Source:  News Release/LEG Up

Great Horses and Riders Prove Unbeatable
at LA National
Patrick Spanton Dominates
the $5,000 Pre-Green Hunter Championship

Patrick Spanton is all smiles after his victory in the $5,000 Peacefield Farms Pre-Green Championship
Photo: Flying Horse Photography

Patrick Spanton had an unbeatable day at LA National (Nov 7-11) when he took top honors in both the 3’0” and 3’3” sections of the $5,000 Peacefield Farms Pre-Green Hunter Championship. “My client, Anne Amerman, sponsored the class because she believes in bringing up young horses,” Patrick explained. “I feel like the young hunters have been lacking lately, so it’s nice that we have this class and additional sponsorship for the 3’3” section to encourage people to develop pre-green horses.”

Chris Collman designed the courses for the championship. “I tried to design courses that were a little different, fun, and challenging, without getting too crazy and destroying a horse’s confidence,” he explained. Patrick felt the course design was just right. “The course was exactly what pre-green horses should be jumping, but just a little bit more interesting than a typical hunter course. It gave you some options to show off your horse’s gallop because there were a lot of single jumps.”

Patrick had the chance to show off Genias's (Laura Dampf, owner) beautiful stride in the 3’0” section of the championship. After going into the second round in second place behind Tommi Clark and her Chosen, the pair put in a top notch round to take over the lead. “Genias is beautiful to look at and she’s a great jumper. She’s just a super game, super sweet horse,” Patrick said. Tommi and Chosen missed a lead change, which left them in third while Archie Cox and Twinkle (Woodvale Inc., owner) moved up to second place by just 0.5 points.

Five-year-old Genias’s win was particularly impressive because of her inexperience. “She has only shown four times before, but she already shows with her owner in the Adult Amateur Hunters,” Patrick stated. In fact, Genias and Laura were Adult Amateur Hunters 51 and Over Champion. Remarking on Laura and Genias's special bond, Patrick said, “Laura bought Genias as a weanling in New Zealand off a picture she saw online. She brought her over and raised her and broke her herself.”

Patrick also won the 3’3” section of the championship aboard Undeniable (Kelly Straeter, owner). “Undeniable is one of the most beautiful movers I’ve ever seen, and he jumps just as well. He’s got a huge stride and a perfect attitude. He’s an easy, easy ride,” Patrick enumerated. In the first round, the judges gave Patrick and Undeniable an 85 which put them just ahead of Katie Gardner and Chrush (Q of E Farms LLC, owner), who scored an 83. Patrick and Katie earned 85 and 83, respectively, again in the second round, which put them into first and second place.

After Patrick won both sections of the Pre-Green Hunter Championship, Undeniable was deemed the overall high scorer of the entire championship. “All I can say is that I’m really happy and it feels great to win the whole thing,” Patrick remarked. Undeniable’s owner, Kelley, was on hand to share the victory and was just as ecstatic as Patrick. She shared, “Undeniable was actually at a dressage barn when we found him about two years ago. They brought him to this show and we vetted him there and wound up taking him home with us. Patrick (Spanton) and Mary Gatti have done such a phenomenal job with him, and I’m just so excited for this win.”

John Pearce makes a great team with Chianto Photo: Flying Horse Photography

John Pearce was excited when he and Chianto (Allison Moore and John Pearce, owners) added another win to their already illustrious career in the $32,000 L.A. National Open Welcome Stake Grand Prix. “We have a great bond," John said of his show ring partner of five years. "He’s jumped in the World Championships and won I don’t know how many medals at this point. He’s just a great little horse. He’s my partner in crime, my buddy, and this was definitely a course for a real partnership.”

The technical course (Richard Jeffery, course designer) left little room for error, and riders had to choose tight tracks if they wanted a piece of the prize. “Richard Jeffery has been around for a long, long time, and he really knows what he’s doing. It was a definitely a rider’s course,” John explained. “In order to go fast and win, you needed an experienced rider and an experienced horse. You couldn’t just put the pedal to the metal.” The course was conducted under Table C over a Table A course, so each rail added 4 seconds and each refusal added 6 seconds to a rider’s overall time and there was no jump off.

Marilyn Little and Zilox T (Raylyn Farms, Inc., owner), winners of the $50,000 Anniversary Grand Prix the previous week, set the tone early in the class with an incredibly fast round of 69.46 seconds. However, the two knocked down a rail on the second to last fence of the course, which gave her a final time of 73.46 seconds.

Marilyn’s time stood for several riders until reigning FEI World Cup champion Rich Fellers and McGuinness (Harry and Molly Chapman, owners) had an absolutely beautiful ride, which included a slice to one vertical so he could make a tight rollback. The crowd exploded when he cleared the last fence in 72.40 seconds with no faults.

It seemed like no one would catch Rich’s time until John and 16-year-old Chianto made their bid. The pair had an effortless round, making tight turns and slicing the jumps with ease. The crowd went wild again when John jumped clear in just 68.95 seconds, almost a full four seconds faster than Rich. The three brilliant riders stayed on the top of the leader board and clinched the top three places.

“It was just a matter of your turns being efficient, being on the job, and having a horse with enough experience that you could surprise him a little bit off of the turns," John recalled. "The key parts of the course were to leave a stride out to the double on the outside, get the inside turn to the Swedish oxer, and still be able to get the six to the triple. I wanted to go out there and do my thing and if I won, I won.”

Though John and Chianto made the course look easy, they’ve put in a ton of work to become so in tune with each other. “When I got him, he was a very nervous horse and didn’t have a lot of confidence," John explained. "The first year with him was tough, but once he started trusting me he just became a great horse. I think it’s a combination of good chemistry and horsemanship that makes this such a great partnership. I’m extremely grateful to be blessed with this horse.”

Savannah Dukes moves up from third to win the 14 and Under Equitation Championship Photo: Flying Horse Photography

Great horse and rider combinations make for winning equitation rounds, and this was proven in the LA National Equitation Championships. All of the classes included two equitation rounds and a work off of the top four. Riders had to demonstrate their precision, style, and consistency over the courses, which included several short turns and bending lines.

In the14 and Under class, it was Savannah Dukes (Robyn Stiegler, trainer) who brought home the championship aboard her Alicante. “It was a really good way to end the year because this is our last show of the season," Savannah commented. “I just got Alicante in July and he’s such a good horse. He’s a lot of fun to ride and he always tries his best.”

Savannah was in third place going into the work off. “I just wanted to go for it," Savannah said. "I didn’t have a ton to lose at that point so I just wanted to try and do everything I could to move up.” For the work off, riders had to canter two fences, counter canter a third, hand gallop the fourth, and then halt before returning to the line at the sitting trot. Alicante landed the counter canter perfectly in the work off and performed an efficient and smooth halt. “Alicante is really good at work offs. He’s very handy and great at landing the counter canter," Savannah added. “I’m really excited about the win and it’s such an exciting finish to the season. This was my last year in the 14 and under age group, so I want to do all the big equitation medals next season and see where we can go.”

Jayme Omond and Cliford team up to wih the 15 through 17 Equitation Championships Photo: Flying Horse photography

In the 15 through 17 section of the Equitation Championships, Jayme Omand (Kelly Van Vleck, trainer) claimed the tri-color on Cliford, followed by Clara Plestis (Ginny Plancke, trainer) on Crescendo, with Alexandra Murray (Jeni Brown, trainer) in third on Comiker and Bella Hadid (Kost Karazissis, trainer) in fourth aboard Night Cap.

Cami Pease is Vibrant in the 18 through 35 Equitation Championships Photo: Flying Horse Photography

In the 18 through 35 age group, Cami Pease (Elvenstar Farms, trainer) and her Vibrant ended their season together on a high note, although the ending was bittersweet. “I’m actually trying to sell my horse because I don’t know if I’m going to do equitation anymore. This was probably one of our last shows together,” Cami admitted. “Last year we didn’t do well in this class, so it was kind of a nice redemption for us. I was also just out of the ribbons last night in the WCE Medal Finals, so it was nice to come back and win this championship.” Rounding out the top three were Julia Nagler (Benson Carroll, trainer) and Vendetta in second place and Camilla Bennett (Archie Cox, trainer) and her MVP in third.

Cami particularly enjoyed the second course (Chris Collman, course designer). “I thought it was a lot of fun, and I especially liked the hay bale situation. I thought the hay bales looked great and the hay bale bounce was so fun. It was a very flowing, bending course, which allowed you to get into a rhythm.” The straw bales were set in a horseshoe shape, and the riders had to not only canter through the top of the shoe and jump out, but then loop back around and jump across the two sides set as a bounce.

Cami’s reaction to the course was exactly the reaction Chris loves to see. “When an amateur or junior rider comes out of the ring after riding one of my courses and they pet their horse, have a big smile on their face and say, ‘That was great,’ then I know I’ve done my job,” he commented.

Shannon Davidson puts a cap on a successful year with a victory in the 36 and Over Equitation Championship Photo: Flying Horse Photography

Shannon Davidson (Joe Thorpe, trainer) came out on top in the 36 and Over section of the Equitation Championships on her Tobias. The pair have had another great year and recently triumphed in the USEF Zones 8, 9, 10 Adult Equitation Regional Final in September. Tobias is a particularly talented work off horse, and he and Shannon showed off their precision to move up from second place for the win. Annie Finch (Chance Arakelian, trainer) placed second on her W. C. Swing, while Elizabeth Robbins (Nina Alario, trainer) and her Intuition placed third.

Watch for our continuing coverage of the LA National Horse Show. There’s still more to read about the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby Final, Celebrate Jumpers, and more.

While the top jumpers head to Las Vegas for the conclusion of the inaugural West Coast Indoor Circuit at Las Vegas National, the LA Season Finale (Nov 16-18) will wrap up LEG’s 40th Anniversary show season. The LA Season Finale hosts the LEGIS League Medal Finals – five different classes – as well as the LEGIS League Children’s Pony Hunter Finale.

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