Dressage-News

BROMONT, Canada, May 26–Tom Dvorak and the 11-year-old Corrigan won both small tour classes at Dressage at Bromont CDI* in another step toward the Canadian trials to select a team for the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October.

The victories in the Prix St. Georges with a score of 69.737 per cent and the Intermediaire I on 70.088 per cent for the selection trials for the Pan Ams, held once every four years at small tour and a qualifying team competition for the Olympics. Jaimey Irwin on Winston was second in the St. Georges on 68.377 per cent with Andrea Bresee on Di Scansano third with 68.026 per cent. In the I-1, the second and third placings switched with Andrea on 67.588 per cent Jaimey on 67.149 per cent.

For the 2007 Canadian Pan Am team silver medalist from Hillsburgh, Ontario, the competition came just weeks after Key West, one of his declared Pan Am Games mounts, died after developing a painful and untreatable compression of the spinal cord. In the highly competitive Florida winter circuit, Tom and Key West topped 51 entries to claim the Prix St. Georges at the CDI3* in March.

Tom has been riding Corrigan, by Cordobes, for about five years. He is one of two horses, the other being Viva’s Salieri W, also partially qualified for the selection trials that he hopes to compete both “then may the best man win.”

Cory, owned by Karen Thompson-Harry, is very smart and a quick learner who “likes to think he is in charge. So I when I ride him I try to set him up in such a way he thinks all the work is his idea. He also loves attention so can spend lots of time just hanging with people.”

The aim at Bromont was to obtain one of the CDI scores required for the trials, and instead, Tom said, “he gave us two great scores to chose from.”

Although Corrigan can get distracted in the ring, he showed a new level of maturity by focusing on the job this time out.

During the Intermediare 1, a toddler had a bit of a screaming fit on the berm by the arena and Tom admits he was momentarily distracted, “but Cory just kept about his job. I was thrilled with his performances.”

Key West was not entered for Bromont as he was already qualified for the trials except for the freestyle. The plan was to give him a rest from competing in May and then compete a couple of times between June and the trials.

After the unexpected death, he said, “it was very hard for me to go to Bromont and compete.”

There was one down side to being too busy at the show: he did not have time to check out the chocolate festival in the town.