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you're listening to an article from horse sport.com. ashley arnoldt and lenny light up ushja hunter derby by: thunderbird show park media |. ashley arnoldt has found her heart horse in light my fire, affectionately known as “lenny.” their deep connection paid off thursday during the odlum brown bc open at thunderbird show park with a decisive win in the $25,000 forest edge farm ushja international hunter derby. arnoldt, a three-time champion of the canadian hunter derby series, drew on her extensive experience with the 13-year-old hanoverian stallion to deliver a polished performance. despite an early draw—fourth in the order—she stuck to her plan and executed flawlessly. “my strategy today was to have a smooth round,” said the langley-based rider. “we don’t do a lot of international derbies, but qualifying for derby finals is a goal for this year and next. if i felt good, i wanted to jump the high options. i think i might have been the only one to jump the high option for the split rails—he nailed it. i knew he was there to play today.”. advertisement scroll to continue with content the judges rewarded lenny’s determination, smoothness, and boldness with a winning score of 363. chocotoff and morgan thomas claimed second (360.5) for robert fries, while oxo van de bien and allison lagan secured third (353.25) for joanne dixon. derbies are lenny’s forte. “he’s done so many,” arnoldt said. “in the last couple of years, he’s been consistent. normally, we’re always second—that’s our signature. so we don’t necessarily always win every class, but we’ve always been [at least] second or third.”. originally a show jumper, lenny has thrived in his hunter career. “he’s very chill, very quiet. sometimes he can wake up in the ring a little bit,” she shared. “he has just enough spice to jump those high options and still respect them—and he always gives his best.”. consistency, arnoldt says, is the secret to their success. “he’s so good,” she continued. “at first he wasn’t handy, so handy turns were very hard. and now he looks for them. he tries so hard. we know each other so well, so now we just finesse it.”. arnoldt knows lenny is a once-in-a-lifetime partner. “he is a horse of a lifetime for me,” she said of lenny. “i don’t know if i’ll ever be so lucky to have another horse with this kind of achievement. he’s done so much and he owes me nothing. he just has to go be himself and do what he does best.”. $25,000 forest edge farm ushja international hunter derby horse / rider / owner / score. 1. light my fire / ashley arnoldt / jennifer arnoldt / 363 2. chocotoff / morgan thomas / robert fries / 360.5 3. oxo van de bien / allison lagan / joanne dixon / 353.25 4. pac man tw / amara gottwald / amara gottwald / 331 5. closing time / kelsey king / kelsey king / 329.
