Source:  LEG Up

Equitation Riders Work for the Win
in LAHJA Medal Finals

For Molly Peddicord (Kost Karazissis, trainer), winning the LAHJA Junior Medal Finals was a team effort. “As of last Sunday, I did not have a horse to ride in the finals because my horse was off,” Molly explained. “Jenny Karazissis and her entire family worked so hard and put in a lot of time to help me find a horse, but I just wasn’t clicking with any of the horses we tried. Lisa Winn ended up calling the Cyrus family and asked if I could use their horse, Constantine Carolus, and they were gracious enough to let me use him.”

Molly Peddicord rocks her work off to win the LAHJA Junior Medal Final Photo: Flying Horse Photography

Noah Cyrus was one of Molly’s many barn mates who stayed to cheer her on. When she was named champion, the cheers rang off of the rafters of the Equidome and Molly gave high fives and hugs to her barn mates during her victory gallop. “I’m so grateful to the whole Karazissis family, Lisa Winn, all of my barn mates, and especially the Cyrus family,” Molly commented. “Constantine is such a good horse, and I’m so glad I got to ride him. He was always there with me throughout each course, and he was just perfect.”

Molly rode Constantine for the first time in the LAHJA Medal Finals Warm Up Class at the start of the National Preview Horse Show (Oct 31 – Nov 4), and the two clicked immediately and scored an 81 in the first round of the LAHJA Junior Medal Final. “The first round I wasn’t as nervous going in because I hadn’t ridden the horse before and didn’t feel too much pressure,” Molly noted. “Then I was more nervous for the second round, particularly because his old owner, Amber Hunsicker, came down to watch him, and I put more pressure on myself.”

Despite the nerves, Molly rode even better in the second round and scored an 84. “After that, I thought to myself, ‘Okay, I got this. I can do well,’” Molly said. She did ride well and in the third round, she improved her score yet again with an 86.5 on the jumper style course. The course challenged riders to be consistent with several lines and short turns. “I thought the course was pretty challenging,” Molly commented. “My trainers all told me that a couple of people had been having trouble at the first fence, so we changed up my entrance a bit to avoid that.”

The top four riders in the class certainly avoided any trouble spots and showed off their equitation and precision. Heading into the work off, Molly sat in second place. Cece Manze (Joe Thorpe, trainer), Kayla Lott (Kay Altheuser, trainer), and Clara Plestis (Ginny Plancke, trainer) rounded out the top four.

The work off was quite a challenge as riders were asked to hand gallop a fence off of a tight rollback into the rail, counter canter the next fence on a bending line, trot the end fence, and demonstrate two changes of lead before returning to the lineup. Additionally, riders had to line up on the rail with their backs to the arena and were not allowed to watch the other riders. “I was concerned going into the work off because Clara had been doing so well throughout the competition and was in the lead,” Molly elaborated. “The announcer read the work off really fast and I had my back turned, so I had no idea what or how the other riders were doing. I was just hoping that I had the work off correct.”

Molly not only had the work off correct, but executed it flawlessly. Molly described, “Constantine hand galloped so well, and then we landed on the left lead for the counter canter and he held it perfectly.” She also performed flying changes when demonstrating two changes of lead, while Clara performed simple changes through the walk. Clara performed admirably in the work off, but unfortunately chipped at the hand gallop fence. Kayla proved she could handle the pressure and turned in an excellent work off with precise turns and downward transitions for a second place finish. But in the end, it was Molly’s consistency and superb work off that won her the blue ribbon. “After coming in second last year, I was tough on myself,” Molly confessed. “I really wanted it this year!”

Belle Calkin makes memories in the LAHJA Senior Medal Final Photo: Flying Horse Photography

Also making lasting memories in the Equidome was twenty-year-old Belle Calkin (Joe Thorpe, trainer) aboard her Belle Agio. The pair rose to the top of the LAHJA Senior Medal Final field with their consistency throughout the three phases. As with the LAHJA Junior Medal Final, the ride for the ribbons came down to the work off. The top four included Virginia Fout (Archie Cox, trainer), Alicyn Roy (Mary Gatti, trainer), and Shelly Lachow (Hap Hansen, trainer). Belle entered the work off in second place, but her beautiful execution vaulted her to the top.

Belle was one of only two to complete the work off correctly. Unlike the juniors, the top four seniors were allowed to watch their fellow competitors work off. The judges asked the riders to return to the line at a sitting trot after at the end of the work off.  “The two people before me didn’t do the sitting trot back to the lineup. I got really confused and wondered if I had heard the work off correctly. But I trusted myself and decided to sit the trot, which thankfully was the right decision,” Belle enumerated.

Belle was ecstatic about her win. “This is my first medal final win ever and I didn’t really have any expectations going into it. My mind set is always to try my hardest and have fun riding. I am so incredibly happy and shocked that I won.” The win was even more meaningful as Belle shared it with her Belle Agio. “I’ve had him for seven years and we’ve been through a lot,” Belle explained. “He’s always been such a consistent and honest horse. I’m so glad I have such a strong connection with him and that we could share this win together.”

Dorothy Rose Kauffman-Skloff kept her cool in the work off to win the LAHJA Pony Medal Final Photo: Flying Horse Photography

Dorothy Rose Kauffman-Skloff (Ginny Plancke, trainer) is no stranger to winning blue ribbons, but her win in the LAHJA Pony Medal Final on Rosmel’s Millennium (Robin Greenwood – GC Ponies, owner) was particularly special.  “I’ve never really competed in a final before, so it was great to win it,” Dorothy said. “It’s my last year competing in small ponies as well, so to win on my small pony was pretty memorable.”

Competitors had to keep their backs turned for the work off but that didn’t bother Dorothy.  “I was confident because I went first and didn’t have to worry about anything,” Dorothy noted. “I did know I was first going into the work off though, so it’s a little bit more pressure on me.  When I’m in the lead, normally what happens is I think, ‘Oh it will all be so easy.’ And then I chip to every fence.  So I really tried to stay focused and put more pressure on myself to perform.”

Dorothy stayed focused in the work off and held on to her lead for the win. It was a great addition to the numerous titles that Dorothy and Rosmel’s Millennium have won together.  “Rosmel’s Millennium is the best ever.  He’s so cute and he’s just a great jumper and the best mover.”  Though Dorothy won’t be able to ride the small ponies any more, she is looking forward to continuing to show in the large ponies and moving up to horses in the next show year.

There are so many great happenings these two weeks. Still to come: WCE and Onondarka Medal Finals, and this year’s winner will be the 50th in the rich history of the Onondarka Medal Finals, joining winners such as Susie Hutchison, Lise Quintero, and Francie Steinwedell, who all continued on to become top grand prix riders. Peacefield Farms is sponsoring the Pre-Green Hunter Championship where this year there will be awards for both 3’0” and 3’3” Pre-Green Horses, and Junior and Amateur Jumper riders will contest the $12,000 Junior Amateur Jumper Championship for both teams and individuals. Finally, the two weeks will wrap up with the $50,000 LEGIS Grand Prix of Los Angeles, both an FEI World Cup Qualifier and a qualifying class for the HITS Thermal Million.

LEG will wrap up its year-long 40th Anniversary celebration with the $50,000 Anniversary Grand Prix (Nov. 3), the $10,000 Hunter Derby Final, and the $12,500 1.35 Jumper Classic Final.

Finally, while the top jumpers head to Las Vegas for the conclusion of the inaugural West Coast Indoor Circuit at the Las Vegas National, the LA Season Finale (Nov 15-18) will wrap up LEG’s 40th annual show season. The LA Season Finale is hosting the LEGIS League Medal Finals – five different classes – as well as the LEGIS League Children’s Pony Hunter Finale.

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