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 Double Olympian Ashley Holzer was in winning form during the Saugerties CDI3* held in Saugerties, New York September 14-18, 2005.
Holzer, who resides in New York, made a clean sweep of the Grand Prix division. With her 2004 Athens Olympic mount Imperioso, a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion (Cocktail x Tangelo), Holzer won the Grand Prix with a score of 67.33%. Holzer also came third in the same class with Gambol, a striking black 11-year-old Dutch stallion (Gabor x Lector) owned by Dr. Diane Fellows and Holzer, with 66.67%.
Holzer’s success continued throughout the weekend when she won the Grand Prix Freestyle aboard Imperioso (73.43%) and the Grand Prix Speciale with Gambol (69.24%).
“I was thrilled with my rides,” said Holzer. “Each horse really tried his best for me!”
Holzer describes her five-year riding partner Imperioso as a “trooper”, who consistently comes out and does his best, and who will always be a special horse. But Holzer was also very pleased with Gambol’s progress during the stallion’s first year at the Grand Prix level. “Gambol is really shining in his first year of Grand Prix. This was his first (Grand Prix) Speciale and he went through it beautifully. This horse continues to amaze me. You raise the bar and he always jumps way over it!.”
Holzer also put in solid performances in the small tour division with Maximillian, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Ellen Lazarus. The pair started the competition with a fourth place in the Prix St. Georges with 67.167%, close behind second place winners Cheryl Meisner & Lucky Strike of Nova Scotia (68.667%). Meisner also placed fifth with Paganini (67.083%). The class of 20 competitors was won by Silke Rembacz & Millenium on a score of 69.667%.
The Intermediaire I class saw the judges move Maximillian and Holzer up to second place, with a score of 67.250%. Meisner finished fifth with Lucky Strike (64.917%) and seventh with Paginini (64.500%). But it was the Intermediaire Freestyle where Maximillian really shone, finishing the competition with first place honours and 73.625% to music by Canada’s Karen Robinson of Applause Dressage.
“Max has a lot of presence in the ring,” explained Holzer. “Even though he is not huge, he really eats up the ground as he moves. He was undisturbed by the beautiful ring - he was all business and improved every day.”
Other Canadian riders competing at this FEI competition included Belinda Trussell and her new Grand Prix mount Blue Hors Testerosa, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, who won the Intermediaire II (66.780%), placed sixth in the Grand Prix (63.79%) and third in the Grand Prix Speciale (61.16%). Shannon Dueck was also competing in the same division with Korona, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (El Corona x Naturel) , placing 11th in the Grand Prix (61.08%) and 5th in the Grand Prix Freestyle (66.58%). In the small tour, Dueck teamed with KRS Pegasus, a Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by the Pegasus Group, to finish the show with fifth place honours in the Intermediaire Freestyle (67.167%).
The international judging panel included Denmark’s Hanne Valentin, Dominican Republic’s Lisette Vega de Purcell, Denmark’s Leif Tornblad, USA’s Linda Zang and USA’s Lilo Fore.
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