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Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Cornerstone Events’ L.A. Winter Dressage 2008

Leslie Morse and Tip Top 962 ‘Hop Over’ from King’s Court to Cornerstone Events’ L.A. Winter Dressage 2008 to take Grand Prix Win
By Lynndee Kemmet for DressageDaily.com

Just a month ago, Grand Prix rider Leslie Morse moved into her new King’s Court in Hidden Hills, California – located a short 20-minute hop from the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Very convenient for Morse who, this past weekend, loaded up Tip Top 962, zipped down the road to the Cornerstone Events’ L.A. Winter Dressage 2008, warmed up in a pouring rain and zipped back home with a blue ribbon from her Grand Prix win.

Morse and Tip Top, a 14-year-old Swedish Warmblood stallion, scored a 70.00 percent in Sunday’s Grand Prix Open to take the win. The day before, they placed third in the Grand Prix Open with a score of 66.25 percent, behind winner Debbie McDonald and Felix and second-place finishers Steffen Peters and Prince. 

"I think it was the best test I’ve ever had," Morse said of her Sunday ride. "Two days in a row, he went completely clean. He piaffed really well. I was really, really happy. He showed amazing changes. The first day, he was a bit stallionish. He had all these mares around in the warm-up and he didn’t want to leave his herd when he went into the arena."

Hence, on Sunday, Morse tried an trick often used in the by the racehorse crowd – she put some Vicks in Tip Top’s nostrils and it worked. "I had never tried that before because I never really had that kind of a problem with him," she said.

Tip Top and Morse Went from the Trails to the L.A. Winter Dressage 2008