Press release from Desert International Horse Park 

Skylar Wireman has big hopes for a big ride in her string. Crunch K (Clarimo x Canturo) stands at over 18 hands high, and he’s got a huge presence both in and out of the ring. She used the 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding’s massive stride and build to cruise to first in the $5,000 IDA Development CSI3* 1.45m Speed on Friday afternoon.

“This horse came to me about a year ago now and over the past year we’ve had a great bond,” she said of Crunch K, owned by MKT Equine LLC. “We had a couple smaller 1.35m wins and this is our first bigger three-star win.”

The course was designed by Alan Wade (IRL), and Wireman believed it was the perfect course for her horse. “This class actually was his specialty; I rethink I left a stride out in every line,” she said. “A big open field with lots of long galloping lines is where he’s at home because he has a massive stride. He can leave strides out so easily. We walked the one five and not a single person did four and I cruised down there. It really suited him.”

Wireman’s time was 66.92 seconds, and she snagged the quickest time right at the end from the hands of Cassio Rivetti (BRA) and Billy Dorito (Billy Mexico x Vechta), owned by Monarch Farms LLC. Vanessa Mannix (CAN) took third with Valentino D’Elte (Castronom Z*de Hus x Windsor). 

The Friday FEI class is an addition to the schedule that the international riders very much appreciate, especially riders like Wireman who have several mounts in the international division.

“Because you can only do so many in the 1.50m and Grand Prix each week, I think adding a couple classes gives the third horse an option to have more classes,” she explained of why it benefits her string. “It’s really helped a lot especially with a greener horse that you want to bring up to be your top horse. This horse hasn’t jumped a ton of huge tracks, and I think it’s been really helpful having more classes to mix and match what you want to do with your horses.”

Wireman will jump Tornado in the $117,000 TALUS CSI3* Grand Prix on Saturday night, hoping to score a win in that as well. “For [Crunch K], he’ll continue to build; he just started doing the 1.50m at the end of last year so he’ll continue to progress through that and keep developing a little more. We’ll see where it takes us,” she concluded.