Erynn Ballard and Paladin 116 Top the $32,000 CSI2* Grand Prix Qualifier at WEC

Canadian Erynn Ballard has been amassing top ribbons lately and earned her most recent blue on Friday the 13th aboard the 9-year-old Westphalian gelding Paladin 116 in the $32,000 CSI2* Wild Horse Refuge Grand Prix Qualifier at the World Equestrian Center (WEC) in Ocala. She won by 1.53 seconds, marking their first FEI win together.

“He’s a fast and careful jumper, and he’s got everything in his favor to win a class like this,” Ballard said about Paladin 116.

The first three jump-off fences

“It was pretty fast,” said Ballard with a smile about her jump-off ride. “I was looking for 10 strides from jumps one to two, and it showed up in nine strides. We were talking about it in the warm-up ring; one of those sayings is that you win the jump-off in the first three jumps. You can’t catch up if you go slow in the beginning.

“I felt so fast in the beginning, jumps one-two-three-four,” she continued. “Then the seven strides got slow into the double combination. I took a chance and added a stride to the last jump because I felt like he was going so fast, and I needed to keep his concentration. I definitely won in the first three jumps, and that’s where you see the difference in the time.”

A successful week thus far

Ballard was second with Epsilon de Brenil in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Qualifier on Thursday, two-tenths of a second behind the winner, Ben Maher. She rode to victory aboard Her Game Ball BG in the $32,000 CSI5*-W speed class on Wednesday.

Rounding out the top three

Ireland's Shane Sweetnam and Balou H, a 10-year-old Westphalian gelding, took second place in the 1.45-meter class.

Richard Vogel of Germany and Quizas van 't Hulsbos finished in third place, off the second-place mark just shy of 0.05 seconds.

In a field of 49 entries, 18 qualified for the jump-off, where 11 were double clear.

Vaclav Stanek of the Czech Republic was the fastest four-faulter in the jump-off with Langley and came in 12th.

Watch Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Ocala HERE on ClipMyHorse.TV.

Top 10 Results

1 Erynn Ballard (Canada) - PALADIN 116 - 0/35.05

2 Shane Sweetnam (Ireland) - BALOU H - 0/36.58

3 Richard Vogel (Germany) - QUIZAS VAN 'T HULSBOS - 0/37.05

4 Lisa Goldman-Smolen (USA) - ROMEO B - 0/37.51

5 Sergio Alvarez Moya (Spain) - LENTE - 0/37.72

6 Ben Maher (Great Britain) - MADDOX VH HARINGVLIET Z - 0/37.79

7 Della White (USA) - GUCCI - 0/38.41

8 Lucy Davis Kennedy (USA) - GABY DE COURCEL - 0/38.45

9 Stella Wasserman (USA) - MYLA - 0/39.19

10 Ben Maher (Great Britain) - SECRET TREASURE - 0/39.47

Photo credit: Andrew Ryback Photography