2007 Palm Beach Dressage Derby

Carol Lavell and Much Ado Back to the Big Time after Inter 1 Kur Victory
by Astrid Appels for HorsesDaily.com

Carol Lavell and her Dutch warmblood gelding Much Ado are back to the big time after a clear victory in the Intermediaire I Kur to Music at the 2007 Palm Beach Dressage Derby Sunday afternoon. Scoring a fantastic 73.700%, Lavell topped the leader board with a huge point difference to second placed Erin Brinkman on Bella Luna (69.000%).

Coming back to the winner's circle was not an easy feat for Lavell and her 12-year old Much Ado. Injuries throughout the years have hindered their steady progress upwards to FEI. In February 2002, Much Ado got sidelined for 8 months following a trailering accident. After the 2003 Pan American selection trials, Much Ado pulled a suspensory and the recovery took a year and a half.

Also, the 64-year old Lavell suffered from back problems last winter, which forced her to take a break from riding. An operation to her back brought relief and Lavell has now returned to the ring to actively compete her horse. "It's embarrassing to come back, I'm so rusty," Lavell said.

Training and competing the 17.3 hand high Much Ado proves quite a challenge. "I never bough the letters for my arena. He's a lot of horse to pack in a small ring." Much Ado is bred by Mrs Ineke Jongboer-Van Dijk and is by the Selle Français stallion Quattro B out of Varla (by Abgar xx)

Lavell is on track preparing her mount for qualification for the 2007 Pan American Games. A win at the Derby was a clear indication that the combination is a strong contestant. The Loxahatchee based rider is in the process of designing a new freestyle which she hopes to ride at the Games. "I do all the choreography and Terry [Ciotti-Gallo] will put the music together. You have to have something different," Lavell explained.

With over 40 horses entered in the small tour, the 2007 Palm Beach Derby was able to gather some of the best East coast based FEI horses in the United States. Aboard Rendezvous and Mythilus, Courtney King won the Prix St Georges and Intermediaire I and indicated that she's a hopeful for the Games as well.

"Courtney said that she hopes to be on the same team with me," Lavell said. "But you also have to be a team worker with your horse and that's the difficult part."