Source:  News Release/Mary Adelaide Brakenridge for PMG Inc.

 

 

 

Cindy Cruciotti and Serenity Farm Rack Up the Ribbons on
Opening Day of Summer in the Rockies III

 

 

Parker, CO -  Cindy Cruciotti and her Serenity Farm had a standout day at the Colorado Horse Park as Summer in the Rockies III got underway. Cruciotti swept the first, second and fourth place spots in the 3'6" Performance Working Hunter over fences and handy classes, won that division's hack, and picked up another win over fences in the 3'3" Performance Working Hunter. Meanwhile, Cruciotti's assistant, Jessica Dalton, collected first and second place finishes in the 3'3" Performance Working Hunter division, putting her into a prime position to challenge for the championship.

 

Cruciotti began the day by riding three of Nicole Lyvere's horses in the 3'6" Performance Working Hunter division. In the first over fences class, she rode Wink to the win, All In to second place, and Promo to fourth place. She and Wink triumphed again in the handy, where Promo and All In swapped places to finish second and fourth, respectively.

Cindy Cruciotti and Wink on their way to double blues in the 3'6" Performance Working Hunters

She might have a had a problem on her hands in the hack, with three capable mounts to choose from, but Kelli Clevenger and Jessica Dalton stepped in to help. Cruciotti paired with Promo for the win, Dalton and All In took third, and Clevenger and Wink were fifth.

 

"(Clevenger and Dalton) are my two associates," Cruciotti said. "I could not do any of this without help from these people, my staff and all my grooms."

 

Wink, All In and Promo each present separate challenges to Cruciotti and owner Lyvere. "They're all so different," Cruciotti said of her three 3'6" mounts. "All In is a little bit more of a Thoroughbred type. Promo is more of a pony type, kind of kick-along. And then Wink is between the two."

 

She and Lyvere, a student of hers for nearly four years, chose the horses to help Lyvere transition into the Amateur Owner division. Cruciotti said Lyvere has enjoyed riding and learning from the variety of horses she owns. Lyvere will take over the reins later in the week, when she plans to ride All In and Wink in the Amateur Owners, Promo in the National Hunter Derby, and Drumline, her other Amateur Owner mount, in the International Hunter Derby.

 

Cruciotti described Wink as a "special, special horse" who benefits from having a specific routine on show day. "He's a horse that doesn't like surprises," she described. "So his routine is very specific in the morning. We get up, he goes in the ring, he hacks for maybe 10-15 minutes, and he likes to walk around the ring and look at where the jumps are placed. He doesn't necessarily have to look at each jump, but he likes to know where everything is. Then we come out for his class and he's very settled."

 

"But if you skip that step, he goes in very suspicious of what the course is and what you're going to throw at him," she continued. "We've tried to do some derbies on him - we're graduating into those. It takes some time to build his confidence to do those, because he doesn't know where everything is."

Cindy Cruciotti and Wink

Cruciotti, whose Serenity Farm is just 15 minutes from the Colorado Horse Park, spends the summer competing there and then travels with her students to the major hunter/jumper circuits around the country. She enjoyed the Scott Starnes-designed courses. "They all rode super," she said. "Scott Starnes always does just a fabulous job. We love coming to Pat (Boyle)'s shows - the jumps are beautiful, they're well managed, and the staff is friendly. The new footing that the Colorado Horse Park put all that money into is wonderful."

 

After her success in the morning, Cruciotti switched over to the 3'3" Performance Working Hunter division and scored a blue ribbon in the over fences class with Abigail Graham's Balaika du Ry, while Dalton rode Woodhaven Stables Inc.'s Three Rivers to second in that class and first in the handy.

 

Cruciotti said Balaika du Ry is versatile and always dependable. "Balaika du Ry is an equitation horse, and she's kind of a jack-of-all-trades," Cruciotti explained. "She'll go into any ring and do anything we ask her: she jumps the water, does the jumper jumps, does the medals, and does the hunters."

 

The mare's lovely gaits and consistent effort earned her the win in a popular class that drew over 20 competitors. Now that Cruciotti has gotten her off to a good start, her next outing will be with Graham in equitation classes, including the ASPCA Maclay qualifier, later in the week. 

Jessica Dalton and Three Rivers

Dalton's success in the division with Three Rivers was made all the more impressive by the 5-year-old gelding's relative lack of experience. He was imported from Europe over the winter for owner Jennifer Wallen's Woodhaven Stables Inc., has been making rapid progress under Serenity Farm's program, and is just setting out on his show career.

 

Dalton noted that Three Rivers was initially distracted but settled in and got down to business. "The first round, someone had a really pretty dog on the berm and they were trotting by, and it took me about three or four jumps to get him back in the game," she said. "Then, after that, I felt like his canter got better and better and his jump got better and better."

 

"Jumping is very easy for him and he gets bored super fast," she added. "He's 5, so we keep the jumps as low as we can. He's learning to keep his eye inside the ring, and he's really starting to ask me questions on course: 'Is this right? Is this where I'm supposed to be?' He's not taking over. He's just being very humble about it and respecting the jumps now."

 

Dalton looks forward to a bright future for Three Rivers and is encouraged by his intelligence and work ethic. "I love the fact that he likes to be challenged," she said. "He's understanding now what it takes to be a champion. He's starting to figure that out. I think the fence height can just keep going up and up with age, and I'm really excited to see where he goes."

 

Dalton joined the Serenity Farm team in the fall of 2012 and feels her move from California to Colorado to work with Cruciotti has been well worth it. "I like the fact that Cindy is extremely fair to the horses," Dalton said. "She is a very kind soul. It's hard to produce winners in this sport while still being fair to the horses. I really feel that I've learned a lot about how my horses are thinking underneath me, without overschooling them, overmedicating them, all of that."

 

She said that Cruciotti's sensitivity to and understanding of her horses has been a valuable lesson. "I really feel that she truly gets into what the horse is thinking and builds their confidence in a way that is one of a kind," Dalton said. "She rises to the pressure but doesn't over-pressure her horses, and I really appreciate that. I feel that her horses go better because of it."

Jessica Dalton and Three Rivers

Also featured in the Olson Family Hunter Arena were the first classes in the Second Year Green/High Performance division. Mark Mead and Amoro De Legante got off to a promising start, collecting wins over fences and in the handy as well as a second place in the hack. Mead said Amoro De Legante excels in the handy and is nimble around the turns.

 

"He's beautiful to look at, he jumps really well, and he has a good step," Mead said. "At that point, it becomes just me finding the jumps. He's a cool horse."

 

Amoro De Legante is owned by Laura Fereday, who shows him in the Junior Hunters. Fereday is getting ready to head off to school, so the horse is for sale. He was successful with both Mead and Fereday in the saddle at week two of Summer in the Rockies, collecting two reserve championships in the Working Hunter and Junior Hunter divisions.

 

Summer in the Rockies III continues Thursday at the Colorado Horse Park.  While Cruciotti and her team may be tough to beat in the 3'6" and 3'3" Performance Working Hunters after Wednesday's impressive finishes, they face a full lineup of top competitors from around the country, all vying for the divisional championships. Second Year Green/High Performance Hunters will wrap up as well, with the action beginning at 8:15 a.m. in the Olson Family Hunter Arena.

Mark Mead and Amoro De Legante

Results: Summer in the Rockies III - June 19, 2013 (Number/Horse/Owner/Rider)

 

1008. Performance Working Hunter 3'6" O/F

1. 1402/Wink/Nicole Lyvere/Cindy Cruciotti

2. 1403/All In/Nicole Lyvere/Cindy Cruciotti

3. 734/C. Quito/Margot Snowdon/Jessie Lang

4. 954/Promo/Nicole Lyvere/Cindy Cruciotti

5. 1388/Olivia/Nellie & Heidi Schmutz/Ashley Keeler

6. 647/Uriela CWF/Audrey Slouka/Michael Dennehy

7. 950/French Kiss/Abigail Graham/Kelli Clevenger

8. 1424/Brego/Lisa Martinez-Bates/Jennifer Hulkko

 

1009. Performance Working Hunter 3'6" Handy

1. 1402/Wink/Nicole Lyvere/Cindy Cruciotti

2. 954/Promo/Nicole Lyvere/Cindy Cruciotti

3. 1388/Olivia/Nellie & Heidi Schmutz/Ashley Keeler

4. 1403/All In/Nicole Lyvere/Cindy Cruciotti

5. 657/Jazzo/Kali Barnes/Paul Rohrbach

6. 647/Uriela CWF/Audrey Slouka/Michael Dennehy

7. 915/Brunello/Megan Engel/Brianna Davis

8. 1424/Brego/Lisa Martinez-Bates/Jennifer Hulkko

 

1010. Performance Working Hunter 3'6" U/S

1. 954/Promo/Nicole Lyvere/Cindy Cruciotti

2. 1424/Brego/Lisa Martinez-Bates/Jennifer Hulkko

3. 1403/All In/Nicole Lyvere/Jessica Dalton

4. 925/Simply Said/Emma Willsky/Ashley Keeler

5. 1402/Wink/Nicole Lyvere/Kelli Clevenger

6. 1384/Quite Cool/Page Tredennick/Karen Stone

7. 1388/Olivia/Nellie & Heidi Schmutz/Ashley Keeler

8. 933/Chakira/Catherine Schoelzel/Jennifer Rhodes

 

1003. Performance Working Hunter 3'3" O/F

1. 948/Balaika du Ry/Abigail Graham/Cindy Cruciotti

2. 947/Three Rivers/Woodhaven Stables Inc/Jessica Dalton

3. 1391/Dolce/Dorothy Loughran/Laurie Jueneman

4. 819/Concierge/Elizabeth Richter/Meghan Felts

5. 747/Leoncito/Lucy Hunsaker/Meredith Houx-Remiger

6. 798/Showtime/Patricia Murphy/Erin Murphy

7. 775/In Like Fynn/NTM Enterprises/Paul Rohrbach

8. 727/Tatabra Oprah/Emily Carter/Emily Carter

 

1004. Performance Working Hunter 3'3" Handy

1. 947/Three Rivers/Woodhaven Stables Inc/Jessica Dalton

2. 819/Concierge/Elizabeth Richter/Meghan Felts

3. 775/In Like Fynn/NTM Enterprises/Paul Rohrbach

4. 798/Showtime/Patricia Murphy/Erin Murphy

5. 747/Leoncito/Lucy Hunsaker/Meredith Houx-Remiger

6. 948/Balaika du Ry/Abigail Graham/Cindy Cruciotti

7. 823/Hennessy/Tony Font/Tony Font

8. 667/D'Anconia Copper/Natalie Hejda/Katie Rosenzweig

 

1005. Performance Working Hunter 3'3" U/S

1. 747/Leoncito/Lucy Hunsaker/Meredith Houx-Remiger

2. 819/Concierge/Elizabeth Richter/Meghan Felts

3. 775/In Like Fynn/NTM Enterprises/Paul Rohrbach

4. 1460/Zeke/Mimi Lyle/Mimi Lyle

5. 947/Three Rivers/Woodhaven Stables Inc/Jessica Dalton

 

141. 2nd Green/High Performance

1. 1359/Amoro De Legante/Laura Fereday/Mark Mead

2. 875/Metternich/Karen King/Laureen McKenzie

3. 843/Rio's Firefly/Christen Tuxworth/Laurie Jueneman

4. 934/Simone/Catherine Schoelzel/Jennifer Rhodes

 

142. 2nd Green/High Performance Handy

1. 1359/Amoro De Legante/Laura Fereday/Mark Mead

2. 843/Rio's Firefly/Christen Tuxworth/Laurie Jueneman

3. 875/Metternich/Karen King/Laureen McKenzie

4. 934/Simone/Catherine Schoelzel

 

143. 2nd Green/High Performance U/S

1. 875/Metternich/Karen King/Laureen McKenzie

2. 1359/Amoro De Legante/Laura Fereday/Mark Mead

3. 843/Rio's Firefly/Christen Tuxworth/Laurie Jueneman

4. 934/Simone/Catherine Schoelzel/Jennifer Rhodes

 

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