Reed Kessler 17 - 17 yr old Reed Kessler Shares Victory with legendary show jumping veteran Margie Engle in USEF National Show Jumping Championship, Lauren Fisher and Shona Rosenblum for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.: The 2012 USEF National Show Jumping Championships and Selection Trials for the U.S. Show Jumping Team for the 2012 Olympic Games concluded on Saturday evening with an exciting fourth and final round under the lights at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. It was a full house of over 7,000 spectators as veteran competitor Margie Engle and young rider Reed Kessler tied for the championship title and shared the victory gallop.
The competition this week was held as both the national championship and the selection trials for this summer’s Olympic Games concurrently. For the national championship, riders scores carried over through each of the four rounds of competition and $200,000 was awarded to the top twelve competitors overall. Those standings will also help to determine the long list for the riders that will compete in the Olympic Games in London this summer. The long list will be announced on Sunday.Alan Wade of Ireland set the courses for all four rounds of competition held throughout the week and finished out with another great course tonight. Twenty competitors returned for the final round, and just three were able to clear the course without fault.
The final two horse and rider combinations on course tonight were Margie Engle and Indigo and Reed Kessler and Cylana. Each came into the last round carrying cumulative scores of eight from the previous three rounds. Both pairs then had a score of four over tonight’s course to finish with twelve fault totals. The riders agreed to jump their horses no further in a jump-off and share the championship honors.
In addition to her ride aboard Cylana, Kessler was the first rider to clear the course without fault tonight with her horse Mika. Kessler and Mika carried 13 faults into the final round and kept their final score at just that. The pair finished in a three-way tie for third place overall with Mario Deslauriers and Jane F. Clark’s Urico and Rich Fellers and Harry & Mollie Chapman’s Flexible.
Kent Farrington and RCG Farm’s Uceko also jumped a clear round over tonight’s course and finished on an 18 fault total to earn the fourth place prize overall.
Beezie Madden and Abigail Wexner’s Cortes ‘C’ were the only other pair to clear the course. Madden and Cortes ‘C’ carried 20 faults into tonight’s round and remained at that score for the overall standings. She ended up tied for the fifth place prize with Laura Kraut and Stars and Stripes’ Teirra.
Commenting on the decision to share the title and not jump another round, Engle explained, “I actually thought beforehand that it was a lot of jumping that the horses had done and it has been really hot all week. Four rounds in basically three days is a lot. My horse had plenty of energy, but it is a lot of jumping big jumps and you want to have a little bit left, have something left at the end. We still have two more observation trials and an Olympics. I went to Reed, and for the welfare of the horses, it was the best idea to save them and not do anymore pounding. They jumped their hearts out and I think it was best to try and save them for what’s really important for what’s ahead. It was a quick decision for me. This way there are no losers. Both of us are happy this way.”
Kessler agreed with the decision, but left the ultimate choice up to her trainer, Katie Prudent. “I don’t make those big decisions; Katie does. But for Katie, it immediately made sense,” Kessler stated. “I agree with Margie. We have the jog first thing in the morning and these horses have been jumping huge tracks all week. I would hate to be greedy and make them do one more round and god forbid something went wrong for the jog tomorrow. I’d hate to be greedy just for the money or the title. I thought that was a great idea and Katie made the decision. I said it was awesome because she (Margie) was 99% probably going to beat me.”
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Reed Kessler 17
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