Traverse City, MI – The hillside overlooking the beautiful Grand Prix Ring at Flintfields Horse Park was packed with spectators on Sunday afternoon as Traverse City saw some of the country’s top horses and riders compete in a $30,000 Show Jumping Grand Prix. After two exciting rounds of competition, Kim Farlinger of Ottawa, ON earned top prize with her athletic dark bay gelding Cordoba. The class featured a track set by renowned course designer Pierre Jolicoeur, and featured seventeen horse and rider combinations. Eight of the original entries were able to complete Jolicoeur’s first round course without fault to advance to the jump-off round, and just four were then able to clear the final round. Those four riders sped through the winding course as fast as their horses could take them in an attempt to stop the clock in the fastest time.
The first entry to jump double clear was Scott Lenkart and his mount Impulsive, owned by MacMillan Sport Horse. The pair stopped the clock in 38.352 seconds, which eventually earned them the third place honors. Kim Farlinger returned next with Cordoba and raced through the course without fault in a time of 36.320 seconds to take over the lead. Robin Walker and Ilian-De-Taute had a clear jump-off round as well and their time of 42.651 seconds finished in fourth place. Lenkart returned last with his second mount Un Prince who was also clear in the first round. The pair jumped the course with ease, sliding into the second place position with a time of 37.895 seconds.
Farlinger commented on her jump-off round, stating, “I thought that I did not leave much room, I was really able to hold my gallop the whole jump-off course and I didn’t have to slow down to any of the fences. I thought someone would have had to be pretty daring on the rollback and go tighter to beat me, so I was hopeful. My horse is a very fast horse and I knew he would be hard to catch.”
“Cordoba is a great horse; he is a twelve-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, and I have had him since he was six,” Farlinger continued. “He is a good jumper and he wants to be competitive. If he is in the jump-off he always wants to be fast. We go to California in the winter and he shows there, we do Spruce Meadows most of the time in the summer, and he has shown there for several years in the big Grand Prix classes. He has a lot of mileage as a Grand Prix horse. He is very fast, very competitive, and a lot of fun.”
“He was very green and very difficult and spooky when I got him,” Farlinger stated. “It took him a couple years to grow into a horse that really knew his job in the show ring, but by the time he was nine he was doing really well in the Grand Prixs. For the past three years he has been a solid Grand Prix horse. I have another Grand Prix horse, Baystreet, and hopefully we’ll see him here too. We always like to enter Grand Prixs and try to win, so we will just keep going and keep jumping.”
Farlinger is based out of Canada and has a show jumping stable there where she rides and teaches. This is her first time competing at Horse Shows by the Bay and she has had a great time so far. “We have never been here before, but we heard a lot of great things about the show from different people back in Canada so we thought we would give it a try,” she stated. “So far we like it and we are staying for all three weeks. At twelve years old I like to keep Cordoba a little bit fresh, so I might do all three Grand Prix classes, but for sure I’ll do another one.”
Earlier in the day the Children’s and Adult Jumpers completed their first week of competition in the Grand Prix Ring. The $2,500 Modified Child/Adult Jumper Classic was held first sponsored by Bay Harbor Equestrian Club of Bay Harbor, MI, with a win going to Emily Short and Remora with the only double clear rounds. The $2,500 NAL/WIHS Adult Jumper Classic was held next sponsored by Magnum Hospitality with a victory for Alex Cooper and Expresso. The morning concluded with a win for Meredith Darst and Hidden Creek’s Kendall in the $2,500 NAL/WIHS Children’s Jumper Classic, which was generously sponsored by Northern Pines Farm and Leelanau School of Maple City, MI.
Sunday’s competition concluded the first week of the 2010 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival’s hunter/jumper classes. The series will continue on Wednesday, July 21 with a full schedule of competition at the beautiful Flintfields Horse Park. The show will conclude with its third week of competition on August 1. For more information, please visit www.horseshowsbythebay.com.
RESULTS
$30,000 GRAND PRIX OF TRAVERSE CITY II2A
1. CORDOBA, KIM FARLINGER – PETER FARLINGER – 0/0 36.320
2. UN PRINCE, SCOTT LENKART – MARTHA MACMILLAN – 0/0 37.895
3. IMPULSIVE, SCOTT LENKART – MACMILLAN SPORT HORSE – 0/0 38.352
4. ILIAN-DE-TAUTE, ROBIN WALKER – RUTH ARMSTRONG – 0/0 42.651
5. COURAGE 68, BRIAN SHOOK – EQUESTRIAN ENDEAVORS – 0/4 37.096
6. CASINO VAN DE HELLE, ERIN HAAS – NORTH FACE FARM – 0/440.972
7. OBOURG, LISA JACQUIN – FLINTWOODE FARMS LLC – 0/6 46.167
8. MOET WALK, DAVID BEISEL – HARLOW INVESTMENT ENT LLC 0/Withdr
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