The Summer’s Just Begun!

[course designer] did a beautiful job of using the field and using all of it. The problems arose at a variety of fences which you love to see because there’s not a ‘bogie’ fence that everybody knocked down—it went from fence to fence to fence. It was good competition, good sport and I could not have asked for anything more for the first week of Grand Prix competition in Santa Fe,” said John McQueen, the Santa Fe Summer Series Show Manager and head of Queenie Productions.

Four riders proceeded to the jump-off, with Jenni McAllister as the last to ride against the clock. In a flurry of grey, Jenni’s mount, Colvados, whirled around the course, making bold inside turns and angling the bigger BMW oxer. With a jump-off time of 46.12 seconds, Jenni topped Kristin Hardin’s time of 47.25 aboard Bert—the only other to jump clean in the jump-off. Frank Owens took the third prize riding Capricello 2 with eight faults in the jump-off and Charlie Carrel followed in fourth aboard Utopik.

$5,000 SANTA FE WELCOME STAKE

The Welcome Stake kicked off the upper level competition at the 2018 Santa Fe Summer Series with 23 rides, 5 of which proceeded to the jump-off with riders Charlie Carrel, Mindy Coretz, Chenoa McElvain, and Colleen Acosta. Acosta and Coretz were the only two who jumped clean in the jump-off, with Acosta departing with a blue ribbon aboard Lights Out. Colleen Acosta is the head trainer and professional at Showtime Farms in Dallas, Texas and won the class with a jump-off time of 35.76—less than half a second faster than Coretz’s ride on Café Crema.

The Welcome Stake introduced Lights Out to a new level of competition. “This is the first time I’ve done him in a Welcome or anything at this height on him,” said Acosta, who was pleased with his jumping. “He’s just a big baby—sweet and kind and a little bit of a Mack truck. He’s strong and hasn’t been doing much, so he needed a little confidence,” she said.

THE ALL-IN-ONE JACKPOT GRAND PRIX

The All-in-One Grand Prix is a unique class that allows the rider to indicate their height to enter with the appropriate time handicap deducted from their time in both the first round and the jump off. The class’s excitement is propelled by having multiple levels of competitors battling it out in one class, on the bigger Grand Prix Field that borders the VIP Lounge. “It’s cool, because you get the whole gamut of amateurs and professionals all riding in the same class. You have to go clear, but you have to go fast [if you’re jumping higher], because you know the smaller heights are going to be booking it, so you have to test your jump-off skills,” said Anna Algermissen, who competed in the class at 1.20m.

Kristin Hardin, the talented trainer and professional from outside of Santa Barbara, California, had three horses of the 28 entered in the All-in-One Jackpot Grand Prix and triumphed aboard her Dutch Warmblood mount named Bert at 1.30m. “Bert was really happy today. Perfect ambiance, footing was perfect, weather was beautiful—it was like being in heaven,” said Hardin. The top three winners each calculated their rides at different heights for this class. Sarah Invicta Williams-Echols followed in second place, jumping 1.20m on Converse Point, owned by Invicta Farms, who was double clean. Chenoa McElvain took third prize at 1.0m riding Catsina RC, owned by Rancho Corazon.

Anderson Lima, this week’s course designer from Brazil, strategically designed a course that would work for a diverse group of riders. “This course needed to be simple, but at the same time, because you need to challenge all the riders. It’s a fine line between a rideable course for the amateurs and a testing course for the professionals,” said Lima. His course included “rideability questions” for the rider, rather than a course that would simply test “strength and power.” Lima ended the course with an in-and-out, which he claimed was “unusual, but is a good challenge for [the riders.]” Lima, who has level 3 FEI course designing experience, included a few long lines so the riders would have to gallop off their eye to the distances.

USHJA $5,000 NATIONAL HUNTER DERBY

The grass field set the stage for Sarah Rice and Nickle, owned by Alta Basaldua, winning performance in Friday’s Derby with an overall score of 187. “[Nickle] loves the derbies and is always great at a new place with grass and natural jumps,” said Rice, who is Will Roberts’ assistant trainer at Pine Hollow Farm in New Caney, TX. Her winning strategy on a course designed by Scott Alder, was to “just to go in and gallop and keep galloping to let the jumps come to me as good as they could.”

“Sarah rode both horses beautifully. Overall it was a great morning. The field’s beautiful, the jumps are great—I think [HIPICO] did a good job with it. The weather’s wonderful and the footing is fabulous. It’s a nice place for sure,” said Will Roberts.

USHJA $5,000 National Hunter Derby Results

Placing	Entry Name	Rider	Owner
1	Nickle	Sarah Rice	Alta Basaldua	187
2	Who Dat	Sarah Rice	Maura Harrower	180
3	Happy Hour	Mindy Coretz	Eighteen Acres Farm	179
4	South Wind	Becky Warner	Eileen Miller	170.5
5	Kaletta-T	Cece Siegfried	Clara Dvorak	170
6	Chocolate 68	Katherine Huffstutler	Katherine Huffstutler	169
7	Faraon	Ashley Stannard	Christian Del Bosque	164.5
8	Catendro	Kelsie Brittan	Matthew Sereni	161
9	Galileo	Becky Warner	Dionne Najafi	157
10	Undeniable	Tess Von Hemel	Tess Von Hemel	155
11	London Fog	Stephanie Gershon	Lisa Piasecki	154
12	WT Levioso	Sarah Invicta Williams-Echols	Annie Veenstra	151

WELL-DESERVED WELCOME WEEK WINNERS – CONGRATULATIONS ALL!

TRAINER OF THE WEEK, CHOSEN BY HORSE SHOW STAFF:

Mindy Coretz, Eighteen Acres Farm

Q: How are you liking the Santa Fe Summer Series?

A: “I’m really loving it. It’s been such a fun week. I’m so fortunate. I have a really good group here with me: kids, horses—all of it. We’ve had a very successful show so far, and I’m feeling fortunate to be here. I feel really good about how the horses went this week and am excited to see how they’ll be next week after they’ve had more time to settle and everybody’s jumping beautifully on the grass and we can’t wait for more.

JUMPER RIDER OF THE WEEK, CHOSEN BY JUMPER JUDGES:

Colleen Acosta, Showtime Farms

Q: Why do you like to spend your summer at HIPICO Santa Fe?

A: “We love it here—the atmosphere is always really good. It’s fun, it’s friendly, it’s always really laid back… Nice rings, nice footing, we love showing the jumpers on the grass field—I think that makes it special.”

HUNTER RIDER OF THE WEEK, CHOSEN BY HUNTER JUDGES:

Sarah Rice, Pine Hollow Farm

Q: What are your first impressions of HIPICO Santa Fe?

A: “I think it’s a nice competition, a nice horse show and a nice starter week for everyone to get on the grass, in the new rings, and used to the weather. I think we’ll come again!”

GROOMS OF THE WEEK, GROOM FOR HUNTER DERBY WINNER:

Luis Padron, Rafael Contreras, Guillermo Perez, Pine Hollow Farm

Luis Padron
“I’ve worked [at Pine Hollow Farm] for 7 years. Every horse is my favorite—they all have different personalities. I really enjoy working with the horses.”

Rafael Contreras
“I’ve also worked at Pine Hollow Farm for 7 years. I like my work and everybody’s horses—they’re all nice. I enjoy watching the hunter and jumper rings.”

Guillermo Perez
“I’ve worked at Pine Hollow Farm for 4 years. It’s my first time at HIPICO and I think it’s all beautiful.”

With Sonrisa Week just ahead, who will be week two’s leadline winner? It will be hard to beat adorable Colton Kallam, son of Jennifer Kallam from Longmont, CO. Dejah Valdez graciously lent her handsome pony, Royal Woodhaven, for the tough class that required multiple changes in direction and long straight lines.

THE BEST PARTY ON THE A CIRCUIT HAS BEGUN – IT CAN ONLY GET BETTER IF YOU JOIN US!

WHO’S IN??