Wayne, Ill. – Aug. 10, 2018 – Competition in the Grand Prix Arena at the Lamplight Equestrian Center turned the spotlight over to Junior and Amateur Owner riders for Friday’s portion of Equifest III. In the 1.30m Junior/Amateur Owner Jumpers, Amanda Pennington rode to the first place finish riding her own mount Geronimo Van Berkenbroeck.
Pennington is out of Mequon, Wisconsin and has been showing at Lamplight since she was just 8 years old. She has only been showing Geronimo Van Berkenbroeck, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood, for six months, but the pair has already developed a strong partnership. Friday afternoon was their debut at the 1.30m height, and Pennington hopes to one day compete in her first grand prix riding Geronimo Van Berkenbroeck.
Pennington rode her gelding to a clear first round, allowing the pair to advance on to the jump-off. Pennington was the first of the class to tackle the jump-off, and she set the jump-off pace finishing in a quick 28.906 seconds. Horse and athlete combinations that followed tried to match Pennington’s speedy round, but none were able to catch her. She was ultimately awarded the blue ribbon.
Second place in the class went to Natalie Jayne riding Ausi. The pair also executed a quick and efficient jump-off, but were just three-tenths of a second slower than Pennington and her mount. Jayne would finish in second place with her jump-off time of 29.200 seconds. Rounding out the top three in the class was Jonathan Cohen riding Lander to 4-fault jump-off round with a time of 33.716 seconds.
Coming off of a win in Wednesday’s 1.30m Open Jumper, Maggie Jayne took home another first place in Friday’s 1.30m Open Jumper. This time Jayne was aboard Zara, owned by Kennedy McCaulley. Second place was awarded to Stephen Foran riding Freedom Woods’ Cooper 152. Rounding out the top three was Laura Roesing and her own mount Darco’s Lynx.
Competition for Equifest III at the Lamplight Equestrian Center will continue on Saturday, August 11, and will feature the $25,000 Welcome Grand Prix kicking off at 4:00 p.m.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Amanda Pennington – Junior/Amateur Owner 1.30m winner
On Geronimo Van Berkenbroeck
“That horse is probably the most special horse I have even owned in my entire life. He is always willing to try his heart out for me and makes me feel so comfortable no matter what height I’m jumping. I’ve only had him for about six months now, but we’ve clicked like crazy since I got him and I can’t wait to see what the future holds with him! Today was our first time in the 1.30m and I’m hoping that we can keep moving and doing the High Jr/AO pretty soon and then eventually do our first grand prix. I would love to do my first grand prix with him.”
On her jump-off strategy
“Mainly I was trying to go clean and be smooth. I cantered down the first line and the first time I rode it, it was a little tight. So I figured I would leave a stride out. I just tried to whip back as fast as I could to the bending line and then slice the oxer to whip around and finish strong on the skinny. And it worked out!”
On Lamplight
“I’ve been coming to Lamplight since I was about 8 years old and I would say that it is my favorite show grounds that I’ve ever been to. It’s just such a home-base for me. I’ve always been comfortable showing here and the property is beautiful, every ring is so well built and so well taken care of.”