Ashland Team #2 jumped to the top of the podium in the $25,000 Hermès Under 25 Grand Prix Series Team Event, which took center stage in the Global International Arena at Equestrian Village on Friday evening. The team made up of Helen Graves (USA), Austin Krawitt (CAN), Klas Kudlinski (GER), and Ty Simpson (USA), finished on the only eight-fault score of the night after two rounds of competition.
Kudlinski, 24, posted the only clear performance under the time allowed for his team before the second round was cut short by weather after only two rider rotations competed from the six teams that returned. He and Charles 82, a 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Cachas x Catoki) owned by BG Kudlinski u. Böge, led the team, while Graves, 20, also jumped clear in the second round. However, she and Kafka du Printemps, a 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding (Nabab de Reve x Indoctro), put one time fault on the clock.
“This is the first time that I’m bringing my horses over to America, so it’s the first time that I’m doing the Under 25,” said Kudlinski, who pulled a single rail and picked up a time fault in the first round. “I had one down in the first round, but my horse jumped really, really well. It was obviously a rider mistake. The second round I was more on it, and you’re not riding just for yourself, so you also have the pressure to take care of the other riders on your team. When you miss something, the whole team misses something, but it’s a good experience.”