Barisone has not shown the 11-year-old, 17.2-hand Dutch gelding Neruda for six months – their last outing was at the 2005 Grand Prix Championship at Gladstone where they placed third. Since then, Barisone has worked on his horse’s fitness by implementing an interval plan designed by legendary eventer Jimmy Wofford, trained two to four times a month with six-time Olympian Robert Dover, and also received help from U.S. Dressage Team Coach Klaus Balkenhol. “I’ve been a bridesmaid every time and I don’t want to do that anymore,” said Barisone, who has been the Alternate for the World Equestrian Games, World Cup Finals, and Olympic Games. “I hope I can continue forward with the progress we’ve made.” He added that he “hadn’t slept for a week” and was nervous today because he’d taken six months off from the show ring. “I will definitely sleep tonight. I feel like I’ve got a gravel truck lifted off my back now that I went out and he went really well and everybody said, ‘Great job!’”

Judges Lois Yukins, Marianne Ludwig, and Natalie Lamping all placed Barisone first over the second- and third-placed riders. Barisone was definite about what he thought were the high points of his test. “Without question, piaffe/passage. He’s known for that – that’s the thing he does very well,” Barisone stated. He noted that he had a mistake in the one tempis and needed more work on the canter, but that, “My piaffe/passage speaks for itself – it’s really glued together and strong and nice to ride.” Barisone said that his goal for the test today was 70%, and he was happy about coming close at 69.792%.

Barisone credited Balkenhol and Dover for giving him the keys to his success today. “I’ve been thinking about it for four months – Robert said, ‘I don’t want anyone to say Wow, look at that piaffe! Wow, look at that passage! Wow, look at that pirouette! I want people to say, Wow what a great test!’ There’s a big difference there. That was the goal of the day. I just went out to ride like my two trainers said I need to ride – Klaus was here last week. I thought it went relatively close to that plan and I’m glad the judges liked what happened – very glad!”

Barisone owns Neruda with his sponsors Jane and Salo Suwalsky.

The qualifiers for the USEF National Intermediaire I Championship continued today, marking the second victory in as many days for 1996 Atlanta Olympics Team Bronze Medalist Michelle Gibson and Lex Barker. The duo won the USEF Prix St. Georges yesterday and today won the USEF Intermediaire I with a score of 72.250%. Gibson topped a field of 14 competitors. Nicole Bellah riding Avante-Garde claimed second with 67.833%. Silke Rembacz riding DaCapo earned third place with 66.167%. The USEF Intermediaire National Championship will be held June 15-18 at the USET Foundation’s Gladstone facility.

Gibson scored even higher today than in yesterday’s Prix St. Georges (70.00%). “The I-I is a nice test. It flows really nicely, so it’s always been our better test,” she explained. The pair is in their second year of competing in the small tour. “Overall today he felt more relaxed and everything flowed really nicely.”

Gibson acknowledged that Lex Barker (who goes by several barn names including “Sexy Lexy” and “Barker Bear”) has the qualities of an Olympic caliber horse. “He has a huge heart and he’ll try. He wants to. He has a lot of ambition himself. He’s very much like my horse, even though I don’t own him. We work together very well.” The pair will continue to show in Florida in order to qualify for Gladstone. Gibson is developing a freestyle that she will present at the last qualifier in Wellington.

Commenting on her back-to-back wins at Wellington Dressage, Gibson said, “I’m really pleased. I’m always a little surprised – pleasantly surprised. Overall, I’m really happy with him. Today when we went in, after our first halt, he took off in the trot and he just took a deep breath, and that’s what I wanted. I’ve reached my goal. He just relaxed and was like, ‘OK, it’s all good’.”

Lex Barker’s owners, Scott Zahner and Michael Denneny of Elite European Sport Horse Inc. were at the show to watch the victories.

“We come to every show,” Zahner said. “Michelle is a naturally gifted rider.”

“The reason I like to come to see Michelle ride is that she really is a classical rider,” said Denneny. “When she rides, she’s very soft with the horses. The horses are always happy and that’s nice to see in this sport. That’s what this sport is partly about.”

Starting her fourth year with “Sexy Lexy,” and her fifth year as a rider for Elite European Sport Horse, and Gibson expressed her appreciation of the owners, “They’re awesome.”

At Wellington Dressage, the FEI Young Rider Team Test is one of two Region 3 designated qualifying competitions for the 2006 North American Young Riders Championships (NAYRC), which will be held at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia, August 1-6, for riders aged 16-21. From a field of six entries this morning, three scratched leaving a one-two-three finish for the ribbons. Laura Noyes of Wellington aboard her 11-year-old Trahkener Syncro won with a score of 64.815%. Erin Moran aboard her own Widerhall claimed second with 64.370%. Jocelyn Wiese riding Lamborghini earned third with 61.556%.

In open competition, the FEI Prix St. Georges (PSG), which was divided into three sections over two days, wrapped up today. In the PSG A Section (February 2), Ashley Holzer of Canada topped a field of 13 horses with a score of 69.333% aboard Maximillian owned by Ellen Lazarus. In the PSG B Section for Adult Amateurs and Juniors (February 2), Robin Shehan and her 15-year-old Danish gelding Marsaelis were the winners over a field of seven horses with a score of 62.333%. In the PSG C Section (February 3), Holzer again claimed victory, riding her own Pop Art to a score of 71.667% to top a field of 12 horses.

The open FEI Grand Prix competition kicked off today with 18 topnotch horses competing. The Canadian contingent dominated the field, taking the top three slots. Ashley Holzer claimed first place with Imperioso, scoring 69.306%, and also took second place aboard Gambol, earning 69.167%. Jacqueline Brooks riding Gran Gesto was third with 65.903%

For complete results of today’s classes, visit www.stadiumjumping.com

Wellington Dressage is the first of three dressage shows featured at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. Wellington Dressage runs through Sunday, February 5, at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club.

PHOTO CAPTION: Michael Barisone and Neruda

PHOTO CREDIT: SusanJStickle.com