THERMAL, Calif.--Stella Wasserman on Myla won the $40,000, 1.45m Open Classic at Desert International Horse Park on Sunday, Dec. 7.
Stella Wasserman on Myla (Photo by High Desert Sport Photo)Desert Holiday 1 was only Stella Wasserman and Myla’s fourth show together.
“She’s my type of ride,” said Wasserman of the mare previously competed to great success by world number one Kent Farrington. “She’s small, typey, hot, and that’s definitely what I like in a horse. With every horse you first start off with, you have to figure them out and learn their ins and outs, but she’s a great horse to work with so figuring her out is very pleasant.”
“My goal today was to kind of just keep forming that partnership with her and figuring her out and learning what makes her tick,” she said.
“She’s obviously an amazing horse coming from a great person and program, and I’m very lucky to be able to have a horse like this,” Wasserman said. “I’m just figuring her out and forming a partnership and seeing where that takes us!”
FROM THE 44 horse starting field, Wasserman was one of just six entries to qualify for the jump-off over the course set by Alan Wade and Colm Quinn.
Sunday was the first jump-off in competition for Wasserman and Myla together, but with the blessing of her trainer, McLain Ward, who was also in the jump-off, Wasserman decided to go for it.
“When I walked in, McLain had just gone, and he said that I could give it a go!” said Wasserman. “I’m competitive, so I like to always go for it. She’s so seasoned when it comes to going fast. She kind of knows everything you want her to do. She makes it easy.”
As the penultimate pair to jump, Wasserman, 20, finished clean in 33.742 seconds to move to the top of the leaderboard and ultimately clinch the win.
Another young rider, 18-year-old Avery Griffin on Oh My Star van Strytem finished second in a time of 34.673 seconds, Karrie Rufer on Stern dei Folletti was third in 35.406 and and Ward on Jordan Molga M finished fourth in 35.458.
