WELLINGTON, Fla.--Marcus Orlob on Jane scored a personal best of 75.979% to win the CDI5* Grand Prix Special on Saturday, Jan. 24 at the Global Dressage Festival..
Marcus Orlob on Jane (Photo by Centre Line Media)The top four riders in the class all had personal bests.
Canadian Olympian Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu on Jaccardo scored 74.575%. to place second.
Jaccardo has been at international grand prix level for less than a year, and this was his first Special.
The score was just 1% shy of the Canadian record in this test, which was set by Belinda Trussell on Anton at the Festival in 2016.
California-based Geñay Vaughan on Gino scored 71.681% to place third.
This CDI proved that Orlob is finally figuring out a routine and test riding style that suits Jane; there was no hint of the tensions that dogged her in the ring in previous years.
“I was really happy that she behaved and controlled her nerves in the Grand Prix on Thursday, and again today she had a good performance,” said Orlob, who was unfortunately eliminated just seconds into his test on Jane at the Paris 2024 Olympics thanks to a speck of blood on her leg. “I always talk about how she needs to relax, and finally, I think we’re getting there, and we can start to show what we can do."
“I STARTED the test today a little conservative,” he said. “Then, as it went on, she started to breathe and I let her go a bit more, and the passage was really nice. Our mission is to get her more relaxed in the one-tempis, but the pirouettes were super. At the end, she stood there while people clapped. I was very proud that she didn’t explode.”
Orlob has had the ride on the “sensitive, energetic” mare for two years after taking over from owner Alice Tarjan.
“I’m slowly finding her buttons, and she’s trusting me,” he said. “It’s starting to turn into a relationship. All the traveling and the desensitizing is paying off; it just took time.”
Meagan Davis on Toronto Lightfoot had a new personal best of 71.489% to win the CDI3* Grand Prix Special.
Camille Carrier Bergeron of Canada placed second with 70.936% on Finnländerin, whom she rode at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and Tina Konyot placed third on Grover.
Davis has been riding Toronto Lightfoot for four years, and they are now in their third season of international Grand Prix.
They have won three of their four international starts in the past six weeks.
“We had some mistakes [in Thursday’s Grand Prix, where they finished fifth] and a lack of confidence in the show ring, so to then come in today and be able to shine and show everybody all of the work that he and I have put in together was really exhilarating,” said Davis, who splits her time between Loxahatchee, FL, and Saugerties, NY.
“I’ve had great horses along the way, but Toronto is the whole package,” she said. “He is a gentleman on the ground. He knows when he’s there to perform and he wants to be out there doing his job for me, you can’t ask more of a horse than that. To go in there with a partner like that is extremely awe-inspiring."
“Today I was really able to show Toronto’s expression and a self-carriage,” said Davis. “We had a little mistake in the beginning, but we recovered and he tried to stay with me. We’ve been working on finding the balance between expression and relaxation.”
With help from her coach, Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Ali Brock, Davis is aiming to be selected to compete in Europe this summer.
“That’s the big goal,” she said. “We’re going to keep pushing, keep trying to get more personal bests. Seeing that up on the board was super exciting today, especially in the Special.”
