Father's Day may not be for a few weeks, but you wouldn't know that from the competition during the Colorado Spring Classic Show at the Colorado Horse Park. There, young rider Isabel Ikast notched her first grand prix win in the $15,000 Colorado Spring Classic Welcome Classic aboard her own Royal Flush, finishing ahead of her father and trainer, Bjorn.
"I was so proud of Isabel; it was an incredible feeling to see her succeed," Bjorn remarked. "I have never been happier to lose a grand prix. I can still remember her first horse show with her pony in the Short Stirrup Hunters, and now to see her showing in the grand prix, it's a great feeling of success."
Royal Flush, or Flush as he is known around the barn, is an eleven-year-old Danish Warmblood by Contender. Bjorn started Flush at the age of three, focusing intently on perfecting his flatwork. Eventually, the pair moved up to compete at the grand prix level, collecting five wins as a team.
Isabel started out showing Flush in the Low Junior/Amateur Owner Jumpers a year ago before moving up to the High Junior/Amateur Owner Jumpers. The Colorado Spring Classic Welcome was just her third outing at the grand prix level. The week prior, she was fourth in the $10,000 Spring Preview Welcome riding her other horse, Mont Blanc. "The two horses I have now are experienced grand prix horses," she explained. "They are the ones that have taught me how to ride at this level."
Bjorn noted that both the course and jump off were very good for Flush, and Isabel agreed. "In the jump-off, we planned for me to take a quick turn back to fence three, followed by a long gallop to fence number five," she recounted. "I went a little out on the turn to fence six, the triple bar, then rode a steady four strides to fences seven A/B. I did seven strides to fence eight and tried to turn back as soon as possible to the last fence. I was actually the first rider to go in the jump off so I had to wait until the end to know how I finished. It was an incredible feeling, and I couldn't quite believe I had won."
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| Hannah Rohrbach has a great first show with Kingston Lane
LEG Up News file photo |
The Ikasts weren't the only father-daughter pair winning big at the Colorado Spring Classic. Fourteen-year-old Hannah Rohrbach won just about every class in the Children's Hunter section to earn the tri-color in her first outing on Kingston Lane (Nancy Moore, owner), while her father and trainer Paul was all over the show facility competing in both hunters and jumpers.
Hannah, who will be a freshman at Legend High School in the fall, has been riding since she was two years old. She started showing in walk/trot classes when she was four and then moved onto walk/trot/canter and poles classes before graduating to the rated show ring.
One of four Rohrbach offspring, Hannah is the only one who rides seriously but she is careful to note that for her grades and schoolwork come first. On a normal day, Hannah attends school where her favorite class is math. She then comes home to ride one of her two ponies, Kingston, or on special occasions, one of her father's grand prix horses. "I really like riding with my dad and am kind of glad that my sister and brothers don't ride," Hannah said. "That makes riding a special thing that my dad and I get to share. It's fun to watch him ride and see his success. That makes me want to do the same and more. I have tried other sports including swimming, but I keep coming back to horses. It's fun to ride in all the classes, especially equitation. I just love it." From the Horse Park, Hannah and Paul will head to The Oaks for three weeks of showing before returning to Colorado in July.
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| Kris Nixon and her Another Day take top honors in the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby
Photo: McCool Photography |
In the main hunter ring, it was Colorado professional Kris Nixon and her Another Day scoring top marks in the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby, beating a field of 22. But the road to the win wasn't all that smooth for the pair. In fact, Kris almost pulled out when she saw the course. "I took one look at the course and thought, 'This is going to be too challenging to ride; there's no way my horse can do it.' Obviously, I was wrong and the course rode great," she said with a laugh.
Kris noted that Cooper is relatively inexperienced in the show ring. She took him in the Pre-Green Hunter division a few times when she first got the ride then last year moved him up to the Performance Hunters 3'3". This year, he is going in the First Year Green Hunters—where he was reserve champion at the Colorado Spring Classic—and the USHJA National Hunter Derby. The plan is to gain experience in the national derby classes before moving on to the international derbies in a year or two.
"There are a couple of fun facts about Cooper that might impact our derby plans. First, this week was the first time he's ever jumped a one-stride in-and-out and he did it two times in each round. And second, he is completely incapable of trotting a jump anywhere other than the show ring," Kris added. "This should be fun." However, it seems Kris and Cooper are up for the challenge.
