Text © World of Showjumping

Artemis Farms has acquired two talented 9-year-olds – Corrie 9 and Starman – for Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa. Corrie 9 and Starman will be joining Artemis Farms’ impressive string of horses, alongside Pessoa’s Olympic hopeful Major Tom, as well as Dhalida, Lord Lucio, Chili, and Eclat du Cerisier.

Corrie 9 (Comme Il Faut 5 x Arpeggio) has impressed with Jana Wargers in the saddle, and at the end of last year the pair won a two-star Grand Prix at Sentower Park. Last summer, the mare was also clear in all three classes of the youngster tour at CHIO Aachen – showing her quality. Starman (born Fusario d’Boissailles, Ogrion des Champs x Calido) made only a few international appearances up to 1.50m level with Wargers before being sold and was previously seen with Jean Xhemal in the saddle.

“Luckily, I have really great owners – Kristy and Jim Clark of Artemis Farms – who want to support me with the best quality horses for the big sport,” Rodrigo Pessoa tells WoSJ. “They are very supportive in trying to create the best possible line-up of horses, and these two 9-year-olds fit very well into our string. We have followed Corrie for the last two years with Jana, and she is a mare who has that extra quality. She has a lot of blood, is very careful and is a real fighter – she is a 10 out of 10 in her quality. While she is a small mare, she is very strong and that’s what we still have to figure out a bit. Starman is a horse with tremendous scope, is careful, has a good natural balance and while he still needs a bit work in his flatwork, he is a horse we also have high expectations for in the future.”

“We are super excited to see these two wonderful 9-year-olds develop under Rodrigo. I am very grateful for the continuous trust and support from Kristy and Jim Clark who have been buying horses from us for almost ten years now,” Enda Carroll of Ashford Farm says to WoSJ.

“I will be showing both Corrie and Starman for one week at Old Salem Farm, before they will join Dhalida and Major Tom for our European tour,” Pessoa tells. “As part of the selection process for the Olympics, I am planning to jump Major Tom in Macon and then do one week off before La Baule where he will jump the Nations Cup as well as the Grand Prix. Then he will have a couple of easy weeks, and a smaller show ahead of CHIO Aachen – which will be his last before we hopefully go to Paris,” the 2004 Olympic Champion closes off.