Paul Halpern Utilizes Esra’s Strengths To Master $35,000 Grand Prix
The penultimate day of Post Time Premier II on Saturday, January 11, at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, Florida, proved to be one of the most exciting yet, as a field of fierce competitors geared up for the featured $35,000 Grand Prix. As a new addition to the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit schedule, the two weeks of the Post Time Premier, managed by WEST Horse Shows, have set the tone for an action-packed season at the iconic venue. A star-studded group of 21 top horse-and-rider combinations contested the course for the day’s main event, but some slick moves laid down by Canada’s Paul Halpern left him and his mount Esra well ahead of the remaining challengers to take the win.
In his HITS Ocala debut, Germany’s Steffen Buehling took his turn at course designing in the venue’s Grand Prix Ring throughout the second week of the Post Time Premier series, presenting a Grand Prix challenge worthy of the top-notch competitors on the start list. The roster included a stacked field of established pairs, as well as rising show jumping stars, all eager to score their first big win of the year early in the season.
Ocala local and New Zealand Olympian Sharn Wordley laid down an early fault-free round aboard his long-time partner Mick Jagger before doubling down with another clean round on Hagelin. At the completion of the first round, the returning jump-off count included a total of six contenders representing a truly international field, with Halpern, Vicente Guillen (VEN), Tom Managhan (GBR), and Jelmer Hoekstra (NED) joining Wordley for the short course.
Wordley set a high bar to beat as the first to return with an impressive performance in 39.413 seconds aboard Mick Jagger, Della Wordley’s 17-year-old Hannoverian gelding (Chacco-Blue x Dobel’s Cento), but left the door open just enough for two determined competitors to overcome him, ultimately settling into the third-place position. Returning toward the end of the jump-off, Halpern produced several exceptionally efficient turns, which Esra is known for, to effectively shut out the remaining riders. Hoekstra left it all on the field as he gave his best effort to catch Halpern, but he remained roughly a second over the leading time to take second place with K-One PGO, Hoekstra Stables’s 10-year-old KWPN mare (F-One USA x Koriander).
“Esra is a really good turner, so I sliced it to the liverpool fence, but I think I really got the time on the turn to the second to last jump,” detailed Halpern of his winning round. “I spun around on that sucker, but that’s her forte. That’s really what she does. Then I pretty much knew I had it there.”
Halpern’s confidence in the 13-year-old Holsteiner mare (Bratt Z x Nekton), owned by his own barn manager Vanessa Lee, comes from a lifetime of partnership and a relationship that epitomizes mutual understanding and appreciation.
“She’s 13 years old, but I’ve ridden her from the end of her four-year-old year, so I’ve done everything with her,” he explained. “I love her to death. We never knew how big she was going to be able to jump, but she’s all heart and a real fighter. I know her as well as a family member.”
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