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Monday, May 19, 2008

Amanda Johnson and Pip Are Intermediaire Victors at Lamplight CDI***
By Lynndee Kemmet for DressageDaily.com

There was no doubt who ruled the CDI Intermediaire competition at the 2008 Lamplight CDI*** after Amanda Johnson and Pip took wins in both the Intermediaire I and the Intermediaire Freestyle.

"This weekend, he was right there for me. Everything I asked him to do, he was there. He was really great. He's come such a long way and he's such fun to ride," Johnson said of her partner. The pair hadn't competed in a CDI since doing Dressage at Devon last fall, basically because, as Johnson said, "I didn't have the finances to go to Florida."

Hence, she expressed great appreciation to Lamplight for hosting the CDI. "It's such a beautiful show grounds and it was a wonderful competition. It's so great to have this for riders like me who don't have the resources to go to Florida and do the CDIs there. Also, with the gas prices being so high, it's hard to travel. So this is wonderful," she also thanked those who sponsor the CDI classes, especially Tempel Farms for sponsoring the classes she won. "The sponsors deserve credit."

Johnson took her Intermediaire wins with Pip, a 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding sired by Pik Solo and owned and bred by Barrie Anderson. Horse and rider share something in common – both were born in Iowa City, Iowa. Johnson has been working with Pip for five years when he came to her at the age of nine as a "very naughty Training Level horse." She saw potential in the gelding and said "he just needed a job. Once he got one, he came up the levels quickly."

"He's not at Grand Prix yet, but he'll get there. We have almost all of it together, perhaps by next year," Johnson said. Although a native of Iowa, Johnson relocated last fall to Milwaukee after her husband got a job there. For her, that meant giving up her own barn and relocating her training business. It wasn't terribly difficult because she had been a working student with George Williams for two years, and part of that time with him was before he left Tempel Farms, which is based nearby in Illinois. "So I knew people in this area and was able to pick up some clients," Johnson said. In addition to Williams, Johnson has trained for many years with Conrad Schumacher and continues to train with him when he does clinics in the area.