United States Eventing Association

Prime Star Possessed that Star Material in Dutta Corp. USEA YEH East Coast 4-Year-Old Championships

Elkton, Md.—Oct. 17— A field of 30 promising 4-year-olds completed all phases of the Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) East Coast 4-year-old Championship today, and it was Leslie Morse’s homebred Dutch Warmblood mare Prime Star (Kingston x Stradiveria), ridden by Madison Temkin, who rose to the occasion. “Star” held the top spots in both the conformation and dressage phases and second place across the jumping and galloping phases to secure the champion title on a cumulative score of 88.76.

Star came to Madison Temkin as a green 3-year-old.

“I feel incredibly lucky that Leslie and her partner Marijke Maartense have trusted me with Star, and I've absolutely loved producing her,” shared Temkin. “I always joke that she has human-like attributes. She is incredibly intelligent. You could train her to do absolutely anything in the world, and I think she would just do it for you because that's her nature. She is an exceptional young horse.”

Temkin is no stranger to success in the YEH rings. In 2018 she piloted her own Thoroughbred mare MVP Madbum (Papa Clem x Racing Stripes) to the USEA YEH West Coast 5-year-old Champion title and last year she rode Beth Brown’s Irish Sport Horse gelding Fernhill Bertus (Balou Peggio x Celine) to the 5-year-old East Coast Reserve Champion title. Working with young horses has been a big part of the soon-to-be 24-year-old's career as a young professional.

“Every horse, besides my first Advanced horse, that I've ridden to the three- and four-star level, I've produced myself since they were 3 or 4 years old,” she said. “I think it's just incredibly special to have that partnership with them. Producing young horses is one of my favorite things. It can be a bit hard because you see people out doing things that you'd really like to be doing. I mean, I would die to be here doing the five-star this weekend, but at the end of the day, I think that producing young horses is what you have to do to get there.”

She has found a real niche in producing young horses and bringing them to the YEH Championships.

“I think that coming here and them being in this atmosphere, they learn so much from it. This horse was so green at the beginning of the year. I've produced her with this in mind, and it's made all the difference,” said Temkin. “I just enjoy producing young horses so much. Of course, I love running around at the four-star level, and I hope to run around the five-star level one day. But, I hope that when I do, it'll be on one of these horses that I've produced from the beginning.”

Star is currently for sale and Temkin hopes to secure a buyer for her that will keep her in the barn so the pair can return next year for the 5-year-old Championships.

“She’s an incredibly special horse and anybody would be lucky to have her,” she said.

This year’s reserve champion horse stole the show in the jumping and galloping phases, earning the highest general impression score of the field with a 9.50. HM Belterra, a Westphalian mare (Bandelero JSF x Murray Hillbilly) owned and bred by Kimmy Risser and Jim Rankin of Hickory Manor, painted a nearly perfect picture as she made her way around the Timber Field with Chris Talley in the tack.

Risser, who competes in the hunter/jumper rings herself, bred “Terra” in hopes of producing a prospect for those rings, but knew early on that the mare was destined for a different career.

“Oh we knew about 3 months old,” said Risser with a laugh. “She let you know she was pretty spicy from the very beginning—easy, but spicy.”

“We have joked since she was born that she was the ‘hashtag not Rolex horse,’ ” Talley said. “So Kimmy sent her down to me in May, and they did a wonderful job producing her up to this point. I love a good mare, and she is pretty special. She is probably one of the nicest mares I have sat on.”

While there is no doubting Terra’s quality, she did have one injury in her earlier years that some professionals might opt to pass on.

“She overcame some things as a young horse,” shared Talley. “She actually broke her hip, and they kind of dinged her on her conformation today for it, but that just goes to show you that as a good event horse, you never judge a book by its cover. It’s the heart and the bravery of an event horse that beats all of that.”

Today’s jumping and galloping judges, Marilyn Payne and Phyllis Dawson, were thrilled with the field of horses that they were presented with.

“It was such a lovely course,” shared Payne. “So open and galloping and with so much variety. You could really judge the horses well. I think the quality of horses has constantly improved. We have a lot of quality horses, but some were green, and it was just a little too much for them today, so that affected their performance. But it's still exciting to see because they're going to be a fabulous horse.”

A new addition to the YEH jumping field this year was a mound that a jump could be placed on top of, which Payne thought was a great way to evaluate the horses today.

“You want to see that they're thinking about it and trying to figure out how to do it—that they're thinking, not that they're trying to stop, but curious about what it is and how they are going to do it. The ones that are well balanced, they just come up, and they see it and just jump and land. You want to see them land in balance and gallop off. It's the approach that you're looking at, the jump, and the landing, and it shows so much more than just a normal fence.”

Dawson broke down how she and Payne evaluate these 4-year-olds based on what their career might look like as a top event horse in the future.

“You have to judge what you see on the day,” she noted. “So we don't mind if the horse does something that's obviously green. I felt like most people rode very well, but they are 4-year-olds, and we expect them to take their time. I felt like there were some riders that went quite fast—maybe they thought that's what we were looking for, but it's not necessary to go fast. It's necessary to show off your horse at his level of training and to jump comfortably around.”

Thinking back to Prime Star, it was obvious the horse carried that star material that the judges were looking for.

“It was a very attractive horse that carried itself well and had presence. In the jumping, she was in a rhythm and stayed in a good rhythm, very, very consistently. It was such a nice quality horse,” said Dawson.

Ema Klugman’s Thoroughbred gelding Wood’s Hole (Supersaver x Passeporta) was this year’s recipient of the Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Incentive Program (TIP) champion title after finishing sixth overall with Margaret Goodale in the tack. Meanwhile, the Trakehner gelding Rubix Cue (Mystic Replica x On Cue), owned and bred by Christine Turner and ridden by Bradley Champagne, received The Go Get ‘Em Award in memory of Don Trotter for having the highest gallop score in the field after receiving a mark of 9.5 in the galloping phase. This award is made possible by Stillwater Farm and is given out to the 4-year-old on each coast with the highest galloping mark in honor of Don Trotter.

Horses entered in the 5-year-old Championship concluded their dressage and conformation phases today as well and will finish out the remainder of their tests starting at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, October 18th.

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About the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Program

The Young Event Horse (YEH) Program was first established in 2004 as an eventing talent search. Much like similar programs in Europe, the YEH program was designed to identify young horses aged four- and five-years-old, that possess the talent and disposition to, with proper training, excel at the uppermost levels of the sport. The ultimate goal of the program is to distinguish horses with the potential to compete at the four- and five-star levels, but many fine horses that excel at the lower levels are also showcased by the program.

The YEH program provides an opportunity for breeders and owners to exhibit the potential of their young horses while encouraging the breeding and development of top event horses for the future. The program rewards horses who are educated and prepared in a correct and progressive manner. At qualifying events, youngsters complete a dressage test and a jumping/galloping/general impression phase. At Championships, young horses are also evaluated on their conformation in addition to the dressage test and jumping/galloping/general impression phase. Click here to learn more about the Young Event Horse Program.

The USEA would like to thank ARMA, Bates Saddles, HorseWeek, The Jockey Club, Kerrits, Parker Equine Insurance, Schneiders Saddlery, SmartPak, and Standlee for sponsoring the Young Event Horse Program. Additionally, the USEA would like to thank The Dutta Corp., Title Sponsor of the Young Event Horse Championships.

About The Holekamp/Turner Grant

Founded in 2015 by Timothy and Cheryl Holekamp of New Spring Farm and Christine and T.J. Turner of Indian Creek Farm, the Holekamp/Turner Grant provides a USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championship competitor with the opportunity to represent the United States at the FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships in the 7-year-old CCIYH3*-L Championship at Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France. With the sole purpose of paving a clear pathway for U.S. team horses to progress in the sport of eventing, recipients who are North American-bred will be awarded the full cash grant of $17,500, while imported horses are awarded $8,000. Additionally, The Dutta Corp. offers a prize to the Holekamp/Turner Grant recipient, consisting of a round trip flight from the Eastern United States to Europe.