High Schooler Kerrigan Gluch Gets Ride on Hampton Green’s Brio for Under-25s
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By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
WELLINGTON, Florida, Jan. 12, 2014–High school senior Kerrigan Gluch, already riding the Hampton Green Farm-bred Vaquero. has been given the ride on the Andalusian stallion Brio with the long term goal of competing in the rapidly growing and highly competitive Under-25 division.
The 18-year-old rider from Mount Pleasant, Michigan went to Spain for six weeks last year to train on Vaquero HGF with Jose Daniel Martin Dockx who rode Hampton Green Farms’ Grandioso on the Spanish team at the 2012 Olympic Games, the 2013 European Championships and the 2014 World Equestrian Games. Dani and Grandioso are the top ranked Spanish combination and 27th in the world on the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) standings at the end of 2014.
Kerrigan has lived with Kimberly and Fredric Boyer at the Hampton Green Farms in Fruitport, Michigan and Wellington since 2012 when she wanted to be a working student but couldn’t afford a horse of her own. Through Hampton Green, she is trained by U.S. Olympians Robert Dover and Lendon Gray and works with the German-based Jan Bemelmans during his visits to Florida.
Vaquero, by Cuatrero IV (the brother of Grandioso) out of Encina HGF (by Idilio II) was born in Fruitport in 2007 and was selected when he was three years old as a prospect by Courtney King-Dye. Following her accident, he was sent to Spain to train with Dani Dockx.
In Spanish National Young Horse Championships, he was the top placed PRE at both five and six years of age and was scoring to 71.000 per cent in small tour national classes as a seven-year-old. Vaquero was on the Spanish federation’s List of High Performance Horses in 2014.
While Kerrigan was focusing on Vaquero, Kimberly Boyer–whose family foundation funded construction of the Van Kampen covered arena at the Global Dressage Festival grounds in Wellington–acquired the stallion Brio. She put the powerfully built horse into training with Dani, but at about 15.2 hands (154cm) the horse was too small for him. She shipped Brio to Florida late last year.
Kerrigan has been part of the Emerging Dressage Athletes’ Program and Lendon Gray’s D4K (Dressage for Kids) and has ridden in the Robert Dover HorseMastership Week in recent years.
She competed Lentisco XVIII as a Junior in 2014 and placed third in the inaugural Florida International Youth Championships in Wellington, and eighth individually in the North American Junior Championships.
Kim, who is a major financial supporter of youth programs, said she is patient about development of Kerrigan and Brio.
The plan is Young Riders in 2015 and then the Young Rider Grand Prix in a year or two leading to the Under-25 division.
Kerrigan is taking college courses along with completing high school and wants to enrol in Florida Atlantic University next fall.
