Congratulations to Kacy Lyn Smith and her 14-yr old Oldenburg gelding D’Angelo 6 for being in the ribbons and in the money in their first FEI Grand Prix together! Kacy and ‘Angel’ were one 30 combinations who took the field in the FEI CSI 1* $5,000 Manestream Logistics Grand Prix at Live Oak International in Ocala, Florida, last weekend. Thousands of jumping fans were on hand to watch the athletes tackle German course designer Olaf Petersen Jr.’s deceptively trickly course of 17 obstacles in the grass Grand Prix field. Several duos picked up time penalties for being over the time allowed, while many more saw their rides unravel as rails hit the ground. In the end only 5 riders advanced to the jump off.
Kacy and Angel rode a bold track right up to the pace, with the pair’s only error coming at the big Ariat oxer at fence 9. This was one of the trickiest jumps on course, that proved to be the undoing of several duos. The winner of the class was the USA’s Abigal McArdle aboard Samuel Parot’s I&H Boogy Woogy, one of only two pairs on the day to ride a double clear. In the end, Kacy and Angel were fast enough, even with 4 faults, to finish in 10th place! See more pics and watch their round here!