Emma Lindstrom Scores Bucket List Item with Coraggio in $65,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championships
If Emma Lindstrom and Coraggio were on cloud nine Thursday after their championship in the High Performance Hunters, Friday put them into an entirely different orbit. The pair checked off a bucket list item: winning the $65,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Regional Championships in the Grand Prix Arena at Desert International Horse Park.
National Sunshine Series 2, presented by Marshall & Sterling, had already gone swimmingly for the pair. They both thrive at high fence heights, especially ones adorned with fancy decoration, at its peak during the day’s feature event, designed by Thomas Hern, in the Grand Prix Arena.
Emma Linstrom and Coraggio. Photo by High Desert Sport Photo
Lindstrom and June Salin’s 12-year-old gelding put in a stellar round to start, earning a combined score of 178 from the two panels of judges. The gelding’s sweeping canter and beautiful jumping efforts kept them in the lead as round one came to a close.
In the handy round, Lindstrom did exactly what she had to do, being just bold enough while also protecting the lead, doubling her score with a repeat score of 178, for a two-round total of 356.
Just behind Lindstrom on a score of 354 was amateur rider Caroline Ingalls and Concerto, who just returned from a highly successful indoors season on the East Coast. Nicole Bourgeois captured third place with Belico Royal, owned by Peyton Broll, with a score of 351.5.
“He is great in a big ring like this,” Lindstrom said of Coraggio’s winning performance in the Grand Prix Arena, which is home to hunters only a few times each season. “He has a huge stride and big, slow canter. A ring like this is made for him. He loves new environments so, for him, getting in there and seeing all the flowers and beautiful jumps, he loves that and it makes him pay attention. He was on it.”
The element of the handy she thought went particularly well was one that many riders dread. “He’s always great at the trot jump,” she shared. “I try not to take it for granted because it’s smaller than the rest of the jumps but I thought he did that really well.”
The focus hasn’t always been front and center, however, for the gelding, who’s matured quite a bit from day one with Lindstrom and Salin. Under the training of Lindstrom for several years now, they’ve let the horse advance at his own pace, knowing there was a superstar horse within.
“The owner, June, has had him since he was 4, so it’s taken a few years to get here and there have been challenges along the way,” Lindstrom reflected on the path to this point with Coraggio. “He’s always been so brave, bold, and confident. It just took a little channeling to get him here, but it feels great.”
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