Press release from Traverse City Horse Shows

Samantha Schaefer (USA) is not limiting her talents to the hunter ring during the final week of the Tournament of Champions. After a win in the Performance Horse Final late Friday afternoon, she came in guns blazing Saturday morning, and she and Frasier, owned by Bonne Vie LLC, topped a 45-horse field in the the $37,000 Cabana Coast CSI2* Grand Prix.

Featuring a star-studded list of athletes, CSI2* riders took their turn over Alan Wade’s (IRL) first-round track in an attempt to score a ticket to the jump-off. Eight pairs jumped clear and within the time allowed, but the jump-off saw neck-and-neck action as the top-five pairs all landed within one second of one another.

Schaefer was first to go over the short course due to a busy morning at Flintfields Horse Park that caused her to opt to move up in the jump-off order. Though several riders came very close, including Jordan Coyle (IRL) who was quicker with one rail down, she held her lead through all seven pairs to follow her.

“Going first, [my plan was to] jump a clear round first and foremost,” Schaefer said. “I thought the jump-off suited a lot of horses because there were a few leave-out spots. He has such a huge stride, he ended up getting [one less] where I had to wait. I thought I could be caught, as we saw with Jordan, but all in all it was smooth and gave everyone something to chase after without being too flat. I don’t think there was anywhere I could have gone faster, it would have just been a matter of someone having a faster horse today.”

Schaefer has been paired with the 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Carambole x Padinus) for a year and a half and the partnership came together after Schaefer first rode the horse at McLain Ward’s farm in 2021.

“I took him as a sales horse and I just fell in love with him,” Schaefer said of Frasier. “I was really lucky that McLain made it possible for me to have this horse and a great group of clients at our barn all came together and put together a partnership for me. This is my motivation; to have a horse like this to show in these classes really means a lot. I have a great partnership with the horse and I believe in him completely, whether we’re jumping a two-star or a four-star it always feels the same. He’s very rideable, has a huge stride, and is incredibly brave.”

After running circles around the horse show all morning, Schaefer still had clients to teach and classes to compete in herself, but enjoyed being part of the exciting week of action.

“These Major League [Show Jumping] weeks just feel so special,” Schaefer concluded. “It’s exciting to get five-star classes here. The environment is great and having these great riders forces you to be on your game and be that much better. When you have Kent [Farrington] and McLain coming behind you in the two-star on their second or third horses, it pushes you to be better.”