Erynn Ballard (CAN) likes to call Chatadel PS her “serious weapon.” But after winning FEI classes aboard three different horses in Traverse City this summer, it may be Ballard herself who is the real weapon. On Friday of week five of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival, presented by B&D Builders, she won her third FEI class on a third horse, pocketing the $31,100 CSI3* Speed.
“That is an exceptional horse,” she said of her winning ride, Chatadel PS (Chacoon Blue x Conthargos). “At 9 years old he’s already won so much for us. He’s just a cool guy. I had the opportunity to go one time on [Her Game Ball BG], take a risk, see what I could do, it didn’t pay off with one down, but then I knew what I could do on him.”
What she was able to do was eliminate strides and shave off just enough time to secure the win. Crossing the timers in 62.11 seconds, Ballard still had five riders left to challenge her, but none could catch the mark.
“I had the time to win on Game Ball,” she recalled, still ultimately landing in the top 10 with a time of 60.93 seconds but with one rail down. “I was the only one who did eight [strides] from one to two on both horses. [Chatadel] is deceivingly fast and his stride is so big.”
Finishing in second place, less than a second off the winning time, was fellow Canadian Amy Millar with Christiano, who may be getting hungrier for a win after placing closely behind Ballard in Wednesday’s CSI3* Welcome Stake as well. Third place went to Giavanna Rinaldi (USA) and Big Beauty Z.
Ballard rides so many horses and has been for so long that she knows exactly what it takes on any given horse to push it to its fastest ability.
“Going fast is a numbers game,” she remarked about how she formulates a plan for taking strides out in a speed round or a jump-off. “You really have to keep that in mind. It’s fractions of a second that make a difference and sometimes we do have to make choices along the way to save time. It’s strategy, it’s strides.”
With Saturday’s 116,500 The Dexter CSI3* Grand Prix less than 24 hours away, Ballard is going to challenge Chatadel PS once more as well as her more seasoned partner, Fave d’Athuit, piloting two mounts in the class.
“It’s going to be Fave’s last class before Aachen,” she noted about her FEI World Championships mount, less than a month away from that major event. “Chatadel has won a three-star Grand Prix this year. We refer to him as a serious weapon; he’s a threat every time you enter a class. He always has a chance to win. That’s definitely a great feeling.”
Ballard has also spent time in the hunter rings this season, a reflection of how much she enjoys matching horses with the jobs that suit them best.
“Yesterday I rode a horse and it was a jumper turned into a hunter and I had the best time on it,” Ballard reflected. “[I love] trying different things with a horse and making it better or finding out what that horse is going to excel at. I asked [Ilan Ferder], ‘Does anyone have more fun than me?’ He said no. So still, this many classes, this many horses into my career, every single day I get on and love it more than anything else.”
Results here.
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