Sunday, May 28, 2006

On the Scene at Dressage at Flintridge 2006
Photos and Text By Charlene Strickland for DressageDaily

Two Wins for Adventure Farms

La Canada-Flintridge, California, May 27, 2006: Kathleen Raine and David Wightman took honors for two winners at the Flintridge show—Kathleen riding Breanna and Young Rider Jaclyn Meinen on Rivaal.

In the USEF/Markel Young Horse Championship Selection Trials 6 Year Old Preliminary Test, Raine and Breanna were last to go of six entries. The elegant mare (Brentano II—Weltmeyer) earned 8.5, and was the only horse in the class to score a 9 (walk score).

“I am thrilled,” said Raine about her test. “She felt great, and she was relaxed.” She's owned the mare for two years, with the first year focused on training. Flintridge was the mare's third show.

“She started out the weekend tense,” said Raine, recalling the day before's Third Level Test 1. “I had that ride in my mind—but I am thrilled with each day, how she's settled in. She just needs the experience.”

Wightman found the mare in Germany, at the Verden Elite Auction. “It was love at first sight,” he said. “She was the only horse there I was interested in bringing home. “She had the right temperament, combined with hotness.”

Raine was in competing in California when Wightman called her from Verden. “He said, 'I found your horse. She's a cross between Avontuur and Fidelia.'” (Two top horses Raine competed.) She cites Breanna's walk and trot as “super,” and canter as “really good. We'll develop it to be as good as the walk and trot, for three equally great gaits. She is very light on her feet and elegant in her way of going.”

And how does this bay mare compare to her half-sister, Brentina? Raine names their willing attitudes and trot as the biggest similarities. “Both are sweet, and not mareish at all. Both have that airiness in their trot. With the miles, Breanna will get really reliable, like Brentina.”