Canada’s Erynn Ballard returned to the winner’s circle at the Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows on Saturday, finishing in first and second place in the $38,700 FEI 1.45m Jump-off presented by Fidelity Investments. She stopped the clock on the winning time of 35.61 seconds with Ginger Ask and followed closely behind in 36.17 seconds with Coconet.
The Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows are one of the premier stops on the nation’s hunter-jumper horse show circuit, offering a full schedule of world-class competition May 7-12 and May 14-19 that features the nation’s best in equestrian sport.
Ballard bested a field of 48 horse-and-rider combinations representing seven countries in Saturday’s $38,700 FEI 1.45m Jump-off presented by Fidelity Investments, where course designer Alan Wade set a sweeping 15-effort track for the initial round. Nineteen pairs returned to jump off for top honors, and Ballard’s two mounts –Ilan Ferder’s 10-year-old Holsteiner mare Ginger Ask and Wight Show Stables LLC’s 10-year-old Oldenburg mare Coconet – proved to be the ones to beat.
“When I came out of the ring on Coconet, I said to Ilan that I gave the class away from #1 to #2,” Ballard said. “If you’re counting strides, which we do in the jump-off, I did nine strides there after she jumped #1 a bit high and I just didn’t get my balance in time to turn her away from the gate. After we jumped #2, I went quite fast everywhere else, but then on Ginger, I did that same early turn in seven. I guess that’s the advantage of having two fast horses – you can do better on the second than you did on the first.
“Even though I took the lead on Ginger, I knew I had Conor Swail behind me, and he’s as fast as anyone in the world,” she added. “I wanted to make sure that I had to make him work for it. Today, it worked out in my favor. He had one down, and we ended up first and second.”
Ballard has been developing her mares for the last year alongside Ferder, and Saturday marked Ginger’s first FEI win. “I know these two girls quite well,” she said. “Ilan’s the one in charge of their training and regular schooling, so I’m usually following his ride. We actually have a gray girl gang at the moment – three or four gray mares, all 10-year-olds, all horses that I get on and ask, ‘How can I be so lucky to ride?’”
Rounding out the top five placings were three Americans: Raleigh Hiler in third with Kurt Hiler’s 15-year-old Oldenburg mare Cassina 64 (0/0/36.77), Alex Matz in fourth with 5 Star Partners’ 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion Ikigai (0/0/36.89), and Megan McDermott in fifth with Counter Balance LLC’s 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding Paddington Du Royaume (0/0/36.98).
Results here.
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