Kerrigan Gluch & American-Bred Vaquero HGF to Ride for USA at European Young Rider Nations Cups
8 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Kerrigan Gluch & American-Bred Vaquero HGF to Ride for USA at European Young Rider Nations Cups
April 20, 2016
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Kerrigan Gluch will ride the American-bred Vaquero HGF on the United States team to compete in European Young Rider competitions that will be an exciting finale to her Young Rider career before moving to the Under-25 division.
Kerrigan and the Pure Spanish (P.R.E.) stallion bred and owned by Hampton Green Farm will join Barbara “Bebe” Davis, 18, of Wellington, Florida on Feivel Mousekewitz and Lauren Asher, 19, of San Diego, California on De Noir to compete in Young Rider Nations Cups in Europe.
The 19-year-old Kerrigan, from the rural community of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, is completing her freshman year studying business at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton that she has pursued along with her full-time job riding and taking care of Vaquero and HGF Brio, an Under-25 horse she competes, as well as other horses.
She is in her fifth year at Hampton Green Farms in Wellington, Florida and Fruitport, Michigan, an opportunity that owner Kimberly Boyer offered to Kerrigan.
She began competing Vaquero in CDIs just over a year ago after working in Spain with Jose Daniel Martin Dockx who had shown the horse in young horse events there. “Dani” rode the Hampton Green Farm-owned Grandioso on Spanish teams at the 2012 Olympics, 2014 World Games and 2013 and 2015 European Championships.
Kimberly Boyer said of the selection of Kerrigan and Vaquero: “For me, this is the accomplishment of many years of work in the United States to promote Spanish horses as sport horses, with team potential for the best examples. Robert Dover has said many times in print that he would put a Spanish horse on his team if it was qualified, and now USEF has also shown that they are willing to do this.
“There is an historical element to this for those of us who have invested so much in seeing Spanish horses succeed–and there are many around the country. I hope this news encourages others to continue to train their PREs for excellence, knowing that it will be rewarded.”
For Kerrigan, the past year of training with the Wellington-based Oded Shimoni with Vaquero and Brio has sped by.
“It’s the fastest progression I’ve ever felt in riding in general,” Kerrigan said. “Taking the jump from Prix St. Georges to learning how to ride Grand Prix tests was extremely progressive, just learning the next level of collection and power and engagement and to have a solid test focused me a lot.”
Along with her development as a rider has been the higher level of dressage at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington with more Europeans joining horses and riders from throughout the Americas.
“Everything has been at so much a higher level of horses, a lot more competitive; especially showing down here and how you compare with other riders. It makes you work harder to stay up with everyone and to be competitive.”
Kerrigan is excited to compete for the first time in Europe.
But after the Young Rider Nations Cup in Hagen, Germany, the last of three shows for the Americans, she will head back to Florida anxious to get back to working with Brio, the 11-year-old Andalusian stallion owned by Hampton Green that Kerrigan showed at CDI Under-25 at the Global, as well as moving Vaquero toward the Young Rider Grand Prix. She is careful, though, to go slowly with Vaquero as he is only nine years old.
