Boylen & Gachino Beat the Heat at CDI 3* Mariakalnok

Ottawa, Ontario — Canadian Olympian Chrisilot Boylen scored great results despite oppressive heat at the CDI 3* Mariakalnok, held May 25-28 in Hungary.

A current resident of Rottingen, Germany, Boylen traveled to Hungary with two Grand Prix mounts, Alec Murray’s 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding Don Valentino 5, as well as Gachino, a 13-year-old Baden-Wurttemberger gelding owned by Mr. & Mrs. Hermosilla.

Competitors faced hot and humid weather which averaged at 32.5 degrees Celsius each day, but Gachino took the heat in stride, scoring 66.92% for a fourth place against a field of 18 in the Grand Prix, before moving on to the Grand Prix Special to finish second on a score of 69.40%.

“After an injury that put him out of the ring for a year and a half, he has returned better than I ever could have hoped,” stated Boylen, explaining that at Gachino’s first competition of this year, a German National show held in April, Gachino won both the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special. “He is one of the most talented horses I have ever had the privilege of riding. I will be monitoring him carefully and will spend the summer polishing the Grand Prix and the Special.”

After putting in a fifth place finish in the Intermediate II , Don Valentino 5 had to unfortunately be withdrawn from the Grand Prix after experiencing some discomfort due to the extreme heat.

“We did our best to help the horses by washing them down with cold water every few hours, but after testing Don Valentino the following day for the Grand Prix, I decided to withdraw him from the class,” explained Boylen.

Mariakalnok was the first international start of the year for Boylen, who praised both the footing and the facilities. “That the weather would turn so hot and stay that way, no one could have foreseen.” With such strong results from her top horses, Boylen can look forward to even hotter competition in the coming months.

The international judging panel at the CDI 3* Mariakalnok included Dr. Barnabas Mandi (FEI ‘O’ – HUN), Dr. Wojtek Markowsky (FEI ‘O’ – POL), Mariette Withages-Dieltjens (FEI ‘O’ – BEL) , Christoph Hess (FEI ‘I’ – GER), Victoire Mandle (FEI ‘I’- AUT), Marietta Almasy (FEI ‘C’ – FRA) and Thomas Lang (FEI ‘C’ – AUT).

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