Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Mar. 17, 2014–Sagacious HF, the gold medal winning United States team horse, has been leased by American Chase Hickok for Under-25 competitions into 2015.

The 24-year-old Chase, based in Wellington and engaged to German transplant Kevin Kohmann, will compete the horse for the first time this week in a national Under-25 Grand Prix at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington. The lease is through to the United States championships in 2015.

Al Guden of Hyperion Farm, the owner of Sagacious, now 15 years old, said: “I’m so pleased with Chase and the instant chemistry she has with Sagacious. Her second time on the horse she rode a Grand Prix convincingly. We are all pleased to have her compete the horse in the U25 division. A perfect match.”

Sagacious, a KWPN black gelding, was bought by Al as a youngster and won a special place in America’s heart when Lauren Sammis trained the horse through the levels then won team gold and individual silver at small tour in the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, dedicating the ride to Al’s wife who was suffering terminal breast cancer.

The ride was taken over by Caroline Roffman of Wellington in 2012, winning a string of small tour CDI competitions in Wellington in 2013 then became the first American to compete in the Under-25 division at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany. The pair was the Aachen reserve champion in both the Grand Prix and the Freestyle.

Caroline, focusing on Her Highness O in the Grand Prix arenas, said she and Al believed it was “a wonderful opportunity for a young up and coming rider to have a horse like Sagacious to show her the ropes.”

“Al’s generosity toward me with the horse was so amazing it was best I pay it forward to another rider.”

At the 2011 North American Young Rider Championships, Chase won team bronze and individual silver on Palermo.