Wall Street and Cassandra Kahle Prevail in $25,000 Kick Off Classic Grand Prix at Swan Lake Horse Shows

The Swan Lake Horse Shows Summer Kick Off Classic concluded on Saturday with the week's highlight event: the $25,000 Kick Off Classic Grand Prix. Cassandra Kahle of Redfield Farm has had a stellar week at Swan Lake Stables thus far, winning the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby and $5,000 1.35m Open Welcome Stake on Thursday as well as the $2,500 1.30m Summer Kick Off Classic Jumper Derby on Friday. The 24-year-old rider from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, topped off her incredible week at Swan Lake Horse Shows collecting another win aboard Wall Street, owned by Redfield Farm. "This week has been really, really great," said Kahle. "I have to give most of the credit to the team at Redfield Farm. We've got a great group of people and I can't take all of the credit for this because there are a lot of people behind us - the grooms, the organizers and the riders. It's definitely not a one man show and I really, really appreciate having a team like that."

While Swan Lake Horse Shows hosted a taco and cerveza party in the ringside Lake Club during the grand prix, exhibitors watched as Kahle and the 13-year-old gelding bested a starting field of 19 entries and nine in the jump-off to secure the top prize. Kahle was also entered in the class on two other mounts, Fortune Equine LLC's Pyrenes De Louzes and Redfield Farm's Tequila Girl. All three of Kahle's mounts produced clear efforts in the first round to advance to the jump-off. Germany's Matthias Hollberg and Courtney Ramsay's Czechmate were the fourth horse and rider combination to take on the shortened track, designed by Dean Rheinheimer, and were the first clear pathfinders finishing in 34.726 seconds. Melissa Rudershausen and her own Charmeur Ask followed Hollberg's trend with another clear round, catching his time by seven-tenths of a second in 34.016 seconds. After collecting 4 faults with both Pyrenes De Louzes and Tequila Girl, Kahle entered the ring two rounds after Rudershausen, and the second to last to go in the jump-off, on Wall Street - her last chance at defeating the technical seven-fence jump-off course and winning the highly sought-after prize money. Third time was the charm for Kahle as she pulled off a double-clear finish with Wall Street and surpassed Rudershausen's time by two full seconds in 32.238 seconds. "I was definitely lucky to get a third try, that was quite nice," said Kahle. "On the first horse, one of the bending lines, I definitely got there too early and I learned my lesson a little bit there. I realized I needed to give myself a little more room. Getting to go second to last with Wall Street, I got to see a lot and tweak a couple of different things. I was lucky enough to have a go on a third horse after getting a feel for the course." Last to go in the jump-off was Hollberg once again on his second mount Aletta, owned by Hollberg Equestrian, LLC. The pair pulled out all the stops to catch Kahle's time, even successfully maneuvering a risky inside turn from the second to last triple bar fence to a double combination, but just barely didn't make the cut by six-tenths of a second, breaking the beam in 32.807 seconds. Their time would garner them second place honors while Rudershausen rounded out the top three. Hollberg also ended up fourth on Czechmate as the last of the double-clear finishers. "I was last to go and I knew I had to go really fast in order to beat Cassandra's time," said Hollberg. "I took real chances, went as fast as I could and was literally a tenth of a second behind the leader. It was close. I could've been a nose's-length sooner and I would've been first, but second is great too so I'm not complaining." "Matt was the only one that ended up doing the inside turn," said Kahle. "He pulled it off fantastic! I thought he was going to have me. After the triple bar there was a very awkward tight inside turn, and a lot of us were looking at it, but I thought it would just stop the horses too much and would risk the back rail so I think everybody else went around except Matt. He managed to clear it and slip in and it was absolutely great to watch so hats off to him!" Of his mount, Aletta, Hollberg said, "She is 11 years old. I'm still paying her off. She's jumped grand prix with me since February, and she's mostly double-clear and always gets good ribbons. She's like a little ATM machine! She's great. "I thought all of my horses jumped great," continued Hollberg. "My wife, Thaisa Erwin, rode her horse in it. She had an unlucky rail in the jump-off. Both of mine jumped double-clear so I was happy with all three of them!" In addition to her blue ribbon and cash prize, Kahle was also awarded CWD boots for her horses. "It's always great to get stuff from CWD, I'm super thrilled!" said Kahle. Next up on Kahle's summer competition schedule is the Lake Placid Horse Show in New York. "Lake Placid is next; tomorrow night we start driving in that direction," said Kahle. "One show to the next, but I love it! "[Wall Street, Pyrenes De Louzes and Tequila Girl] are for sale, but as long as I have them I am hoping to continue to compete in these bigger classes and gain more experience on them," continued Kahle. "They're three awesome horses. I couldn't ask for better horses to get experience on." For Hollberg, his horses have earned themselves a week off before heading to their next competition after their performances at Swan Lake Horse Shows, however the entire team at Hollberg Equestrian, LLC immensely enjoyed their time at the Summer Kick Off Classic. "The people are really nice here, there's always good exhibitor parties, the office staff is really friendly and everyone is really helpful so we like coming here!" said Hollberg. Prior to the grand prix, the $5,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame (SJHOF) 1.40m High Junior/Amateur-Owner Classic was held in the Grand Prix Ring. Rileigh Tibbott and her own Kahlua 7 took the top honors with a double-clear performance in 35.811 seconds. Thaisa Erwin and Hollberg Equestrian, LLC's Deville rode to a second place finish in 37.013 seconds, while Darby Toben and Virgin Media, owned by Doreen Toben, took the third place ribbon in 37.281 seconds. "Kahlua is a 10-year-old mare by King Kolibri," said Tibbott. "We flew over to Germany to get her last year. She went down to Palm Beach and showed a little bit, and now we're just getting her back. She's been awesome; I'm really happy with her. She's so easy to ride - I could close my eyes and do it. That's what I love about her. Even though I'm an amateur, if I make a mistake, she will help me out. "I've been coming to Swan Lake for six years and will be coming back to all of the rest of the 2016 shows here," continued Tibbott. "I just love the environment. It's close to home and the people and facility are just really nice." In addition, the $3,500 NAL 1.20m Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Classic saw Chelsea Babcock and Da Vinci, owned by Empire State Equine Sales, LLC, claim the blue ribbon in a double-clear effort in 33.406 seconds. Melissa Rudershausen and her own Alicante Manciaise secured second place honors in 34.829 seconds and Amanda Tobias and Ami Cisney's Zhivago Z rounded out the top three in 35.715 seconds. "Da Vinci is my 8-year-old gelding," said Babcock. "We've been doing the lows together and have been starting to move up for about a year now so he's really comfortable there, and jumped great today. "I came to Swan Lake in May for two weeks and we had a great circuit then," continued Babcock. "It's been really great here; everyone is so nice and very accommodating. I would love to return in the future!" Earlier in the day, it was Addison Reed and Hilary Gerhardt's North Pole who won the $1,500 NAL/WIHS/M&S 1.10m Child Classic, while Maria Bogdanova Peifer and her own Djust Berlin won the $1,000 1.0m Low Child/Adult Classic. The final day of the Swan Lake Horse Shows Summer Kick Off Classic boasted countless championship wins for jumper and hunter riders alike. In the Main Hunter Ring, the Junior 3'6" Hunter riders navigated their way around a final course and a handy round to compete for a chance to win the tri-color ribbon. Saturday's show marked the two-year anniversary of the partnership between Mia Latran and her mount Rockwell. The 18-year-old junior rider from Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, earned a first place in the first over fences class and a second place in the handy, paving the way to her championship win. "He just loves his job," Latran said of her mount Rockwell. "He goes around so happy, and he loves to just put on a show for everyone and jump his best. He did that here. He loves it here!" Latran has frequented the Swan Lake showgrounds in the past, and both her and her horse enjoy coming back each season. She said, "We've been here a bunch of times and [Rockwell] likes the venue. I really like the summer shows. There's so much going on, and so many people come - it's just really exciting!" The reserve championship in the Junior 3'6" Hunters went to Abigael Kaufman riding her horse Lucky Penny. Kaufman's total winnings included a first, second and third. In the Junior 3'3" Hunter division, it was Abigail Russo and Cindy Bohn's mount Crass B that took home the championship. Russo said, "My courses were really good yesterday, and the handy course was great. I really like the rings and the jumps here at Swan Lake." Hadfield's Saddlery sponsored today's junior hunter divisions, and the industry leader generously donated gift certificates for the winners. Hadfield's Saddlery strives to have the best, most innovative high-end merchandise possible. Hadfield's has outfitted leisure riders to Olympians, providing everything from clothing to bridles and saddles. Darby Toben has been dominating both the hunter and jumper divisions during this week's Summer Kick Off Classic, and on the final day of the Amateur-Owner Hunter division, she earned both the champion and reserve tri-colors. Toben won the championship on Doreen Toben's Rumzu, and also clinched the reserve championship on Doreen Toben's Theodore. "Rumzu is 6 years old, and I got him with Emil Spadone," Toben said. "He is super sweet, brave and has perfect lead changes. He's just really smart." Of her 8-year-old mount Theodore, she said, "He is supposed to be my new horse to do the derbies with, in replacement of a horse that we sold. He is sweet and has a great personality, which is nice." All of today's hunter champions received a custom Chill Chaser provided by one of Swan Lake's dedicated sponsors, Dover Saddlery. At Dover Saddlery, English riders can find the riding apparel, tack and horse care supplies they need to spend more quality time in the saddle. They are proud to provide the top quality equestrian products you want and need, from tall boots and breeches to horse blankets and saddle pads. Dover has donated a variety of other items including grooming totes, saddle pads and gift certificates. Toben added, "We started coming to Swan Lake two or three years ago and we love it here. We came here for Blue Rock. It's really nice. They're really friendly and welcoming. Nathan is great and everything here is really good!" The Swan Lake Horse Shows 2016 USEF premiere (AA) and national (A) hunter/jumper show series will continue in July with the Mid-Summer Stroller (A) held July 21-24 and the Mason Dixon Classic (A) held July 27-31. Each year, Swan Lake Horse Shows hosts a full array of top-notch hunter and jumper events at their facility in Littlestown, Pennsylvania. The success of these events would not be possible without the generosity of their sponsors including Finish Line, CWD Saddlery, Saratoga Horseworks, Ltd., Dover Saddlery, Noble Outfitters, Essex Classics and Hadfield's Saddlery. For more information about the Swan Lake Horse Shows series, please visitwww.swanlakehorseshows.com. Results: $25,000 Kick Off Classic Grand Prix 1 WALL STREET CASSANDRA KAHLE 0 83.138 0 32.238 2 ALETTA MATTHIAS HOLLBERG 0 81.39 0 32.807 3 CHARMEUR ASK MELISSA RUDERSHAUSEN 0 82.254 0 34.016 4 CZECHMATE MATTHIAS HOLLBERG 0 80.98 0 34.726 5 CANDORI MAX NIEBERG 0 79.56 4 32.489 6 TEQUILA GIRL CASSANDRA KAHLE 0 84.474 4 34.054 7 MATILDA THAISA ERWIN 0 84.197 4 36.099 8 PYRENES DE LOUZES CASSANDRA KAHLE 0 80.207 4 42.648 9 GUNNER MELISSA RUDERSHAUSEN 0 80.437 EL 10 CARLOT MARY LISA LEFFLER 4 81.184 11 SUN TZU PENNY BRENNAN 4 82.1 12 AMI DU HOUSSOIT ALEXA LOWE WISEMAN 4 83.643