Wilmington, Ohio – Midwest Indoors I concluded at World Equestrian Center – Wilmington Sunday, November 12. Richard Rinehart (USA) stood alone as the only clear round in the $30,000 Premier Equestrian Grand Prix on Saturday evening, while Christopher Schenk and his own Dominant Z (Dominator 2000 Z) showed talent in the $10,000 Futures Prix. Incredible (El Salvador x Budine) carried Kelsey Epperson (USA) to the win in the $15,000 USHJA National Open Hunter Derby on Friday evening.
Rinehart piloted Ron Caraway’s 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding to the only clear effort over Michael Pegg’s (CAN) track to take the win in the $30,000 Premier Equestrian Grand Prix.
“Vincent has a lot of experience,” said Rinehart of his mount that has now won four grand prix classes in Wilmington this year. “This was right up his alley and well within his wheelhouse. He jumped super. I’d given him a little bit of a break, so he’s coming back off a rest and picked up right where he left off. I have enjoyed a lot of good times with both Vincent and Ron, and Ron was here tonight cheering him on.”
Christopher Shenck and his own six-year-old Zangersheide stallion, Dominant Z, jumped their fifth futures prix together, and were the fastest of four double clear efforts to take the win in 38.048 seconds.
While “Dom has a lot of attitude,” Schenk has used the hunter divisions to get the talented young horse to calm down, go straight and keep its collection. “He is my first stallion,” Schenk related. “He doesn’t want to be forced around, so I just make suggestions to him. If we are on the same page, we’re really on it. He has really matured a lot over the last year; he’s got the collection and straightness, which paid off for us today.”
Kelsey Epperson lived up the name of her mount, Incredible, in the $15,000 USHJA National Open Hunter Derby. The nine-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Pamella Kissman earned the two highest scores of the day of 91 and 94 to stay on top of the leaderboard.
“He has done some of the non-pro derbies with his mom, Pam. She does him in the 3’3 Amateur Owners and I do him in the 3’3 Performance during the week. We wanted to rev him up a bit to see what kind of horse we have and see what we are going to do in the future. He is just nine this year. I think his future definitely has some more derbies in it now!”
In the $15,000 USHJA National Non-Pro Hunter Derby, Nicole Lyvere (USA) maintained the lead as the first to go in the order setting the tone with an 88. The 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, Lugatti (Lux), maintained his form and composure to return last in the handy for a winning score of 86.
“We call him Potato in the barn. He is really lazy! He is very smart, and I think that’s why he’s lazy because he tries to get out of work,” laughed Lyvere. “He tries to push your buttons to see how far he can get; he can be quite naughty! He is too smart for his own good, but he is so cute, so we forgive him. But when he is on, he is on. He has been super for me this year. He has been knocking at the door and he really came into his own this year and was super consistent. This was his first derby and I think it was good for him to have a bit of a challenge because it really made him think. I will probably keep doing him in these classes because I think it is good for his brain, he gets a bit bored with normal hunter courses.
Michael Burnett (USA) kicked off the week with a win the $10,000 OSU Galbreath Equine Center Welcome Stake aboard his own 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding Chagrand (Chacco-Blue x Centogrina). In a time of 42.064 seconds and a single rail down, the duo added another win to their long record.
Burnett commented on his heart horse, Chagrand, “All I do at home is keep Charlie’s [Chagrand] fitness good! I jump a few big jumps before the horse show, but he is an older horse now. I have had him for quite a while. He just needs fitness; we don’t do a lot of extra training. He knows what to do, he knows his job. He can jump big jumps and big courses, we just have to keep him fit to be able to do it.”
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