Alice Tarjan and Somer Hit Win Markel/USEF National Young Horse Six Year Old Dressage Championships
Monday, August 27, 2012 | Posted by Mary Phelps
Alice Tarjan (Oldwick, NJ) and her own Somer Hit (Sandro Hit-Rhussia by Rotspun) proved to be at the top of the class of the 11-horse field in the Six-Year-Old Championship claiming victory on an overall score of 8.05. They were the only six-year-old combination to end the competition with a score above 8. The Hanoverian stallion was lacking some of the brilliance from Friday’s Preliminary Test, but still scored 7.8, 7.9 and 8.0 for his walk, trot and canter as well as 7.6 for submission and a general impression mark of 7.9 to score 7.83 for Sunday’s performance.”I was really pleased we got through it,” said Tarjan. “He was a little flat compared to Friday, but I’m thrilled.” Tarjan, who also collected Reserve Champion honors in the five-year-old division with the Oldenburg mare Elfenfeuer she purchased as a three-year-old from Judy Yancey, understands that it is very important to get horses early and train them from the very beginning. She is also very pragmatic about when Somer Hit will move into the Developing Horse ranks.
Photo: Alice Tarjan (Oldwick, NJ) and her own Somer Hit (Sandro Hit-Rhussia by Rotspun) proved to be at the top of the class of the 11-horse field in the Six-Year-Old Championship
“I thought the only way to get a good horse and affordable was to buy a foal, so I went and bought a foal,” said Tarjan. “We’ll see how it goes; we always say we’ll take it one day at a time.” USEF Young Horse Coach Scott Hassler credits Tarjan and her “good eye”. “It takes a special talent to be able to spot a young foal with potential, and Alice has the eye for that. Somer Hit who also collected the Highest U.S. Bred Horse award was bred by Maurine Swanson of Rolling Stone Farm. Cesar Parra (White House Station, NJ) and Michael Davis’ Simply Nymphenburg (Sir Donnerhall I-Wendy by Weltmeyer) improved on their performance from Friday to collect the top score (7.86) in the Final Test on their way to Reserve Champion honors. They scored 7.6, 8.0 and 8.2 for their walk, trot and canter gaits and 7.5 on submission and 8.0 for their general impression. Parra first saw the Hanoverian gelding in Germany just after Christmas last year and knew he was something special. “I love my horse; he’s absolutely a wonderful horse. I saw him and he was so elastic… we are always working towards FEI.”
Parra also believes that programs such as the Markel/USEF National Young Horse Dressage Programs are extremely beneficial to U.S. riders and horses. “I really think the programs are fantastic, we are very lucky to have them,” said Parra. “It’s the only way we can keep competing against the Europeans.” The pair finished the championships on a final score of 7.796. Parra also pointed out how wonderful the host facility, The Lamplight Equestrian Center was a perfect venue for the championships.
“This is my first time here, and if I knew how wonderful this facility was I would have brought more horses,” said Parra who drove to Wayne Illinois with his family to spend the week at the competition. Placing third was Roberta Carleton (Salisbury, CT) and Kir Royal (Kopenick-Ronja by Rotspon). The Warmblood gelding earned a championship score of 7.672. All three top place finishers benefitted from the 2012 Markel/USEF National Young Horse Dressage Program, taking part in Observation Events, Selection Trials and Training Sessions.
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