Katrina Pattinson’s and Leslie Steele’s Mounts Shine in CPHA West Coast Green Hunter Incentive Championships
The 2023 California Professional Horsemen’s Association West Coast Green Hunter Incentive Championships offered more than $37,000 in prize money, and Katrina Pattinson and Leslie Steele rode away with the lion’s share on Friday, September 15, at the Blenheim Fall Tournament in San Juan Capistrano, CA.
Pattinson piloted Con Glassa, owned by Patricia Tondorf, to the win in the $23,425 CPHA 3’/3’3” Green Hunter Incentive Championship, while Steele topped the $13,775 CPHA 3’6”/3’9” Green Hunter Incentive Championship with No Reservations, owned by Curtis Holdings Inc.
The championship classes marked this year’s finale to the season-long Green Hunter Incentive Program, offered by Blenheim EquiSports and the CPHA to reward top green hunters. For 2023, 59 horses were enrolled in the program, and 90 percent of each enrollment fee was added directly to the $25,000 in prize money provided by Blenheim EquiSports for the culminating championships.
“You get a lot out of the program, both experience-wise and then also financially,” said Pattinson, who has competed Con Glassa in the CPHA Green Incentive classes throughout the past two years. “It’s great prize money every week, so the owner feels like they’re really coming away with something, and then, to have something like this championship for these young horses is unique and special. I feel like my horse has grown so much by doing the Green Incentive Program, and being able to cap it off with the championship win was a very special way to end the year for him!”
On their way to Friday’s championship victory, Pattinson and Con Glassa earned a score of 85 for their first round over the course designed by Kerry Kocher. All riders then returned to jump the same course a second time, with judges Geoff Case and Heidi D’Angelo awarding Con Glassa a second-round score of 88 for a winning 86.5 average.
Second place with an average score of 86.25 went to Steele and Casalluno, owned by Karle Dickerson, and Natalie Rae Sibert and her own Sligo finished in third with an average score of 85.5.
“Especially our second round was one of the best rounds that we ever had!” said Pattinson of Con Glassa’s performance on Friday. “He almost jumped better in the second round, which you don’t usually have, especially jumping the same jumps again. After the first jump, I was like, ‘Wow, I think he’s going to do this even better!’ I thought that I better just give him the ride that he deserves if he’s going to go around like that!”
Pattinson has been partnered with 9-year-old Con Glassa since last summer and has poured time and effort into developing the Holsteiner gelding to where he is now.
“We imported him from Europe last April, and he came as an 8-year-old who was a dressage horse,” explained Pattinson. “He’d jumped a little bit in Europe, and that was kind of how we knew that he had this fantastic style. Basically, when we brought him here, he didn’t really have much jumping experience – or at least not as much as we’re used to the horses having, especially as an 8-year-old. He’s really come into his own, and he’s really special.”
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Blenheim EquiSports (theplacetojump.com)
