E-Mail This Page

Friday August 10, 2007

No American Glory at the 2007 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses

Christopher Hickey and Cabana Boy, the American Delegation in the 5-year old division

American Christopher Hickey and his American warmblood gelding Cabana Boy were the best performing U.S. pair in the 5-year old division. They placed 10th in the consolation finals after just missing out on a berth in the individual finals with a 15th place in the qualification round.

Hilltop Farm's Cabana Boy performed a decent first round, but the horse was not really settled in the ring. Though the trot work showed good power, Cabana Boy was not enough through the back and soft on the bit. The contact was unsteady throughout the ride which resulted in a lack of activity from behind both in trot and canter. The hind legs should have moved more under the body instead of out. The walk was good with one hoof overtrack but has more potential. They scored solid 7+ marks for gaits and submission and their total score of 7.42 placed them 15th.

Unfortunately, in the consolation finals the contact issues with the bit were not resolved and though there were great moments in the ride, such as the extended canter and the trot with long reins where the horse chews on the bit, the judges scored the pair 7.56 in total which ranked them in tenth place.

It's has been busy times for Christopher Hickey. Right after winning the individual gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he flew back to Maryland, U.S.A for a two-day stopover at Hilltop Farm before heading to Germany to join Cabana Boy on their newest adventure: competing at the 2007 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Verden. Hickey headed to Ulla Salzgeber's stable in Bad Worishofen in South Germany for some final training and fine-tuning of his horse before traveling to the World Championships up north in Germany.

Because of the Pan American Games, Hickey's preparation of Cabana Boy for the Championships was not ideal. It showed in the contact issues with the bit which unfortunately covered up the horse's athletic ability and potential in the show ring. Fortunately, the pair will get their rematch at the 2007 USEF/Markel National Young Dressage Horse Championships in Kentucky in September, where they can prove their top class once again.

Nevertheless, Christopher was very happy to have competed in Verden. "It's been great," Hickey said. "He's such a fantastic horse." Hickey aims at bringing Cabana Boy all the way up to FEI level and the World Young Horse Championships were an ideal stepping stone to achieve international recognition along the way. "We train our horses to upper level and it's good to represent U.S. breeding here in Europe with this Contucci son. I'm very thankful to Jane MacElree for giving me this opportunity."

Cabana Boy is bred by Douglas and Shannon Langer of Maple Run Farm and owned by Hilltop Farm in Colora, Maryland. The bay American warmblood gelding is by Contucci out of a Bordeaux dam.