Wednesday March 26, 2003

The Heidelberg Cup

Susan Jaccoma Is Getting The Hang of Grand Prix

One day Susan Jaccoma was in her barn when Leslie Malone, on vacation in Maine from her home in Colorado, drove up the driveway looking for horses for sale. Jaccoma showed her several horses, but Malone was convinced that she wanted to buy Harmony’s Coolio, a now nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding. Jaccoma told her repeatedly that she didn’t think the horse was suitable for Malone, who countered with, ‘How about if I buy the horse and you ride it?” Malone’s Harmony Holsteiners has sponsored Jaccoma ever since, as well as sponsoring rider Leslie Webb on the West Coast. Malone also owns Harmony’s Ninotchka, by Alcatraz out of Hollywood.

“Without her sponsorship I couldn’t be doing this,” said Jaccoma. “I’m very indebted to her. She makes me feel like he’s my horse, and I can call her and tell her when things are going right and when they aren’t. She wants what’s best for the horses, so if we have to scratch for some reason that’s okay with her.”

All of Jaccoma’s horses except for Coolio won blue ribbons this weekend; he scored two 65 percents in his first Pan-Am Games Qualifier. Having done the Pan-Am selection trials in 1999 with her own Jellowa, she would like to try again for the team going to the Dominican Republic this summer.

Jennifer Huber’s horse Al Pacino won his fourth level class and Jaccoma’s own Jellowa, a 12-year-old Dutch gelding by Obrecht, won the USET Grand Prix qualifier. This is her first qualifier with him on the road to the USET Festival of Champions in Gladstone, NJ this June.

“Jellowa was a really good PSG/I-1 horse,” said Jaccoma. “He could do no wrong. We graduated to Grand Prix and everything comes so quick. They have to be so on your aids it’s like a new sport. He’s only my second Grand Prix horse; with what I’ve learned, Coolio will be a better Grand Prix horse because I’ve learned from the other two. Poor ‘Joe’ is my guinea pig!”