Press release from Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows

New York’s early-morning rain was gone in time for Thursday’s featured competition at the Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows, with open jumpers and top-level hunters returning to beautifully decorated rings for the first awards of Week 2. Flying above a field of 52 entries representing ten countries in the International Arena, Jordan Coyle (IRL) and Picador, Elan Farm’s 15-year-old Anglo European gelding, took top honors in the $37,000 FEI 1.45m Two-Phase presented by Alliant Private Client with a time of 31.310 seconds. 

The Old Salem Farm Spring Horse Shows are one of the premier stops on the nation’s hunter-jumper horse show circuit, offering a full schedule of world-class competition May 10-15 and May 17-22 that features the nation’s best in equestrian sport.

Ireland’s Alan Wade set a course of 16 jumping efforts to challenge those entered in the $37,000 FEI 1.45m Two-Phase presented by Alliant Private Client, where only 0.03 seconds separated the top three riders. Coyle returned after his Old Salem Farm Grand Prix win on Sunday to stop the clock in 31.310 seconds. 

“My horse is unbelievable,” Coyle said. “I missed him, actually. This is his first time jumping and competing at a horse show since December, so it’s great to have him back. It was a fair course today. I had three horses in it, and I think all three did quite well. I didn’t get to watch anyone else, which I think was a good thing because it meant I wasn’t sweating. We were all very close, finishing in the same second. This horse has won so much for me, and every time I ride him, I feel lucky. He tries his best 99 percent of the time. He’s such a great horse.” 

Just 0.01 seconds shy of the time to beat, Mark Bluman (COL) finished in second place with a time of 31.320 seconds aboard Noortje VD Windheuvel, a 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by Over the Top Stables LLC. Egypt’s Nayel Nassar rounded out the top three riding Evergate Stables LLC’s Jiminy Cricket, an 11-year-old Westphalian gelding, to a time of 31.340 seconds.