Five-Year-Old Preliminary Young Horse Dressage Test Sets the Stage for Saturday's Championship

Complete Results for Five Year Old Preliminary Test on centerlinescores.com
“Wow,” was the first word from the judges’ box when Caroline Roffman finished the Five-Year-Old Preliminary Test with San City at the Markel/USEF National Young Horse Dressage Championships held at the Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Illinois. Linda Zang, the judge at the mike then went on to announce the scores for the first ride in the class on the stallion who is an event horse headed to the American Eventing Championships September 7-11.  San City was the first to go in the FEI Five Year Old test and set the bar for the rest, the finest quality seen in the history of the competition in the USA! With a 9.2 Trot, 8.5 Walk, 8.8 Canter, 9 Submission, and 9 Overall Impression, his final result of an 89% was the one to beat.

Roffman is defending her Five-Year-Old Championship title, on the five-year-old stallion by San Remo X Bolero, owned by Linda Crabtree and bred in Germany by Marefield Meadows. “He was shown by Linda’s daughter and successful event rider Katie Wooten Bryant last year in the Four-Year-Olds,” Roffman said. “I was given the ride on San City last fall and have trained and developed him with these championships as our goal.” San City is an Eventing stallion that was given to Caroline to ride to help develop his dressage while Katie Wooten- Bryant took of to have her baby Addie. Following this weekend's competition Wooten-Bryant will be taking him to Cedar Ridge farm in Athens Georgia to work towards qulaifying him for the Eastern Young Event Horse Championships in October at Fairhill.  

San City has the presence of a stallion but the rideability and character of a gelding. He is both beautiful and talented and has developed beyond what I thought he could have in a relatively short amount of time.” Roffman said she has even bred one of her mares to San City. “I like him that much!” she said. “

Roffman’s horses travelled from Florida with Elite Horse Transportation along with fellow competitor Werner Van Den Brande and partner Mary Cameron Rollins who like Roffman are also competing in the six-year-old class.

Van Den Brande, a native of Belgium is a veteran young horse rider and trainer who owned Horses Un Limited’s Galant Du Serien and represented Belgium at the 2000 FEI World Young Championships in the five-year-old division.  His experience and expertise did not escape the judges as he put the lovely light-footed Oldenburg mare Donna Tella through her paces. Van Den Brande purchased the mare in November of 2011 for his sponsor Hampton Meadows LLC, and while she has only competed a few times her last qualifying score was an 8.4.  “First of all before we go into announcing the scores,” said judge Linda Zang when the test was complete, “allow us to compliment you on your ability to ride a young horse.” Zang then went on to speak for fellow judges Maryal Barnett and Jeanne McDonald announcing the results: and 8.9 for the trot, the walk an 8, and the canter an 8.5, with submission and general impression scores of an of 8.8, Van Den Brandt moved into second place with an overall result of 86%, passing Lauren Chumley and the gorgeous Somer Hit, East Coast Selection Trial winners who laid down an 84%.

But there still was the other San Remo stallion to come, Sanceo with Sabine Schut-Kery who nailed the Markel West Coast Selection Trials in June in California. Warming up beautifully under the watchful eye of Young Horse coach Scott Hassler Sanceo and Sabine were distracting the crowd watching the rides with their brilliant trot work and uphill canter. But it would not be his day today when he began the trot work after the halt and salute. Sanceo spooked at the shrubs at M, and then broke in the first trot extension. Nonetheless under the skillful guidance of Schutt-Kerry who kept her cool, his quality was displayed for all to see and appreciate. “You are making us work here, this is a lovely horse and we know what you can do you are able to do because you are an extremely good rider and you do a great job.  He was shying but we consider these minor problems we take into consideration for the five-year-old test. Because of this he got a little tense tense, and we have to consider this in the scores.” The trot was fluid and expressive and awarded a 9.0, but the walk was scored at a 6.4, and the canter in spite of signs of tenseness was an 8.2. The submissive scores were an 8.0 and general impression an 8.2, dropping them to seventh place with a 79.6% behind Ulla Parker and Nancy Holowesko’s Oldenburg mare Biscaya by Johnson 80%, and Ignacio Moran on Judy Wheatley’s Oldenburg gelding by Biotop, Belvedere tied for fifth with Willy Aarts and Peters Younger's KWPN by Lord Sinclair, Bakara with a 79.8.

The preliminary test counts for 40% of the final score, and the judge’s commentary for all to hear is a unique highlight of the Young Horse classes, helping riders to understand what the judges will be looking for in the final. As Schutt-Kerry walked in circles before the panel listening to the result she took the time to show Sanceo that the shrubs he found startling in the ring were not going to hurt him. Only fractions separate the seventh through fourth place. With a full day off the five-year-olds will come back on Saturday for the final which will determine the 2011 Champion. The results of today’s test showed the quality in all horses who were presented, and that they truly deserved to be here.