes in the Russell Fortune Grand Prix Arena got underway with challenging courses designed by Steve Stephens, which tested horses and riders strength, going from long gallops to tight turns and rollbacks.
Starting off with an oxer on the diagonal, the course immediately questioned the rider's ability to turn with a rollback to the right to a single vertical, then a turn to the left and another vertical. Fence four was an oxer followed with a bending line to another wide spread jump then a sharp turn to the right with a long gallop to the outside line of a single oxer and another turn to the right to a vertical to vertical in-and-out. Upon landing, the horse and rider were required to negotiate a hard turn to the left to a single vertical then left, to an oxer-then-vertical combination, followed by a right turn to the final fence, an oxer.
Andrew Welles and XM were the first to go double clear. The pair perfectly negotiated the course for a faultless first round. In the jump-off round, he stepped on the gas and his XM delivered the speed and accuracy to take them to the lead with a time of 30.976 seconds.
The team of Richard Rinehart and Julio were the next to earn a clean first round. In the short track, Rinehart and Julio negotiated the turns and gallops effortlessly- fast enough to edge Welles out of first place and stopping the timer at 30.149 seconds.
"I was happy with the field, it was in good condition," said Rinehart. " I always love riding in that ring and riding on grass."
Several other horse and rider pairs had double clear rounds, but none managed to best Rinehart or Welles fast times.
About Julio, Rinehart shared, "I bought him in Argentina as a three-year-old. He's by a horse named Twister, he's also related to another nice horse I have, that's French. I've had him for four or five years. He's starting to get his act together."
In the 1.35m Jumper Steve Stephens added a big oxer to the outside line and maintained the emphasis on turns and gallops. it was Aaron Vale and Honeylands Douglason that prevailed as the only double-clear horse and rider team.
David Jannings and Nandy Fontaine came in second laying down the only other faultless first round, with four jumping faults in the jump-off round.
"It was a nice course and it took you to all corners of the ring. This is a younger horse I'm showing," Vale said of Honeylands Douglason. " I need to get him in the ring and get him comfortable with the surroundings. Mission accomplished and we got a blue ribbon!"
"Honeylands Douglason is an eight-year-old," continued Vale. "He has immense ability. He was second in the final $100,000 Grand Prix in Ocala. I'm working on transmission, brakes, steering. He's brave, he's careful, he's scopey. If I get him comfortable in the ring, he'll probably show in the Grand Prix here."
Look for Vale in the $30,000 Mr. and Mrs. Russell Fortune Grand Prix on Friday and the $60,000 Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Sunday with up to five horses.
The Traders Point Hunt Charity Horse Show and Country Fair is held on the beautiful 250-acre grounds of Wild Air Farms in Zionsville, IN. The show offers top prize money with two Grand Prix events and a USHJA International Hunter Derby. Exhibitors at Traders Point enjoy fun family activities and events while participating in a competitive, high-quality show. For more information or a prize list, please visit www.traderspoint.org/exhibitors.html