Tuesday. March 21, 2006

James Koford Slips in a Few Wins at Ocala Dressage
By Shaneen Kohler

With about 420 rides, Ocala Dressage, March 11-12, at the Florida Horse Park made more than a little bleep on the dressage screen. Competitors from all over the country, and even Canada, made this event part of their show schedule - some intent on making a splash and some hoping to slide into the Florida scene below the radar gun.

James Koford was one of the riders who thought he could slip into Florida’s dressage circuit unnoticed. It might have worked if he hadn’t won practically every class he entered. The North Carolina dressage rider saw Ocala Dressage as the perfect place to start the 2006 circuit for his Prix St. Georges horse, Neostan, “without the pressure” present in Wellington. Plus, it gave him the opportunity to compete his Grand Prix Level horse, Donatelli II, against some top-notch competitors such as Eleanor Rawle, Cheryl Holekamp and Erin Brinkman.

Donatelli II is an Oldenburg stallion by Donnerhall and out of Granny’s Girl by Pik Bube. This 12-year-old stallion was bred by Günter Bastian in Bargteheide, Germany and is owned by Scott Tolman of Shooting Star Farm in New Hampshire and James Koford. Neostan is an approved Dutch stallion by Florestan and out of Diva by Debutante. He is owned by Pineland Farms of Maine.

“I came down here just for the weekend show and the young horse dressage symposium in Wellington on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday,” said Koford. “I wanted to get my feet wet without going up against the competition in Wellington and I am trying to stay a little bit under the radar.”

But Koford’s three first-place finishes and scores in the high 60s were impossible to ignore. Even Koford couldn’t deny his horses their wins.