Anna Buffini Makes Trip Well Worth It in IDA Development FEI World Cup Grand Prix
A total of 13 horse-and-rider combinations entered the afternoon’s IDA Development FEI World Cup Grand Prix with the top-three placings being awarded to the United States, Canada, and South Korea at the event’s completion. As the penultimate competitor in the class, the USA’s Anna Buffini made her trip to Wellington, FL, from San Diego, CA, well worth the travel time as she took top honors with an excellent score of 72.500% on FRH Davinia La Douce.
“It was worth the trip, man,” laughed Buffini. “It was always our plan to come out here but you never know how it’s going to go, so you have to do your best and leave it all out in the arena. It can be hard to make the trip and acclimate them in time for the first show, but she just nailed it today; I was so proud of her.
The coast-to-coast road trip was all part of Buffini’s bid to get a spot at the 2023 FEI World Cup™ Final, and she hopes her performance in the Friday Night Grand Prix Freestyle will be enough to get her there.
“The World Cup Finals race has been very difficult so we have to do everything we can tomorrow, but the Freestyle is our favorite so if we can go out there and do what we’ve done the past few times in California, it could be very competitive,” Buffini commented.
Continuing about her 16-year-old Hanoverian mare, she said, “Her energy level here is fantastic. Her canter work was great today, which is something we’ve really worked on getting solid recently, her changes were right there and her pirouettes were tight. It’s always encouraging to know that there are things to work on but that we are starting out on a high score for us.”
Finishing on the second-best score was Chris von Martels and the 14-year-old KWPN gelding Eclips (Apache x Olympic Ferro). The pair produced a test worthy of a 70.174% to don the red ribbon in the lap of honor. Dong Seon Kim of South Korea rounded out the leading three after finishing on a score of 68.435% with the Sportferde Galleria GmbH’s 13-year-old Westphalian gelding Galleria’s Bohemian (Bordeaux 28 x Samarant).
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