Monday, August 1, 2005

CN North American Young Rider Championships presented By Adequan

Catherine Malone Wins 2005 NAYRC Individual Gold Medal
By Stacy Gormley

As day six of the 2005 North American Young Rider’s Championships finally wrapped up Sunday, July 31, a humble and much deserving winner came out on top. Catherine Malone, the 20 year old leading lady for Region 1 aboard the beautiful KWPN chestnut gelding Michigan (x Farrington) clinched the Individual Gold Medal in the conclusion of the final test, the Freestyle class, with a combined final score of 208.978. The freestyle was set to nicely fitting music (composed by Taho Van Brugen) and showcased Michigan’s talent for the half passes and extended trot to receive a 70.05% and a fourth place in the class, but managing to maintain the leading average. Catherine was surrounded by family and friends, including her wonderfully supportive trainer and former Young Rider Champion, Todd Flettrich while waiting for the final scores to be tabulated. After confirming the results, Malone was embraced by her supporters, who shared a teary-eyed smiling moment with her.

Malone credits much of her success to her mother, Mary Alice Malone. “My Mom has been wonderful. She’s always quietly supporting, is never pushy, and is always encouraging to me. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her, and my best friend, Christine Titter and Todd. Christine is my right hand person. It’s great to have a friend who is also a rider. She is always so supportive and is there for every event to cheer me on. It also meant a lot to me to have my sister, Mary Alice Malone Jr. and my Dad, Stuart Malone here with me this weekend. Patsy Albers, our team chef, has also been wonderful to work with. She is always organized and does things by the book.”

For Malone, this moment has been the product of many years of hard work and dedication. This is her fourth consecutive year competing at the young riders, and Michigan was her third young rider mount. She has steadily improved her performances each year to finally take home the highly sought after gold medal.

This week has been understandably exhausting for her. “Michigan is a hot horse, so it was necessary to ride him twice a day. After a long week of competition, I woke up more exhausted than I was nervous this morning before the freestyle.” One can only imagine the pressure being felt by the top four riders, who were neck and neck throughout this entire competition.

Catherine also credits much of her success to her mount, (owned by Iron Spring Farm) Michigan. “Michigan is a great horse. He’s a wonderful young rider’s horse and is a very well trained Prix St. Georges horse. He has done his job well for me.”

One thing that has become obvious through observation this week is the wonderful relationship between Catherine and Todd. Todd always seems to be encouraging, reassuring and positive with Catherine. It is also obvious how much Catherine appreciates all that Todd does for her and is very grateful for his kindness and support. Todd credits much of her success to her dedication and riding talent. “I am very proud of her. Catherine is a very talented rider. She has shown and brought along many young horses, such as Persimmon, as well.”