The United States’ Kent Farrington and Voyeur used their long-term partnership to produce the fastest round in a 13-rider jump off, winning the $250,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping North American League qualifier at the CSI4* CP National Horse Show. Already with a victory in a grand prix class earlier in the week, on a different horse Willow (Guidam x Little Rock), Farrington proved his close knowledge of his two mounts could deliver the fastest clears in competitive company.
“I know those horses really well and that’s my advantage this week,” Farrington said. “I brought two really experienced, qualified horses to compete and both went great. Both are owned by the Nusz family, and I’m really grateful to have horses of that caliber.”
For the North American League qualifier, Farrington chose the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Tolano van’t Riethof x Goodwill) that he described as having a hot character, and which allowed Farrington to ride extremely tight turns to the jump-off design’s double combination and large oxer.
“The horse is very hot to ride,” Farrington said. “Physically, he’s very strong, and it’s taken a long time to get him rideable. And for him to add strides in an indoor ring, it’s due to his experience. It’s taken me a while to get him there.”
“I think the ring here is actually quite big so it gives course designers freedom to make what they want to build,” he continued. “I actually thought the time allowed [in the first round] was pretty generous. If it were a shorter time allowed, it could have been a different outcome.”
Course designer Guilherme Jorge (BRA) also noted that the time allowed played a factor in the outcome of the class.
“This is a fantastic venue and it’s a great group of riders and horses, and of course we want to start a little easier and make it tougher throughout the week,” Jorge said. “But it looks like the riders had the same kind of idea as I did because they kept jumping better and better. In this level, it’s a very fine line and I think the riders today jumped it great and that’s the reason why we had 13 clears in the jump off.”
An American product
With the Maclay Final, an American junior equitation division sharing the spotlight with the North American league qualifier on the final day of competition, Farrington had the opportunity to reflect on his own experiences coming through the riding ranks in the country.
“I think that today, I’m a product of a lot of different systems,” Farrington said. “Early on in my career, I did some equitation riding and the Finals. But even more than the riding, it was the experience of the pressure that was even more important at those events than anything else. You build up to a Final and then you build on a round and deliver it on a specific day,” he said. “There were only so many shots at it. I think all of that experience is the most beneficial thing. Of course, at the lower level, it was about building the fundamentals and the basics of learning how to ride, but the most important thing was just learning to deal with pressure and big shows and how to handle those situations.”
The ability to handle the pressure to deliver a step-perfect round played a factor in Farrington’s win, in addition to riding later in the order of go.
“Both [Laura Kraut and I] had a later draw so there were a lot in it but we got to watch the first couple – we actually watched them together,” Farrington said. “It really comes down to what plan is going to suit your horse at that time. The first line was seven strides to the wall, and I think we both did the same. And then it was really what suited your horse, how tight you could roll back to the vertical and how fast you could go to the double and the last fence. Today I was on a much more experienced horse than Laura and that was probably my advantage.”
It’s still too early in the season for Farrington to decide on a specific horse to qualify and take to the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Gothenburg (SWE) in April. Next on Farrington’s schedule is to fly to California to campaign a different string of horses, with a possible West Coast qualifier appearance in Las Vegas.
“I’m sort of shuffling around with different horses,” said Farrington. “I have really good owners behind my career, so I’m lucky I can map out a schedule where I’m showing horses in a few places.”
Modern-day jumper
Farrington and runner-up Laura Kraut (USA), who also earned the title of Leading Lady Rider at the show, credited their horses with the ability to perform in a variety of settings, including large, outdoor tracks and indoor arenas.
“I think that’s today’s modern show jumper,” Farrington said. “He’s a really versatile horse that’s rideable and fast and scopey and careful. That’s overall what most of the experienced horses are in this sport. They can usually do both. I think he’s better outside than indoors, but this indoor is quite big so that’s why I thought it would quite suit him to bring him here.”
“[Voyeur’s] pretty wild actually,” he added, when asked about what his horse was like in the barn. “Laura and I were joking around about what we consider a normal horse and what everyone else considers a normal horse. We’re both known for riding sort of erratic or special horses. He’s very fresh, so you usually have to be a little bit awake when you’re riding him because he can spin very quickly and he can spook at a lot of things. He’s a handful but I think most of the good ones are.”
Kraut picked up the ride on Deauville S (Diamant de Semilly x Lux) when her partner and British Jumping professional Nick Skelton did not match well with the Holsteiner gelding.
“Deauville actually came from Germany and the owner sent him for Nick to ride,” Kraut said. “So Nick started jumping him in Wellington this winter and about halfway through he didn’t have the right temperament for him. He said, ‘Why don’t you get on him and show him.’ So I jumped him in a 1.45-meter class and won the first class I rode him in, and he said, ‘Well, that’s it, I’m never riding him again.’ So that’s how I got him. I might add that my clients were wonderful in that they went ahead and purchased him for me and I’m so thankful for that.”
Much of Kraut’s strategy with Deauville comes from her experience with a Thoroughbred that she rode in the past.
“I’ve had some really special horses,” Kraut said. “I rode a Thoroughbred horse years and years ago called Simba Run, and [Deauville’s] as close to Simba as I’ve had since then. In the warm up, he’s really special. Again, I’ve learned he likes to just stop and stand. And if I just let him stand, you can then make him go to a fence and he’ll jump it then he likes to stand. As long as you don’t make him keep going, going, going, then he seems fine with that. In the stable, he’s a puppy, he’s very sweet and really a kind horse.”
Results
1. Voyeur (Kent Farrington), USA, 0 faults/33.19 seconds (JO);
2. Deauville S (Laura Kraut), USA, 0/34.05 (JO);
3. H&M Challenge vd Begijnakker (xx), BEL, 0/34.07 (JO);
4. Breitling LS (Beezie Madden), USA, 0/34.26 (JO);
5. Emilie de Diamant A S (Hardin Towell), USA, 0/34.32 (JO);
6. Sunshine (Jos Verlooy), BEL, 0/34.36 (JO);
7. Viva Colombia (Conor Swail), IRL, 0/34.76 (JO);
8. HH Azur (McLain Ward), USA, 0/35.40 (JO).
Full results here.
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