BY REGINA ANTONIOLI
It was a big competition and there were some big winners. Velantis N, owned and bred by Christiane Noelting, won all four of the classes entered. The striking 17H chestnut Hanoverian stallion, ridden by Christian Hartung (Vacaville, CA) at Third Level garnered all scores above 73% and an impressive 79.300 in the Freestyle. The pair picked up a highpoint award, the overall CDS HOY Lower Level Freestyle title, and the overall Grand- Champion title for Third/Fourth Level.
Christian Hartung and Velantis N with Christiane Noelting
Another multi-Championship winner was Rachel Wade (West Sacramento, CA). She captured two of the CDS Horse of the Year state championships; Training Level on Paradigm a Dutch Warmblood gelding whom she bred and owns, and First Level on Reminiscence, Elizabeth Banga’s Dutch Warmblood mare. Reminiscence also won the Four-Year-Old Futurity and a High Point award with a 78.409%.
Willy Arts (Hanford, CA) took the top honors in the Five-Year-Old Futurity earning an impressive 79.236 on DG Bar’s big Chestnut KWPN Stallion, Pharaoh DG. He also rode Pharaoh DG for the CDS HOY Second Level Championship. First place in the 6-Year-Old division also went to Willy on the black Danish stallion Serupgaards Cezanne (72.409%), owned by Linda Nickerson. He also picked-up both the Great American/USDF and CDS Reserve Championships at Fourth Level on Makanabria DG.
Ari Lopez (Vacaville, CA) won both Grand Prix Freestyles Championships: the Great American/USDF on her own Oldenburg mare, Revenna N and the CDS on Carolyn McMullen’s Duarte Monterrey. Ari and the Lusitano gelding performed to an upbeat melody of dance music leading od with the Dancing With the Stars theme. Their Freestyle and earlier Grand Prix win also earned them the overall Grand Prix Grand Champion.
It was Jackie Ahl Eckhaus (San Luis Obispo, CA) who won the Great American/USDF Region 7 Grand Prix Championship, riding Jet MVS, a Dutch gelding she bred and owns. Jackie also bred and owns Sidonna MVS, who won the First Level Jr/YR Region 7 Championships and was reserve for CDS with Lily-Rose Bacon (San Luis Obispo, CA). Lily- Rose and the Dutch mare also earned the Sunday Jr/YR Highpoint with a 72.988%.
Two additional CDS Grand Championships were awarded earlier in the week. Natalya Slipchenko (Davis, CA) won the Intermediaire I on Lori Kornblatt’s Fortunatto EDI. The Westphalian gelding earned a combined score of 70.327%. Fourteen-year-old Bea Freels (Santa Barbara, CA) was the First/Second Level Grand Champion, earning a combined score of 65.613% on her mom’s Welsh Cob, Figgy Pudding.
The other Sunday High-Point Winner was Gretta Williams (Salinas, CA) on Priyanka. The 71.400% also earned her the CDS Adult Amateur Training Level Championship besting a hotly contested class of 17 riders. Reserve, Kristine Jean Hegglin (Danville, CA) and 3rd place Marcia Smith (Loomis, CA) both earned scores over 70%. Kristine Jean and Cinematic swapped positions with Gretta and Priyanka winning the Region 7 A/A Training Level Championship.
It was first time Championship competitor, Jennifer Nuckton (Carmel, CA) who brought the picture into perspective. “I had a fabulous time. It was very exciting to be at a Championship and to be able to participate – the level of competition and the quality of horses.” She continued, “There were so many horses in all my classes, just placing felt like a real achievement. And the ribbons were absolutely beautiful. I loved doing the honor rounds. My horse thought that was the best part too.”
It seems irrefutable that everyone who qualified and everyone who competed is a BIG winner, regardless of their placings. CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!
