“He’s got everything in his favor to win a class like this.” – Erynn Ballard. Photo © Andrew Ryback Photography.
Press release from World Equestrian Center - Ocala, edited by World of Showjumping
After winning the opening five-star class on Wednesday, Canadian Olympian Erynn Ballard returned to the winner’s circle in the $32,000 Wild Horse Refuge Grand Prix Qualifier CSI2* with Paladin 116. A large class of 49 entries saw 18 go clear to the jump-off, and 11 of those were double clear.
It was a race to the finish, but Ballard won decisively in a time of 35.05 seconds. Shane Sweetnam and Balou H, a 10-year-old Westphalian gelding by Baloutelli x F.A. N. Holland owned by Leadon Ridge LLC and Sweet Oak Farm, finished second in 36.58 seconds. Coming in third was Richard Vogel (GER) and Quizas van’t Hulsbos, a 10-year-old BWP gelding by Emerald van het Ruytershof x Apollo van het Lindenbox owned by Devos Stables. They were clear in 37.05 seconds.
Sweetnam added to his day’s haul by taking second place with Balou H. Photo © Andrew Ryback Photography.
“It was pretty fast,” said Ballard with a smile about her jump-off ride. “I was looking for 10 strides from jumps one to two, and it showed up in nine strides. We were talking about it in the warm-up ring, one of those sayings is that you win the jump-off in the first three jumps. You can’t catch up if you go slow in the beginning."
“I felt so fast in the beginning, jumps one-two-three-four,” she continued. “Then the seven strides got slow into the double combination. I took a chance and added a stride to the last jump because I felt like he was going so fast, and I needed to keep his concentration. I definitely won in the first three jumps, and that’s where you see the difference in the time.”
Richard Vogel (GER) and Quizas van’t Hulsbox placed third in the two-star qualifier. Photo © Andrew Ryback Photography.
Ballard, who rides for Ilan Ferder Stables, first rode Paladin a year ago before their amateur student Djuna Lauder took over. With Lauder now in college in Scotland, Ballard and Ferder are further developing the nine-year-old Westphalian gelding by Plot Blue x Comme Il Faut until Lauder finishes her school year.
“He’s a fast and careful jumper, and he’s got everything in his favor to win a class like this,” she described. “At the 1.45m level, he’s still learning, but he’s just quite good. We want to jump 1.50m and then give him back to Djuna. She trains with us here and with the Fuchs team in Switzerland, which is our partner in Europe. We’re a big team, and we’re worldwide. Martin was texting me about the class, and it’s nice to have his support.”
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