Sue Jaccoma Takes Her First Dressage at Devon Grand Prix Win with Wadamur

Devon, Penn. – Just two weeks after being crowned the GAIG/USDF Region 8 Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle champion, Sue Jaccoma took her first Devon Grand Prix win at the 2009 Dressage at Devon CDI-W/Y/J. Jaccoma earned her win in Sunday's Grand Prix Special with her nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding Wadamur and a score of 66.208. Placing second was Lars Petersen with Naomi and a score of 65.625. Jaccoma was, as she put it, "over the top." Her win earned her a trip to the winner's press conference, which was her first Devon press conference. "The next thing you know, they're calling me to the press center. I've never been in a press conference before. Of course, Lars has been in a hundred of them. And I go in and they've got the water bottles out for us and Lars tells me where to sit down. That was such a wonderful experience for me." Jaccoma trains with Petersen, whom she credited not only for her help with the press conference, but also with her horses. Photo Credit: Stacy Lynne Photogrpahy

 

Jaccoma's trip to Devon started with mud and ended with mud. On the day of the CDI jog, Wadamur spooked while she was jogging him out and tripped her. "I fell on my face into the mud during the jog. I was covered in mud from my eyeballs down to my toes." The tension stayed with the gelding on Friday during the Grand Prix for the Special. Wadamur was a bit nervous in the electrified Dixon Oval ring, but by Sunday, he had settled. "On Friday, he was quite tense. Today, he was awesome. He let me really ride him and show how great he is," Jaccoma said after her Sunday win. "I’m really working on my focus and it was a really good exercise at Devon to go in the ring and focus on my horse, on the harmony, on the correctness and throughness – on just getting the job done." And the sloppy footing on Sunday didn't bother Wadamur. "He is like an energizer bunny. He'd try his heart out for me. When I was in there, I didn't feel any footing problems at all and he let me know that he would just take care of business and he did."

With success at both the Region 8 Championships and now at Devon, Jaccoma is certain that she and Wadamur are on track for even more successes down the road. "I know that I can do this and I know that my horse is a total team player. He has laid down mistake-free test after mistake-free test. And he's getting stronger and more comfortable in the Grand Prix. His mistake-free tests just need to become more brilliant and that will come with more strength." She also credits one of her sponsors, Mushroom Matrix, an equine nutritional supplement that Wadamur has been on for the past year. "It's helped him look wonderful."