Jamie Sailor and Atlantic DVZ Cruise to First in $7,500 Interactive Mortgage 10 & Under
The wind came in full force Saturday afternoon, but not before Jamie Sailor grabbed a win in the $7,500 Interactive Mortgage 10 & Under Futurity Series. Aboard Atlantic DVZ, owned by Teton Farms LLC, Sailor betsted 15 jump-off competitors for the top spot.
“It was definitely our day, even with the wind and the chaos, but I’m super happy with it,” Sailor reflected. “I spent last year really putting the miles in and trying to get him a lot of experience out in the show ring. He’s still only 10. I’ve done some bigger classes with him but this week I wanted to take it a bit easy with him. Next week I think he’ll jump up again, so this week I was just sticking to the 1.35m.”
Sailor’s time of 32.334 seconds was enough to seal the deal, but Kaitlin Campbell was hot on her tail with Conova, owned by Sweet Oak Farm, clocking in at 32. 733 seconds for second place. In third was Guy Thomas with WT Leapalong, owned by Willow Tree Farm, Inc.
Sailor acquired the ride from a student who went off to college, so she’s enjoying every step as she builds the horse for the higher levels.
“He’s amazing so I’m super excited for him,” she reflected. “I’m thankful to have him and today he’s just shined. He is competitive, and then the wind was just another whole factor. He’s generally a very careful horse butI actually think he jumped even better. It’s his time to shine.”
Earlier this season, as week one of Desert Circuit got underway, Sailor had the opportunity to ride with expert clinicians in the CTAcademy. She chose Atlantic DVZ as her ride for the three-day clinic. Head clinician and Italian show jumper Lorenzo De Luca had some very interesting words of advice for the horse, and it’s helped her get to know the horse even better and give him the ride he needs every day.
“For me on the left lead, I lose him a little bit and that’s what I was telling Lorenzo De Luca. I always feel like I need to push out of the turn. He said [with Atlance] you need to really collect him and get them on his hind legs because the lengthen comes out of collection. So I’ve been really working on getting him back on his hind end and then really engaging rather than just coming out of the turn on an open canter, and I think that’s actually really helped me a lot.”
In the course set for the day, this particular tip came into play and Sailor rode it the way De Luca advised, and it played out just as she wanted.
“I just feel like he wants to just sit with me a little instead of helping me through the left lead and that that clinic has really helped me,” she continued. “Today there was the left lead to the six [strides] to the two-stride. I saw it from the corner and I said, ‘I’m gonna stay behind you and really think about your hind legs,’ and he was right there with me.”
Overall Sailor enjoyed every minute of the clinic, which covered far more than just riding. “The whole design of that clinic was really fun,” she said. “Atlantic actually learned a lot from that clinic as well, including a lot of lateral movements, which I do a lot of, like counter canter with the inside bend, and that was fun to learn.”
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