2003 Dressage at Devon 4/5 year Colt/Gelding Materiale Class winner!

Ghuitar is a handsome and tall Hanoverian gelding who brims with personality. Lightly shown as a young horse as he had a lot of growing to do - Ghuitar has physically matured and is now taking the show ring by storm with his good looks and elastic movement. 

SOLD! Congratulations to Sandy Werkheiser, Northampton PA!

Show Results

Tarzan and I made our debut at 2nd Level yesterday at the recognized show at the Bucks County Horse Park. All things considered, we did well with a 64.324% and third place out of 5 in test 2 (Elsie Kellerman, R) and second place with a 64.884% in test 3 (Ann Forer, R) which was a BLM qualifier.


There were a lot of really nice horses there - many Third, Fourth, PSG, I-1 and even a GP test. Not many Training/FL rides at all.


Test 2 was our first time in the ring in 3 years. He was going pretty nicely in the warmup even though the footing was extremely hard (unusual for this show, most of the time all the rings are quite nice), but when I got to the show ring it was also very hard and he was very backed off looking at everything. I misjudged and did not have him forward enough, so to me the whole test felt like he was down 25% in impulsion and his normal mediums weren't there at all. We scored 6s/7s on everything except a 5 on the simple change out of the counter canter at H - I had a trot step. It is hard for me to balance him in the counter canter enough to get a clear one there. He had 7 on gaits and 6 on submission, 6 on rider who was nervous and grippy since we had no go! :-) Comments were "Pleasant, steady test. Needs to be more consistent in maintaining bend."


Test 3 was in a different ring on top of the hill right next to the woods, so could have been a little spooky, but he was much more settled. I had him more forward in his warmup around the outside and this test rode nicer, but still he was behind my leg and there was a lot of normal impulsion not there. We did get a 7 and 8 on the medium trots this time, but 6s on the medium canters. Thanks to Scott's turn on the haunches lesson last time we got two 7s on that (WHOOT!) We have gotten so much better at those! Comment was "accurate, could be a little more active" but he was stepping and what an improvement! Our simple changes were 7 "fairly clear" and 8 "accurate" (yay!) and also an 8 on the last medium canter with "better balance". The middle of the test had a lot of 6s with comments that his poll was too low, and it definitely was when I see the pics. Her comments were "Many Nice moments! Talented horse. Today he needs to be more uphill - the poll tended to be low at times which indicates he is over flexed and lacking engagement. Think "up" in front."


I did nail all of my circles though - I was the first in the ring after they dragged it so it was easy to see!


So actually I was happy the scores were what they were since I felt we left so much on the table. I know if I can work on getting him to keep his normal impulsion in a show environment we can do a whole lot better, which is a good feeling. I'm sure a small part of it was the footing since my ring at home is cushy, but he does really tend to back off away from home so it is something we need to work on for sure, plus I was not relaxed either and have a tendency to ball up so I want to do a lot better than 6s on rider score! I got my 2nd Level scores for my bronze (only third to go, hah!) and qualified for the BLMs I think.


The pics below are from test 3 - Richie's first attempt with the camera and he did pretty well!!!!!! I just told him to keep snapping and something would come out and they did! And my braids were done in 55 minutes. Double WHOOT!
Sandy

August & September 2003 Congratulations to owner Sandy Werkheiser and Copper Bay Farm on Ghuitar's (Gold Luck-Tympani/Trapper) show success this summer. Ridden by RSF Trainer Suzanne Reggio, in three recognized shows in August and September, Ghuitar was FEI Champion at Pleasant Hollow (with a 64% in his FEI 5 Year-Old Test in his very first undersaddle show!), he followed that up at First Level Champion at the Bucks County Horse Park show, with a 67.2% in First Level Test 2. A few weeks later he repeated his success again at Bucks County Horse Park, winning both his First Level Test 1 and 2 classes with 64+%. 2003 Dressage at Devon To cap off a remarkable few months, Ghuitar added to his blue ribbon and trophy collection at Dressage at Devon, winning the 4 and 5-Year-Old Stallion/Gelding Materiale class over 20 entries (many of whom were stallions) with a 74.3%, and placing 4th in the 5-Year-Old Suitable to Become a Dressage Horse Class. ---------- 2004 results: Ghuitar and Sandy are First Level Reserve Champions at the Pleasant Hollow Farm on 8-15-04 winning both of their classes with a 69.118% in First Level Test 2 and a BLM qualifying score of 60% in their first attempt at First Level Test 3. Ghuitar earned several 8's on his gaits and lengthenings and Sandy was thrilled with receiving her first "9" in recognized competition for one of the canter-trot transitions and 8's for rider position. Way to go!! Ghuitar and Sandy are First Level Champions and earn the High Score of the show at the Pleasant Hollow Farm on 7-18-04 winning both of their classes with a 68.9% in First Level Test 1 and 70.88% in First Level Test 2. Congrats to Ghuitar and Sandy on a good performance in their first recognized show together - scoring 61.4% in First Level Test 1 (3rd place) and 62.3% in First Level Test 2 (2nd place) at the July 3rd Dressage at Journey's End show. 2003 results: WINNER! Dressage at Devon Five-Year-Old Stallion/Gelding Materiale Class (74.3%), and 4th place in the Five-Year-Old Suitable to Become a Dressage Horse class. FEI Champion Pleasant Hollow Farms Recognized Show (FEI Five-Year-Old Test) with a 64% in his first under saddle show! First Level Champion LVDA Recognized Show, with a 67.2% in First Level Test 2 Winner First Level Test 1 and 2 classes with 64+% - September Bucks County Horse Park Recognized Show 1999 results: Reserve Champion Colt/Gelding - ESDCTA Breed Show Fourth Place Hanoverian IBC, PVDA Show out of 25 entries

Owner Comments

My horse of a lifetime for sure. I've never ridden a horse before who learns this quickly and loves his job!

Ghuitar is returning to work after a pasture injury forced some R&R time off for 6 months in 2005 and we are hoping to show at Third Level sometime this year. After 6 weeks back under saddle he's regaining his condition and his lateral work is fabulous!

It's so good to have the big guy back!