Following two rounds of competition Saturday at the Hampton Classic, Annabel Revers of Weston, MA, came out on top in the $10,000 Great Southwest Equestrian Center Equitation Championship.
Revers received a first-round score of 86 and a second-round score of 97, (from which three points were deducted for time penalties) to finish with an overall total of 180 points. Second place was awarded to Madison Goetzmann of Skaneatles, NY, with a final total of 171.5, and third went to Jordyn Rose Freedman of Longmeadow, MA, just a half point behind with 171.0.
Returning in reverse order of standing following the morning's first round of competition, Revers had the good fortune of riding second-to-last and was able to watch the rest of the riders tackle the course before her turn in the ring.
"After watching the first riders go, we knew the time would be tight so we talked about keeping a really good pace, and not taking too much time around the turns," said Revers. "You had to ride the lines very accurately and you couldn't make up the time in the lines so you had to focus on the turns."
Revers, who is trained by Stacia Madden and has recently started working with Max Amaya, emphasized the plan for the second round was to ride through any mistakes.
"The biggest thing Max emphasized was if we had a small mistake to keep going," explained Revers. "It was a tough course and it would be impossible to do absolutely flawlessly. If something happened you'd just have to keep going and do the best you can. My horse has a very nice canter, he goes at a more forward pace than some others. He's a great jumper - very brave, which was definitely very important jumping onto the bank. The early riders had rails, time faults and refusals. It just emphasized you just had to ride the course; don't worry about making it smooth or look beautiful, just ride the course and get the job done."
Amaya's wisdom comes from experience: "My advice for the second round was stick to the plan, follow every single instinct, but don't overreact. Don't overcorrect. Let the horse jump. Give him a little space, but don't overthink this course."
Following two rounds of competition Saturday at the Hampton Classic, Annabel Revers of Weston, MA, came out on top in the $10,000 Great Southwest Equestrian Center Equitation Championship.
Revers received a first-round score of 86 and a second-round score of 97, (from which three points were deducted for time penalties) to finish with an overall total of 180 points. Second place was awarded to Madison Goetzmann of Skaneatles, NY, with a final total of 171.5, and third went to Jordyn Rose Freedman of Longmeadow, MA, just a half point behind with 171.0.
Returning in reverse order of standing following the morning's first round of competition, Revers had the good fortune of riding second-to-last and was able to watch the rest of the riders tackle the course before her turn in the ring.
"After watching the first riders go, we knew the time would be tight so we talked about keeping a really good pace, and not taking too much time around the turns," said Revers. "You had to ride the lines very accurately and you couldn't make up the time in the lines so you had to focus on the turns."
Revers, who is trained by Stacia Madden and has recently started working with Max Amaya, emphasized the plan for the second round was to ride through any mistakes.
"The biggest thing Max emphasized was if we had a small mistake to keep going," explained Revers. "It was a tough course and it would be impossible to do absolutely flawlessly. If something happened you'd just have to keep going and do the best you can. My horse has a very nice canter, he goes at a more forward pace than some others. He's a great jumper - very brave, which was definitely very important jumping onto the bank. The early riders had rails, time faults and refusals. It just emphasized you just had to ride the course; don't worry about making it smooth or look beautiful, just ride the course and get the job done."
Amaya's wisdom comes from experience: "My advice for the second round was stick to the plan, follow every single instinct, but don't overreact. Don't overcorrect. Let the horse jump. Give him a little space, but don't overthink this course."