Lauren Barwick, a resident of Reddick, FL, made two trips to the CPEDI 3* Grade III winner’s circle with Lee Garrod’s Sandrino – a feat made doubly impressive considering the Canadian Paralympian has only had the ride on the eight-year-old gelding since the end of November 2019. On Jan. 22, Barwick and Sandrino started strong with 69.461% for first in the Team Test. A score of 69.412% put them in third for Jan. 24’s Individual Test, but they were back on top the next day in the Freestyle with their highest score yet, 75.133%.
Canadian Paralympian Lauren Barwick, who resides in Reddick, FL, has started off strong in her new partnership with Sandrino, racking up CPEDI 3* Grade III wins during the third week of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, held Jan. 22-26, 2020, in Wellington, FL.
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
“I am very pleased with what we were able to accomplish in a short period of time,” said Barwick of her success with Sandrino. “I am optimistically looking forward to the next few months leading into our next international shows. I have a super group of people behind me supporting this horse and rider combination.”
In addition to watching Sandrino excel in Barwick’s hands, Garrod, a Canadian residing in Kensington, NH, was able to enjoy success as a CPEDI 3* competitor herself. Riding her 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Question (Quaterback x Le Figaro), Garrod began by scoring 65.736% for second in the Grade V Team Test on Jan. 22. She then collected consecutive wins in Jan. 24’s Grade V Individual Test and Jan. 25’s Grade V Freestyle, scoring 66.151% and 71.208%, respectively.
Also earning a top three CPEDI 3* placing was Jason Surnoski of Whitby, ON, and Cynthia Nugent’s Phoenix, a 21-year-old Westphalian gelding sired by Postdam. The pair collected a third place finish on Jan. 22 with 65.505% in the Grade II Team Test.
In the quest for qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Team Canada – comprised of Barwick, Garrod, Winona Hartvikson of Langley, BC, and Jody Schloss of Toronto, ON – earned 416.313 points. Team USA finished first with 434.358 points.
Canadians continued to make waves in the CDI competition, with Lindsay Kellock finding success in front of a hometown crowd aboard Sebastien (Sandro Hit x Fidermark), the 14-year-old Rheinlander gelding she co-owns with Enterprise Farm, LLC. The duo scored 70.087% for second in Jan. 23’s CDI-W Grand Prix, but their real achievement of the weekend came in the next day’s CDI-W Grand Prix Freestyle. There, Lindsay and Sebastien placed third again, this time on a score of 75.880% – a personal best for the pair that made their international debut during AGDF 3 in 2019.
“I am always aiming to have a personal best score each time I enter the arena, so I am very happy to have received that score early on in the season,” said Kellock. “Sebastien loves to perform in front of a crowd and the atmosphere at AGDF is so electric, it’s very motivating for us! This was the first time we have ever run through that pattern. I changed my choreography to make my floor plan more difficult and he rose to the challenge and tried his very best. I couldn’t be happier with his progress.”
In the CDI 3* Grand Prix Special, Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu of Saint-Bruno, QC, danced to a score of 72.064% for third with All In (Tango x Damiro), the 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding she co-owns with her father, Craig Fraser and husband, Marc-Andre Beaulieu.
Beatrice Boucher of Saint-Dominique, QC, emerged as the Canadian to watch in the small tour with Louxor de Lys (Licotus x Weltmeyer), a nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Lynda Tétreault. They started off with 67.451% for third place in the CDI 3* Prix St. Georges on Jan. 23. Then they rose to the occasion, earning first in the Jan. 25 CDI 3* Intermediate I with 68.059%, and in the Jan. 26 CDI 3* Intermediate Freestyle with 69.800%.
Also coming away from AGDF 3 with a pair of blue ribbons from the small tour was Beatrice Boucher of Saint-Dominque, QC, and Louxor de Lys.
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
Camille Carier Bergeron of Mascouche, QC, who was Boucher’s teammate on the gold medal Canadian Young Riders team at the 2018 North American Youth Championships, saw success in the CDI-Y division. She rode Sound of Silence 4 (San Amour I x Limes), Gilles Bergeron’s 12-year-old Westphalian gelding, to second in the CDI-Y Team Test (68.480%) on Jan. 24 before coming back on Jan. 25 to claim first in the CDI-Y Individual Test (71.226%).
In the CDI-Am division, Sheri Doornekamp of Odessa, ON, debuted a new FEI level mount, her 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding named Axel (Sandreo x Vincent). They scored 65.882% for third in the Prix St. Georges on Jan. 25 and returned the next day to win the Intermediate I with 68.431%.
To conclude the weekend, Corine Smith, a Canadian residing in Chulouta, FL, leapt onto the scene, making a splash in her first FEI appearance showing Anne Gribbons’ Oldenburg gelding, Amperio (Ampere x Rotspon). The pair posted impressive scores in the CDI-YH division for six-year-old horses, earning 77.800% in the Preliminary Test on Jan. 25 and 81.000% in the Final Test on Jan. 26.
Competition continues at AGDF until late March, with the next CDI competition taking place Feb. 4-8. For more information and results, visit https://gdf.coth.com.