September 7, 2006

Darren Chiacchia Tough to Beat in USEA/Spalding Labs Young Event Horse Series at Richland Park

Some of the top young horses in the country competed at the Richland Park Horse Trials August 25 in Richland, Michigan in order to qualify for the USEA/Spalding Labs Young Event Horse Series Championships, which will take place Friday, October 6 at the Morven Park Three-day Event and Advanced Horse Trials in Leesburg, Virginia.

In addition to winning the Advanced Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series division with Windfall that weekend, Darren Chiacchia of Springville, New York had much success in the Young Event Horse classes, riding one of the winners and one of the second place finishers, in addition to owning another of the winners.

He and Dynamik II, a 16.2-hand bay Trakehner stallion (Bardolino-Dakora) also owned by Susan Luce of Mobile, Alabama, took top honors in the five-year-old division with a score of 78.71. They were followed by Jamie Price of Algonquin, Illinois and her Poker Run (Zagor-Platonic Interest).

Chiacchia’s 16.1-hand chestnut roan Trakehner gelding El Paso GS (Heling-Euphrates) won the four-year-old division with Cristin Stoop, of Ocala, Florida in the irons. The pair earned an amazing score of 88.07, but even so just barely beat Chiacchia and Fantastik, his 17.1-hand Trakehner gelding (Connery-Helia) who put in an impressive performance for a final score of 87.56.

For more information on the Richland Park Horse Trials, visit their website at www.richlandpark.com.

All of the division winners throughout the year earn a six-month supply of Fly Predators™ from Spalding Labs as well as a Fleeceworks Complete package saddle pad. The winners of the Championships in October will each receive a Stackhouse saddle and Fleeceworks Complete saddle pad set, in addition to an additional six-month supply of Fly Predators.

A Little About the Series

The USEA/Spalding Labs Young Event Horse Series could best be described as an equine talent search. The Series gives owners and breeders the opportunity to showcase the potential of their four- and five-year-olds, encouraging them to produce top-level event horses for the future—the next Winsome Adante, Custom Made, or Primmore´s Pride, perhaps.

The divisions are based on age, with one division for four-year-old horses and the other for five-year-olds. The classes at each event offer four sections: dressage, jumping, conformation and type, and suitability and potential. While the judges look for horses with strong abilities in dressage and show jumping, they also look for a horse with correct, elastic gaits, scope and athleticism over fences, and those that with the correct training will have the speed, soundness, and stamina necessary at the top levels of the sport.

The ultimate goal? Earn two qualifying scores of 70 or higher to qualify for the Championships. Competitors have three more events left to qualify for the Championships: Lincoln Creek Horse Trials September 8 in Centralia, WA, Pinehurst Horse Trials the same day in Pinehurst, NC, and the Plantation Field Horse Trials September 22 in Unionville, PA.

The Series is made possible through the generous support of Title Sponsor, Spalding Labs; Presenting Sponsors: Fleeceworks and Stackhouse Saddles; Contributing Sponsor, Acorn Hill Farm; and Underwriting Sponsor, Dunlavin Horses. For more information on the Series, visit the USEA website and click on the YEH logo on the home page.