TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.--Callie Schott on Garant returned to international competition to win the $117,000 CSIO3* Grand Prix on Saturday, July 26 during Nations Cup week at Traverse City Horse Shows.
Callie Schott on Garant (Photo by Megan Giese Media)Schott was sidelined for nearly seven months after an injury and subsequent shoulder surgery kept her from riding.
Nations Cup week in Traverse City, the site of her and Garant’s first five-star grand prix victory in 2022, was her return to international competition.
“This is great for our whole team because we’ve come off quite a break,” said Schott. “Garant loves it here. I think he feels at home, and this is our first FEI grand prix since December. It was great for the morale of the whole team to have this win.”
From a starting field of 42, six advanced to the jump-off over the course designed by Nick Granat.
Going first in the jump-off, Shott was clean in 36.45 seconds, to set a time to beat that no one could catch.
Irish Olympian Darragh Kenny, 17th in the world ranking, was the only other clean in the jump-off, finishing in 37.67 to place second on Amsterdam 27.
Canadian Olympian Erynn Ballard on Fave d’Authuit had the fastest four-fault round of 37.28 seconds to place third.
“BEING IN there with people like Darragh and Erynn—they’re so competitive and fast—it was an honor to be able to ride against them and be faster for once,” said Schott. “I ride the best when I’m having fun, and John Madden told me to go out there, have fun and try to enjoy it.”
Garant, a horse that was produced by Dutch rider Willam Greve to win the five-year-old Young Horse World Championship in Lanaken,, Belgium in 2016, was previously ridden by Schott’s trainer and two-time U.S. Olympic team gold medalist Beezie Madden.
“I’ve had Garant for quite a while, and it’s been a wonderful partnership; we have really grown together,” said Schott. “He’s been my first horse to compete at this level, and he’s taught me a lot."
“Garant is an amazing double-vertical jumper, so I went as fast as I could across the middle and hoped it would show up," she said. "I probably could have done one less to the last, but I was confident I had been fast enough already.”
In addition to the grand prix win, Schott also won the Leading Lady Rider Award.
