Today I went to watch the CSI3* Grand Prix jumpers. The prize money sponsored by Florida Coast Equipment was $140,000. I found out that 40% of this goes to the winner and it may be split with the owner of the horse. The rest is divided between other people involved with the horse and rider.
The jumps were 1.55 meters with widths of up to 8 feet. The jumps looked huge to me. . The course was 13 jumps and the time limit to get round the course was 70 secs. It was held at the derby field of the show grounds that usually hosts dressage competitons.
The second horse on the course was Gisborne VDL ridden by Daniel Coyle of Ireland. He had a clear round!
The next rider was Kent Farrington on Landon. They also had a clear round.
Landon was not a big horse but he was super fast!
There were several more horses before I saw another clear round and the difficult questions of this course became clear. The triple combination was a six stride to a one stride and many of the horses had rails down in this triple.
The next clear round was with IB Chica and Tanimara Maria Macari Carillo from Mexico. Then after some more horses Laura Kraut also had a clear round on Calgary Time for the USA.
One rider Jordan Coyle on Costa Diam had some unusual bad luck . There was some strong gusts of wind and one blew over a jump! He had to stop and work on keeping Costa Diam’s focus while the jump crew rushed to rebuild the wall fence. After that two of the jump crew stood by the jump in case it happened again.
There were several well known riders who had faults . This was a tricky course!
After the last of the 45 horse and riders in the class there were still only 4 clear rounds who went on to the jump off. The jump off was over a shorter course and the fastest horse with a clear round would be the winner.
Daniel Coyle and Gisborne went first.The went clear. They were followed by Kent Farrignton and Landon who went clear in a very fast time.
The were fast enough to win ! Daniel Coyle and Gisborne came in second and IB Chica and Tanimara Maria Carillo(photo below) were third. Then we had the presentations.
Daniel Coyle and Gisborne in the photo above.
IB Chica and Tanimara Maria Carrillo above. Daniel Coyle and Gisborne below
Before coming into the presentation area Kent Farrington warned the people there that Landon would not stand still. He was right Landon figeted and swished his tail and Kent allowed him to walk out.
I also noticed that Kent put his helmet back on quickly. He knows his horse and chose safety first!
It was a splendid afternoon to see so many talented and athletic horses and also so many good riders from all over the world:Ireland,Canada,Mexico,Germany,Spain,Great Britain,Australia,Brazil,Belgium,and Egypt!
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