Wednesday March 26, 2003

The Heidelberg Cup

Carol Lavell and Much Ado Take Home the Heidelberg Cup

Carol Lavell of Loxahatchee, FL rode Much Ado, her KWPN gelding by Quatro, to a high score of 71.75 %, winning both the Prix St. Georges and the Intermediaire I. The massive gelding is nine years old this year and has had a stellar competitive season after returning from an injury in the trailer that laid him up for nine months last year.

“This was his second I-1 and he doesn’t feel strong enough yet,” said Lavell. “You learn a hard lesson when they have that much time off: it takes a long time for them to come back. After five months off it takes a year to get back their strength. He gets very tired now.”

Lavell said that Much Ado, who is over 18 hands, takes very little strength for her to ride. “I’m only 5’4” but he’s very quick to the leg and very sensitive,” she said. “A slight shift of weight and he responds. I have to be very careful what I do.”

Lavell’s focus now is on the Grand Prix, though she plans to take her time to get there. “I suspect it’ll take another year before we can start, barring problems along the way,” she said.

Regarding this year’s Pan American Games, Lavell said, “He’s my pet and he knows it. I like him a lot and I try to train him as he likes. Since he likes to work, I don’t want to run him all over the country competing him,” which is what she would have to do to qualify at this point. Lavell already has a Pan-Am team silver medal to her name along with an individual fourth place, which she earned riding In the Black. “It was easy because he was such a solid team horse,” she said. “We have a lot of solid second-year horses now.

Still, Lavell likes to show in the qualifying classes because of the opportunity to show in front of top judges, giving Much Ado a solid competitive foundation. As a member of the USET dressage committee and the USA Equestrian dressage committee, Lavell also likes to keep herself in front of those judges “Trying with a first year horse to see how they measure up is a good deal,” she said. “I know what it’s like to be on an unconfirmed horse and it’s not fun. The Grand Prix is where you know if you have a top horse,” she went on, describing the development of the dressage horse. “A lot of questions aren’t answered until you get in the ring and you’ve got to keep putting pieces into the puzzle and hope that at the end nothing’s missing.”