Dressage-News

BURBANK, California, Mar. 22, 2019–California’s Sarah Lockman debuted First Apple, newly acquired from Holland, to win the Dressage Affair CDI1* Prix St. Georges Friday with the highest score so far of any American seeking a place on the Dutta Corp. United States team for the Pan American Games.

Sarah, 30, of Murrieta, and the nine-year-old KWPN stallion scored 74.382 per cent in the start of a campaign to earn selection to the U.S. Pan Am team to be made up of Small and Big Tour horses and staged in Lima, Peru at the end of July.

Three-time U.S. Olympian Günter Seidel on Beltano, a 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding, placed second on 72.559 per cent that could move the pair up the standings from their current fifth spot with just one previous show on their record.

Germany’s Christian Hartung on Desario was third on 69.176 per cent.

Sara’s score from a panel of five judges with the highest mark from Sweden’s FEI5* Magnus Ringmark of 79.412 per cent and a low of 71.324 per from Brenda Minor of Canada was fractionally higher than the previous best qualifying result of 74.265 per cent posted by the top ranked Ashley Holzer on Valentine at Wellington’s Global Dressage Festival last month.

First Apple was found “just by chance” by Sarah during a visit to Carolyn de Roo–Kooiman’s President Stables in the Netherlands last fall looking for investment horses for her sponsor, Gerry Ibanez.

First Apple had been competed as a seven-year-old by Dutch team rider Patrik van der Meer, including the World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo where they placed second in the preliminary and fourth in the final. In nine Small Tour starts in Europe over six months to mid-2018, Patrik and First Apple always placed in the top three, including three victories.

“The first time I sat on him brought tears to my eyes,” Sarah recalled. “He is such a gentleman, a super athlete, a wonderful temperament and trained so correctly.”

She spent a month working with Patrik in Holland that was so valuable “it enabled me to have success so quickly” in California.

The horse was flown to Florida first for Sarah to work with Scott Hassler then moved to Southern California. Sarah competed First Apple at a national show in California as a warmup earlier this month to score more than 78 per cent.

Scott went to Burbank to coach the pair this weekend.

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