WELLINGTON, Fla.--Fiona Howard on Solitaer 40 won two Grade II classes on Saturday, March 11 at the Global Dressage Festival.
Riding Kate Shoemaker's 16-year-old gelding, Howard, 24, scored 72.5% in her firsr international show on Solitaer 40
Howard is also coached by Shoemaker, who enjoyed stellar success with the gelding since 2015, including team bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics.
“I went in the ring today wanting to improve on everything from yesterday and today he listened to me so well,” said Howard, who suffers from dystonia, a neuromuscular disease, meaning that her muscles involuntarily contract and twist.
“‘Soli’ belongs to Kate and it’s kind of a funny story,” she said. “I rode ‘Soli’ a little bit last summer while she was at the European Championships and kind of as a joke she said, ‘If you can ride him, you can show him,’ and I thought, ‘OK!’. At the time I needed a horse to ride and of course I said yes.”
HOWARD only began competing in para dressage in 2022, and this year rode in her first competition out of the country, contesting the CPEDI in Doha in February, where she finished first or second in all three tests on her own horse, Jagger.
“It’s all been a whirlwind,” she said. “Soli has such a big heart and he just wants to do everything right. He’s got a huge personality, he’s super loving but goofy at the same time. I just have a lot of fun on him and I’m really grateful that Kate allows me to ride him, and he’s taught me so much; he’s such a great teacher. Before I competed him, Kate said to go out there and have fun. He’s a blast.”
Shoemaker herself continued to make strides with her new horse, the 12-year-old Ghandi, securing her second Grade IV victory in as many days at the pair’s first international outing.
Shoemaker, 35, logged 71.442% on the gelding in the individual test.
Grade I rider Roxanne Trunnell, 37, a Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist, built on her previous day’s good performance to produce yet another impressive test on Saturday.
She rode the 7-year-old stallion Fortunato H20 to score 72.43%.
“Being that he’s a stallion, we are still working on keeping him more in and with me the whole ride and it seems to be working,” said Trunnell, whose para journey started after she suffered swelling on the brain and a stroke following a suspected infected mosquito bite in 2009.
“I really liked the stretch down in my test,” she said. “I’ve been working hard on getting him to accept that. Looking towards tomorrow’s freestyle, I want to keep working on keeping him steady and calm and the same.”
Trunnell only began competing the Oldenburg gelding less than a year ago, when he was just 6, but the pair have won eight out of their 12 international starts together and helped the US team to bronze at the Para Championships in Herning, Denmark, in August 2022.
On Friday Rebecca Hart won the Grade III team test on Fortune 500, finishing second on El Corona Texel, and on Saturday, in the individual test, she again dominated with Fortune 500, but Elle Woolley moved up a place to place second and relegate El Corona Texel into third.
Hart and Fortune 500,scored an unassailable 70.444% for the win.
Despite an error of course, 55-year-old Cynthia Screnci won the Grade V individual test, adding another blue ribbon to their win in the team test this week.
She rode Sir Donnerhall gelding Sir Chipoli to 68.579%.