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Results

Pros Strut Their Stuff
by Jamie Krauss with Diana De Rosa

Red Panda (361), a Belgium Warmblood, and Geste (359), a Dutch Warmblood, were truly neck-in-neck for Wednesday’s deciding round. Red Panda’s score for day two combined with his first round’s 346.5 put him into the lead heading into the Finals on Sunday, May 6. Geste scored 359.

They were so close in their performances that the judges had a hard time choosing between the two and in fact they did not know who won until the scores of the two pairs of four judges were tallied.

“Louise is a great rider. He (Red Panda) got a great ride and he’s a great horse,” commented Liza Dennehy, Denver, CO, one of the judges.

“They both jumped really well” added George Wallace, who came from Raleigh, NC to judge the class. “You could have gone either way and both would have earned the top ribbon.

Scott Williamson, the judge from Wellington, FL, agreed, “Geste went very smooth. They both went smooth.”

Not only did the judges like the way the horses were going, but they liked the format of the Legacy Cup, the Virginia Horse Center and the relaxed pace.

“The hunter industry really needs this show,” noted Jeff Wirthman, the judge from Island Lake, IL.

“This is a great facility,” agreed Brian Lookabill, Aiken, SC, the announcer. “Announcing is great here. It’s a new format and it is not hard to keep the excitement because there is so much that is new.”

“There’s also a lot of sponsors,” he added, referring to sponsors like Judi McGee Holmes ($10,000 Legacy Cup Invitational), Stal Hendrix ($5,000 Challenge of the Breeds), Practical Horseman (Non Pro 3’ Hunters), Equisearch (scoreboard) and Janet Read (Pre-Green Incentive).

When Louise Serio was asked to describe her winning ride, she said, “Well, they put a lot of pressure on me… because they never do anything wrong!”

If she was feeling pressure, it didn’t show. Louise went first with Bridget Hallman’s Grey Slipper and kept the lead throughout. Serio continued her winning streak, not only earning the top honor, but placing sixth on Rachel Geiger’s Dream Date and 11th on Sue Copeland’s Zydeco as well.

The bulk of the class tried to catch Serio and Grey Slipper’s, but to no avail. David Connors came close on Bill Ellis’ Frisco Kid, and James Lala rounded out the top placings by taking third on Jenny Sutton’s Oracle, and fourth on his own Bluffton. Nora Fredrickson was fifth on Ashland Stables’ Kermit, Serio sixth on Dream Date, Scott Hoffstetter seventh on Don Stewart’s Fernwalk, and Winn Alden finished eighth on Wendy Berol Gifford’s Taking Chances. The awards were announced all the way up until twentieth.

Pinning up to twentieth place was just another very unique thing that this horse show did. Everything from the scoreboard (which displays not only the owner and rider, but the sire and dam of the horse), to the numerous exhibitor parties (one of which took place complete with cake and singing during an awards presentation today for Don Stewart's 50th birthday!) is uniquely wonderful, proving that the Legacy cup is quickly becoming one of the most loved horse shows of the year – and it’s only the second day!