HH Medarco PS, a horse sired by Judge’s former five-star grand prix mount, HH Messenger combined with Darco breeding on dam’s side, is one that keeps impressing. 

“He’s a really special horse to us, and he just keeps getting better,” said Judge of the 10-year-old Oldenburg stallion owned by Double H Farm and The Creel Family. “Even as a young horse he was a quick horse, but he kind of had to find his scope jumping bigger. He keeps impressing me and stepping up to the plate.”

Judge has been working with four-time U.S. Olympic medalist Beezie Madden and John Madden on the ground for two seasons and their expertise is paying off. “They’ve been unbelievably helpful to me top to bottom,” he said. “Not only in the ring and the warm-up but they are such horse people themselves and committed to slowly building horse, which is the hardest thing to do in this sport. You want success now but they’ve been helping me build my string of horses and take my time. Today was our day to take a shot and that’s not always the plan so when they say it, that means they think I’m doing a good job.” 

Judge and HH Medarco PS’ winning time over Andy Christiansen’s (ECU) two-round course was 33.86 seconds.

Last to go, Cathleen Driscoll (USA) put it all on the line riding Idalgo, but pulled up fractions of a second off Judge’s pace in 34.14 seconds riding a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Catoki x Quidam de Revel) owned by Don Stewart. The podium finish catapulted Driscoll to the top of the Traverse City Horse Shows Jumper Rider Bonus standings, a title she is looking to keep under her name after winning in 2023. 

Driscoll pipped Thursday’s speed winners—Jimmy Torano (USA) and Kochio Z—by two tenths of a second. Torano and his 10-year-old gelding Zangersheide gelding (Kannan x Diamant de Semilly) stopped the clock at 34.33 seconds for third.

During his winner’s interview, Judge was joined by daughter June and wife Cayce, who are spending their summer in Traverse City along with their son Rhodes. 

“June is in day camp, Rhodes is in bike camp, we go to the beach and enjoy time with our team and the Creel Family,” said Judge. “It’s a great environment for us, which is not always the case when you’re horse showing with kids. We are taking full advantage of being here in Michigan.” 

 

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