The evening started at 7pm with a performance by a local high school
marching band and the singing of the National Anthem. Prior to the High
Jump class, there were two Speed Stakes, a a dressage exhibition, a
Hunter Championship, and the Ladies Hunter Side Saddle Hack. The course
designer for the night's classes and all the competitions in the Internationale
Arena for the show was Steve Stephens.
The National Amateur Speed Stake
Laura Linback, 34, of Chicago, IL, on Kennedy, a 10-year-old Dutch warmblood
gelding owned by Woodrun Farm, won the National Amateur Speed Stake.
"I found that under the lights it was really exciting," said Linback,
who bested a field of 12 over a 15-effort course with a 74-second Time
Allowed. Linback was clear in 65.081 seconds. "There was such a crowd
that it made it so much fun for us. You know this change in venue, nobody
knew what it would be like and for people to show up to watch amateurs
it was terrific."
Open Speed Stake
Molly Ashe, 32, of Wellington, FL, aboard Concerto, a 10-year-old German
warmblood stallion owned by Jane F. Clark, won the Open Speed Stake
-– a 13-effort course with Time Allowed set at 72 seconds. Ashe was
clear in 54.909 seconds, besting a field of 24 competitors. She noted
that the double towards the end of the course was the most difficult
element. "That last combination was quite tough," said Ashe. "You cut
back and the distance was long on top of two big square oxers, and the
ingate is the added factor. As they're coming around the turn they get
their eye on 'home' and they don't want to keep going through it. I
gave him a whack on the shoulder with the stick and he hyped up and
he really tried for me. I couldn't be happier,"
The crowd was also a factor in Ashe's stellar night. "Tonight was a
wonderful event – never in all my years of showing here in Wellington
have I seen such a great crowd. We all miss the Garden – there was always
something special about the Garden – but tonight really boosted everybody's
spirits a lot, just to see so much participation from the crowd and
so many people coming out to support it. It was wonderful."
Dressage Exhibition
An entertaining crowd-pleaser was the "half-time entertainment" dressage
exhibition. Produced by Frieze Frame Friesiens, eight Friesien stallions
performed "The Romance of the Carousel," a quadrille to music. John
Zopatti and Bent Jensen performed an Intermediaire I Pas de Deux; Holger
Bechtloff rode a Grand Prix Musical Freestyle; and Lisette Milner also
performed a Grand Prix Musical Freestyle. Shaana Pritchard, who heads
up her production company Frieze Frame Friesiens based in Wellington,
said that she proposed the exhibition to the National Horse Show Management
to help the USDF. "I'm hoping to bring the house down," she said prior
to the performance. Pritchard also performed solo riding the stallion
Talisman who "danced" with a costumed Flamenco dancer.
