FEI Grand Prix Freestyle and FEI Intermediaire-1 Freestyle - GLobal Dressage Festival

Szepesi described that managing Hattrick in a CDI environment outside of the ring has been a big adjustment for the gelding, with the biggest test being how Hattrick would react to staying in FEI stabling instead of going home each day to several hours of turn-out after a National show. "I really believe in turn-out and he's used to getting turn-out like four or six hours a day, even down here in Wellington. We found a place that has enough turn-out for the horses to go out and have grass and just be normal. What we'd done in the past, [for National shows], we just put him the trailer, did the class, and went home," Szepesi described. Szepesi credited groom Emily LaGrave for making the smooth transition into CDI possible. "I have a wonderful groom, Emily LaGrave. She stays with him all day. She walks him, and she grazes him, so he's not just standing in the stall. It makes a huge difference," Szepesi expressed. She continued, "She's been doing an incredible job with keeping him sparkling white. That is all Emily! She gets a lot of compliments on that." Hattrick's gleaming white coat and spotted skin tends to turn heads amongst the sea of bay and chestnut horses often seen ringside. Szepesi admitted she didn't even know the Knabstrupper breed existed before watching a video of Hattrick, and the gelding simply happened to fall in her lap. "A Danish dealer that we had worked with before just sent videos. I think he must have just had a video of this horse and he sent to everyone he knew, so we just got this video at the barn one day. We looked at the video and pretty much everybody in the beginning said, 'No, he's got spots,'" Szepesi described. But a few weeks later, now co-owner Doucette came back to Szepesi to ask about the horse with the spots. The video had struck a chord with her and despite hearing he had already been sold, Doucette urged Szepesi to reach out to the dealer. "We called the dealer and he said, 'As a matter of fact, the guy's sponsorship fell through and I have the horse back in the barn now.' It's one of those things that was kind of meant to be," Szepesi recalled. The only trait that stands out more than his looks is Hattrick's remarkably laid-back attitude on the showgrounds. He stood calmly while being adorned with his blue ribbon and winner's cooler before quietly walking into the ring for the awards presentation. He's so quiet Szepesi doesn't even worry about putting protective wraps or boots on him for the victory lap. "He's always been like that! The woman that bred him [Ingrid Mikkelsen] actually did some Monty Roberts [natural horsemanship] stuff," Szepesi commented. "She sent us some foal pictures and there were ones of him with the big ball and walking under tarps."