Savannah Jenkins Walks the Walk with Kainville VDS in $10,000 Barnwalkers 1.35m Welcome Speed
Savannah Jenkins is on the up and up with her current string of horses, and it’s showing in the results. On Wednesday of Desert Circuit 3, presented by U.S. Bank, to open competition in the Grand Prix Arena, Jenkins and Kainville VDS topped a competitive field of 70 entries in the $10,000 BarnWalkers 1.35m Welcome Speed.
“It’s really coming along with her,” Jenkins said of her relationship with the Proper 12-owned 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Numero Uno x Kroongraf). “In the beginning I struggled a bit understanding her, but now she has a total program from home and how we warm up and how we prepare. She’s really coming along and the partnership is really starting to build. It’s getting a lot easier for both of us now.”
Jenkins went in the first third of competitors over Bernardo Costa Cabral’s speed track, and she took over the lead by about four seconds, signaling she’d be hard to beat. As the rest of the class tried, two seconds shy was as close as anyone could get. Cassio Rivetti ended up in second with Gotico Di Ca’ San Giorgio, owned by Play The Game LLC, and Jamie Sailor took third with Fire Flash Toltien, owned by Carolyn Mittler.
The course was designed with a horse like Kainville VDS in mind, and it became evident as Jenkins rode around and nailed every distance, shaping lines and slicing verticals.
“I don’t love to win by that much, but if you watch the round that’s just how she goes,” Jenkins explained. “I was just in a half seat just making my way around. The jumps came up perfectly the whole way around and we love when that happens.”
Heading in for the awards and victory gallop looks a little different when Kainville VDS wins, with Jenkins’ husband, Johnny, leading the mare in and out, doing a victory “walk” past the scoreboard, and hopping off before exiting the ring.
“I try to do it her way, understand her, what she likes, what she doesn’t like, and take that into consideration when I’m riding,” Jenkins said of how she’s getting to know the horse and how she likes to function. “I don’t really ride her at home. Johnny longes her mostly. Twice a day she goes on the treadmill, she goes in the paddock all day, she’s going to go outside all day long today. We let her be her. It’s an odd training perspective but so far it’s working. I’m really proud of her. We’re going to start stepping her up and seeing what she can do.”
Jenkins admits the horse is a different animal inside the barn and once riding begins. “When she’s in the barn she follows my husband around with no head collar or anything,” she explained. “She’s completely free, she’s dead quiet, the kindest animal. She’s so calm. The minute I hit the saddle, it’s a totally different horse. [My husband] is her person. I’m her rider and she respects me in that sense, but he does everything with her on the ground. She has her security blanket and I just try to steer her around the course.”
Across all levels during Desert Circuit, Jenkins has top horses and is one to watch.
“Being in the ring this much on competitive horses has been a total game changer,” Jenkins remarked on her current string. “I’m just super inspired right now. Being here is great because we have unbelievable people here and it makes you up your game even more. When James [Chawke] is in the ring and he’s before me all eyes are on him, and I’m just learning. Kyle [King] is helping me and I always want to try to beat him on his horse when I can. I’m super lucky with the horses I have right now.”
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