Katie Gardner Gets the Win in $100,000 DIHP Pro Equitation Challenge
The $100,000 DIHP 3’3” Pro Equitation Challenge, presented by Valencia Sport Saddlery, offers the rare opportunity for professional riders to step into the equitation ring and compete for substantial prize money. That alone makes winning the class at Desert International Horse Park significant; however, for this year’s winner, Katie Gardner, the victory on Friday, February 27, felt even more meaningful.
“The words, they’re hard,” said an emotional Gardner following her win at Desert Circuit 8. “I lost my dad a few months ago, and it’s all for him, honestly. It’s so hard not to be able to call him. I just had to make a choice to keep going.”
On Friday, Gardner kept going up the ranks through three rounds of competition in DIHP’s Grand Prix Stadium. A field of 45 professionals took on the first-round equitation course, designed by Archer Bailey, on Friday afternoon. Then, the top 12 riders were invited back on a clean slate for a second round under the lights on Friday night. From there, the top four competitors switched horses for a final test phase.
At the conclusion of the first round, Gardner sat in third place aboard Dark Harbor, owned by Monarch Farms LLC, and at the end of the second round, she sat in second.
“I have a tendency to sort of rush. My goal today was to just take it one step at a time,” said Gardner. “The course was super fun. I liked a lot of the different tests…I also kind of liked where I was sitting coming into [round two]. I know it’s a clean the slate, but I kind of had a feeling it was a good spot to be in, a little bit behind. So, I just gave it my all that second round. I have to say, I felt the most relaxed I’ve ever felt, and I think maybe that showed.”
Gardner continued, “It means a lot to me to have the opportunity to ride [Dark Harbor]. Every step of the way with our short career, he’s just done nothing wrong, and he’s given me so much confidence. It’s just one of those horses where – it doesn’t matter what’s in the ring or what test there is – he doesn’t falter. Just to have that is really, really cool.”
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