Ashley Holzer Rides Mango Eastwood to Wellington CDI3* Victory in Horse’s First Ever Grand Prix Special

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Ashley Holzer riding Mango Eastwood to victory at Wellington CDI3* in the partnerships’s first Grand Prix Special. © 2020 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Feb. 8, 2020–Ashley Holzer rode Mango Eastwood to victory in the Adequan Global Dressage Festival CDI3* in the partnership’s first performance of the Grand Prix Special.

Ashley, based in Wellington, and the 11-year-old KWPN gelding scored 74.128% to log the second win in two Big Tour starts, having won the Grand Prix a day earlier.

Nick Wagman of San Diego, California and Don John placed second on a personal best 73.064%.

Sabine Schut-Kery of Thousand Oaks, California and Sanceo were third on 71.532%, recovering from a shaky start in the Grand Prix that was the pair’s first competition since April.

Ashley, a four-time Olympian for Canada who now rides for the United States and wants to be on the American squad going to Europe for final selection for the Tokyo Olympic team, did not have time to practice the Special. She is coaching seven Canadians seeking to represent their nation at the Tokyo Olympics.

Eastwood was bought two years ago by Diane Fellows from Spain’s Jordi Domingo as a “schoolmaster” because the horse appeared quiet and steady at the time.

“We got him back and he was quiet and nice and we started working him a bit more and he got hotter and hotter and hotter instead of quieter and quieter so I said to Di, ‘I think I need to ride him now.’ So it’s been a bit of a journey getting him ready because he got quite spicy as he got fitter

“He’s such an amazing personality. He’s a lovely animal and I’m very lucky to have him.

“I love him and I feel the most secure on him even though he’s green. We have such a partnership; we’ve taken a long tine making that partnership and we trust each other, which is a great feeling in the ring when you know a horse so well.”

Nick Wagman and Don John in the Global Dressage Festival CDI3* logging a personal best score. © 2020 Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

Results:

CDI3* Grand Prix Special

Hans Voser Clive Halsall Thomas Kessler Sandra Hotz Christof Umbach
Place Score % Nation Athlete Horse E H C M B
1. 74.128 USA Ashley Holzer Mango Eastwood 75.426 75.213 71.383 74.787 73.830 ()
2. 73.064 USA Nick Wagman Don John 73.617 73.723 70.000 71.809 76.170 ()
3. 71.532 USA Sabine Schut-Kery Sanceo 75.000 70.745 71.702 72.979 67.234 ()
4. 69.979 CAN Jill Irving Degas 12 68.298 71.064 68.404 69.681 72.447 ()
5. 67.702 USA Günter Seidel Equirelle W 66.596 68.404 66.277 67.872 69.362 ()
6. 67.553 ECU Julio Cesar Mendoza Loor Rosali 66.489 68.085 66.915 68.936 67.340 ()
7. 67.489 USA Katie Poag Zonnekoning 66.064 67.872 67.447 67.766 68.298 ()
8. 67.298 JPN Ryunosuke Kuroda Bellatre D.E.S 64.043 66.596 68.830 67.234 69.787 ()
9. 66.809 GER Michael Klimke Harmony’s Royal Dancer 66.702 66.809 65.213 66.702 68.617 ()
10. 66.575 USA Elizabeth Ball Avanti 66.277 65.638 66.915 67.128 66.915 ()
11. 64.957 USA Jennifer Schrader-Williams Millione 65.532 62.021 65.532 65.319 66.383 ()
12. 64.894 MEX Martha Fernanda Del Valle Quirarte Dynamic RS 62.872 66.809 64.787 66.277 63.723 ()
13. 64.660 JPN Kiichi Harada Egistar 65.638 66.277 63.511 64.681 63.191 ()
14. 64.426 CAN Jacqueline Brooks Westwood 5 60.532 65.319 65.638 64.894 65.745 ()
15. 63.000 CHI Virginia Yarur Ronaldo 60.553 64.064 62.787 63.532 64.064 ()
SC. CAN Lindsay Kellock Sebastien ()
SC. JPN Kazuki Sado Ludwig Der Sonnenkoenig 2 ()