United States Eventing Association

As the bright autumn sun peeked through the Blue Ridge Mountains in Lexington, Virginia, new generations of young event horses were just beginning their day at the Virginia Horse Center…and the first steps in their budding careers.

Held in conjunction with the Virginia Horse Trials, nearly 30 youngsters performed at the 4th annual USEA Future Event Horse Championships on Friday, with Marilyn Payne and Carter Bass presiding as the judges.

Shutterfly's Buzz is the Talk of the Town

Though the scores were quite close, Shutterfly’s Buzz earned the top mark of the day with a 77.7, clinching wins in the Two-Year-Old Filly Class, the Two-Year-Old Championship, and the coveted overall Grand Championship.

Owned by Silene White and handled by King Garcia, the Oldenburg filly performed well on the triangle, showing off her lovely gaits and sensible temperament. “Picking the champion was very easy!” said judge Marilyn Payne. “She was such a light elastic mover, and you could just picture her galloping effortlessly cross-country. I was so impressed with her that I spoke to the owners afterwards to find out her pedigree and was told that she was by the fabulous jumper Sir Shutterfly and that she unfortunately was not for sale!”

Shutterfly’s Buzz was bred by the Geuenich family in Germany, and sired by the well-known Hanoverian Sir Shutterfly, a very modern and typey stallion who’s a full-brother to Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s incredible show jumping partner Shutterfly. “She’s proved she already inherited the "high flying" genes by jumping out of her field several times already!” said White. “With Sir Shutterfly, you can breed for jump, scope, and refinement.”

Hauptstutbuch Galina, an Oldenburg, is the filly’s dam. “On the dam’s side is Zapateado, Reserve Champion of the Stallion test in 1992 in Vechta. This bloodline is important as it carries the blood of Zeus. Zeus has 3/4 Anglo-Arabian blood. This is needed for endurance. You can also see the Anglo-Arab in her beautiful feminine face! Zeus also carried Talisman blood, and he is the damsire of Furioso II. Maybe most important was written to me by Elmar Pollman-Schweckhorst who said that in her pedigree, you can find the outstanding jumper producer Gotthard three times!”

White has high hopes for Buzz’s career, and plans to bring her along slowly, and also check out her scope in the jumping chute. “I will start her in dressage in the spring and she will then do her Mare Performance Test for Oldenburg. I will then decide if I will breed her or continue to jumping. If I continue to jumping, I will do embryo transfer so she can have her first foal with one of my broodmares on the farm. I would like to try her with a nice dressage stallion. Buzz will be one of my foundation mares for my eventing breeding program.”

Though she will forever have a home as a broodmare on White’s farm, Buzz’s owner hopes the young mare can prove herself in the eventing world first. “Buzz is such a great horse and I hope she will go on eventing to the top! She loves to perform and show and that sometimes is much of the battle. A horse has to have it in their heart, and there is no doubt that she does!”

Teen Owner/Handler Has Storybook Weekend

16-year-old Julie Tugwell of Asheboro, North Carolina was not only the one of the youngest owners and handlers, but also took home wins in the Three-Year-Old Filly class, the Three-Year-Old Championship, and also the overall Reserve Grand Championship with her pinto Skadico.

“I was told about [the Championships] at Caroline Atherholt's riding clinic this past summer and thought it would be a good opportunity to get Skadico out for experience. Our first FEH event was at The Ark in Monroe, North Carolina. It was her first trip out and my first time showing in a FEH event; we were both very nervous and excited. It was here that I met Liz Heiden and Mary Andrews from Georgia who coached me through both events. Although Skadico and I had no idea what we were doing, the trip was a success and we decided to participate in the FEH Championships.”

Tugwell bought her filly last year as a two-year-old from breeder Lisa Zambuto in Maryland. “Skadico's sire is Sempatico (Oldenburg) and her dam is Company Miss (Thoroughbred). I had just upgraded from show ponies and had been looking for a new event horse. I wanted something big, beautiful, and most importantly intelligent. My intentions had been to buy an older, more experienced horse, but then I came across Skadico and knew we were perfect for each other. She had been shown once as a baby (RPSI registry), handled some, and grew up in a big green pasture with her stable mates.”

Dubbed as one of the friendliest horses Tugwell’s ever known and given the title as “social butterfly,” Tugwell thinks her filly’s personality is one of her strong suits. “Skadico is very trusting and brave, which is mainly due to her curiosity. She loves to try new things and check them out. For instance, she loves to play with my cell phone/iPod and check out my food of the day, whether it's a sandwich, soup, or chip, she won't leave me alone until I offer her some. Other times she can be a total drama queen. If I can't find the time to go say hi to her one day, she ignores me the next time I see her.”

The future looks bright for this young pair of budding eventers. “My plans are to continue on with Skadico's training until she is old enough to start jumping, then it's hello eventing, here we come! But for right now, she is learning the basics of dressage, having lots and lots of groundwork, and learning how to handle herself in new situations. Skadico and I actually have our first dressage lesson this month which is helping us prepare for the YEH series and low level dressage tests.”

“I'd like to thank everyone at both FEH events for being so nice and helpful in our learning experience. It was GREAT!” added Tugwell.

Purpose-bred Eventers Reach Fruition

Laurie Cameron's Hanoverian filly Early Review CBF (Earl x Lois Lane) was named Yearling Champion, while her two-year-old Swedish Warmblood filly, Qui Luma CBF (Quite Easy x Uma Corwin) took 2nd in her class.

"Eventing is the goal for my breeding program.," said Cameron, who owns Clear Blue Farm in Stockton, New Jersey. "The two fillies come from the same dam line (Bit Of Elegance xx). Bit Of Elegance xx was my foundation mare. She is the dam of Are You Ready (competing at Advanced with Kristen Bond), the grand dam of Early Review, and the great grand dam of Qui Luma."

"Boyd Martin currently competes my homebred Lillian Pink (full sibling to Early Review's dam), who's had two wins at Preliminary at age five. As long as Boyd continues to take on young horses, they will go to him for their Eventing careers."

Cameron feels her homebreds have all the makings of future event horses, with their blend of athletic conformation, Thoroughbred blood, and willing temperaments. "On top of the quality of gaits and jumping ability neccessary for an eventing career, these girls are brave, have great work ethics and very good coordination," said Cameron. "Early Review loves to interact with people. When she was a foal she convinced the UPS driver to stop on the driveway (daily) to say hi to her. When a friend on a bicycle didn't stop to say hi, she easily jumped out to say hello to him (leaving her dam in the field). When the jumping is so easy for them as foals, it gives me a good feeling about their future."

Wits End Eventing's Thoroughbred-cross gelding Comet Royale (Royal Appearance x Comet Swinger) was named Reserve Champion yearling. Comet Royale's dam, Comet Swinger, is a half-sister to the successful CCI4* eventer Courageous Comet.

Leonardo's Gran Cavallo, owned by Stacey Wood, was named top Yearling Colt/Gelding with his score of 75.7. The Oldenburg/Thoroughbred is sired by Landfriese II, a regarded sport horse sire with an influx of Thoroughbred blood. Additionally, Gran Cavallo's Irish Thoroughbred dam, Ice Princess, was bred at Bruce Davidson's farm Chesterland.

While Shutterfly's Buzz also trotted away with the Two-Year-Old Championship, Royal Alyance, also owned by Wits End Eventing, was dubbed Reserve Champion. Scoring a 75.4 to win the Two-Year-Old Colt/Gelding class as well, the Oldenburg also shares the same sire, Royal Appearance, as Comet Royale. The grey gelding is out of the Thoroughbred My Martina, who's also the dam of the Copperfield, the third placed Yearling Colt/Gelding.

Winning his class for the second straight year, was three-year-old gelding Carnivale King (Chant de Paix x Flowerhill Callgirl), owned by Alexandria Fisher of Stoneleigh Farm. "He's such a little imp!" said Fisher, who added that the personable pinto gelding is beginning his riding career.

West Coast

Meanwhile, at the West Coast USEA Future Event Horse Championships last weekend at Ram Tap, an equally stunning group of adolescents took the stage.

The highest score of the day (74.0) went to Querida, a yearling filly owned and shown by Margaret Young. The Oldenburg filly is sired by the highly regarded young stallion Quaterback, who’s making a name for himself in the sport horse community.

“This is a great way to end a long year--training my young stud colt by my '09 YEH year end champion, Claire de LuneSE! FEH is such a wonderful way for a breeder to showcase his/her youngstock by a young, up and coming event stallion such as mine,” said Rose Sullivan, owner/breeder of the Yearling Colt/Gelding winner Cor de AmoreSE, who’s sired by last year’s YEH champion Claire de LuneSE, also owned by Sullivan.

“Even though Claire de LuneSE is only six, he already is proving himself in the breeding shed in both the worlds of eventing and show jumping. In the national BWP keuring standings (for showjumpers) he has two weanling colts, that have scored #2, and #3 in the nation. In FEH, his yearling son was the top yearling colt.”

“FEH is a program that is very young horse friendly,” Rose continued. “I have found the organizers and judges are very much in tune with how a young horse normally behaves and are understanding and willing to work with the handler to do what it takes to show off the horse as best as can be.”

“I highly recommend FEH to any breeder who is willing to put the time in with their youngster, and who wants to develop a marketing plan for his/her stallion in eventing. It's also a great way to train your young horse for future horse trials. He will learn to behave in a trailer, stay in a stall, walk around the show grounds, and actually go into the show ring.I want to thank USEA for initiating this program for the youngsters and I hope more breeders will start to take advantage of this wonderful program.”

Adrienne Nau’s Irish Draught Sport Horse Irish Ack Sent (Bridon Beale Street x Ack Sent Maggie) won the Two-Year-Old Filly class (64.0) . Likewise, Irish Ack Sent's half-brother Blue Suede Shoes (Bridon Beale Street x Mac's Hero) won a blue in the Two-Year-Old Colt/Gelding class (71.3) for his owner Lisette Healy.

Dee White's Oldenburg Prada C (Presidio x Cartier) won the Three-Year-Old filly class with a 66.4.

Returning Champion Redbuds Moonrock was the overall winner of the three-year-old division and is bred by Max and Lisa Gerdes of Redbud Ranch Connemaras. "Rocky" as he is known is sired by the Connemara stallion Wildwych Eclipse and is out of the Elite Hanoverian Mare Palladia. The delightful bay gelding is currently being ridden by eventer Jessica Morgan with plans to move up to the Young Event Horse divisions in 2011.

"Rocky and Jessica are in Training with Christine Scarlett at Willow Creek Horse Park in Davis, California," reported Lisa Gerdes. "Rocky's uncomplicated disposition, correct limbs, natural jumping talent and elastic gaits should make him an ideal competitive partner with a very bright future."

The USEA would like to thank our generous sponsors Nutrena and the Irish Draught Horse Society of North America.

For more information on the USEA Future Event Horse Series, click on the FEH logo on the USEA homepage, or contact Wendy Weinstein at [email protected] or Emily Daily at [email protected]. Or simply call the USEA office at 703-779-0440.