United States Eventing Association

Red Hills Wrap Up: Nicki Henley Is Back

Nicki Henley is back and it’s still sinking in for Mara Dean. Together, they led the weekend starting with dressage, increased their lead after touring Hugh Lochore’s new CIC3*W cross-country course without a hitch, and put the cherry on top after completing a challenging show jumping course at the Red Hills International Horse Trials, March 5-7, in Tallahassee, Florida.

“I don’t really think it’s sunk in yet. For him to come back and win a three-star is amazing. I never thought it would happen,” Dean said after exiting the arena and dismounting from her victory gallop. “I’m just so thankful to have that horse. It’s so nice to have him back.”

The 15-year-old Thoroughbred gelding has taken Dean to many international competitions including the 2007 Pan American Games, where he unfortunately injured a tendon. After two years of rehabilitation, Nicki returned to the scene at the Stuart Horse Trials in July last year and worked his way back to the top.

After earning a 42.6 in dressage this weekend, and cruising around cross-country with only 9.2 time faults, winning the HSBC FEI World Cup Qualifying division was just a matter of staying relaxed in the show jumping arena. Having been Nicki’s soul partner since 2003, Dean knew just the trick.

“He stays softer all the way through his body [with a hackamore]. When he gets tight, he doesn’t jump as well behind,” Dean explained. “With the hackamore, you lose the steering a bit and that was a bit of a panic in the middle, but he did stay very relaxed.”

Fuzzy Mayo’s show jumping course ended up costing Dean and Nicki 8 faults by way of a dropped rail and four on the clock, but their lead after cross-country was strong enough to hold on to victory.

“It wasn’t easy. You really had to think,” Dean explained, “and make sure you kept your horse careful and forward. It was a good testing course.”

With this somewhat unexpected victory, Nicki has Dean’s attention regarding where he wants to go this season, and Rolex Kentucky may be a destination for the pair once again. “He doesn’t owe me anything,” Dean assured. “If that looks like it’s the right thing to do, we’ll do it. If it doesn’t, for whatever reason… I will do what’s best for him.”

A Red Mercedes Out of the Blue
“This was certainly unexpected,” said Tara Ziegler after winning the Adequan USEA Gold Cup CIC3* division. “I’m not sure how it’s going to work with the car—I don’t know how I’m going to get it home. I came down with my horse and my daughter and myself and have just been getting help from volunteers.”

Not only did Ziegler have to make room in her trailer for the cash, prizes, and points her top placing in an Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series event earned her, she also had to figure out how to get a brand new shiny red Mercedes back home to Pennsylvania.

Luckily for Ziegler, both Buckingham Place and Lucia are low-maintenance. The 5-month-old sat comfortably in a sling enjoying the scenery as her mother walked the cross-country course. “Poor kid. She’s going to have a lot to hold against me when she’s older,” Ziegler laughed.

Though she won the division, the weekend didn’t go quite according to plan, Ziegler said, and Buckingham Place has certainly had better days—the pair have competed at Rolex Kentucky three years in a row.

She intended to acquire qualifying rounds at Red Hills to make it four, but their final score, though the top score in the unusually unpopulated division, was one Ziegler obviously knows can be improved upon.

“I was going to give him a month and work on what I feel like are holes [in our performance]… there are a lot of them,” Ziegler explained. “And then if that goes well; I don’t know maybe I’ll go to the Fork. I’ll have to see what my options are.”

Redemption For Leatherman
Andrea Leatherman kept chipping away at the top of the Advanced class all weekend. With her 12-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, Mensa, she started in 5th place after dressage (43.7), moved into second after adding just under 9 time faults on cross-country, and finally rose to the top with a score of 52.5 after a double-clear show jumping trip.

“The dressage test was one of the harder tests he’s had to do because of the four flying changes,” Leatherman explained. “But his trot work was great. When we got into the canter work, he got a little tense and nervous.”

But he showed no nerves on cross-country, even after a less than ideal run at the Rocking Horse Winter Horse Trials two weeks before.

“I was coming off of a… not-great ride from two weeks before,” Leatherman said of the two stops she and Mensa had on cross-country there. “So I had to commit a little more and put my mind in a different spot. When I can do that, my horse is a super jumper and honest.”

As for the new Advanced course at Red Hills: “I rode here two years ago,” she continued. “This year it started out nice and gallopy so you could establish a good rhythm. I wouldn’t say it was easy, it got really technical at the end, but it was a good course.”

The graceful run seemed to replenish the pair’s confidence and then some. They left every rail untouched in the stadium and the victory, Leatherman said, was sweet.

A Note from Our Sponsors...
The Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many sponsors: Title:

Adequan; Legacy: Nunn Finer and Nutrena, and Patron: Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency, Mountain Horse, and Succeed.

Winners of the CIC3*, the designated "Gold Cup division," will take home $500 in prize money, 7-dose box of Adequan, a three-month supply of SUCCEED, and a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots. Second place finishers take home a Nutrena feed gift certificate and a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots, and third place receives a pair of the Nunn Finer boots as well.