In a sport were speed reigns supreme, Kassidy Keith (CAN) is finding that sometimes the fastest way to win is to take your foot off the gas. Piloting her longtime partner Havana (Cardento x Judgement), the Langley native logged the winning time of 42.31 seconds in Sunday’s CSI3* 1.50m ATCO Cup Grand Prix at Thunderbird Show Park’s Summer Fort Classic—a victory born not from pushing harder, but from holding back.
“I saw one last to the last fence and I just said to myself, slow down one step, get her back, and get her balance back. And it worked out,” Keith smiled.
Three horse-and-rider combinations qualified for the jump-off in Olaf Petersen Jr.-designed 1.50m track—each returned faster than the last.
First to return, Bryna Closson and Meteroic Rise (Hotspot x Diarado) set the early standard with a clear round in 45.32 seconds. Karrie Rufer and Mr. Europe (Mr. Blue x Cassini I) shaved nearly a second off that time one round later, stopping the clock at 44.46. Then came Keith and her speedy 13-year-old mare—and dropped it down another two seconds.
“Lately I’ve been turning too tight and then I end up having a rail. I get a little bit greedy. So today I was just trying to go smooth,” said Keith.
For Keith and Havana, who have become one of tbird’s most winning combinations, the victory represents a deliberate shift in approach and first international 1.50m win.
“She’s always been quite good with the roll backs of any kind. That’s where I’d say I shine,” Keith explained. “She tends to be the fastest in the first rounds a lot of the time, but now I’ve slowed it down. I’m actually taking the time and I’m jumping more clear runs at this height. My thinking lately is I would rather double clear than go too fast and have a rail.”
The change in philosophy has been paying dividends since April, according to Keith, who credits a bridle change made in California with making “a world of a difference.”
“It allows me to keep her balance without her getting offended. She keeps the shape through her jump and she’s got a lot stronger with her hind end.”
The win marks another milestone for the local rider, who has her sights set on representing Canada on Nations Cup teams. “The goal has always been to eventually maybe do some Nations Cup teams,” Keith shared. “I just want to start getting consistency and then maybe we can get another horse sometime soon. We try to use Havana carefully—she’s an older [mare] and I would like to have her for three or four more years.”
National and international competition returns to tbird in September with the Harvest Festival and BCHJA Fall Finale.
