WELLINGTON, Fla.--Anna Marek on Fire Fly was the unanimous winner of all five judges in the Grand Prix Special CDI3* on Saturday, Jan. 13 at the Global Dressage Festival.
Anna Marek on Fire Fly (Photo by Susan Stickle)Despite a two-hour storm delay mid-way through, the day’s marquee class produced some pleasing performances.
Susan Page on Harmony''s V-Plus, the youngest horse in the class, placed second.
Harrmony's V-Plus, an Oldenburg stallion, was competing in only his second ever CDI at big tour and finished with a new personal best in the Special of 69.234%.
Pape has produced him since he was a youngster.
From first draw in the class, seven-time Swedish Olympian Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén placed third on Hyatt, scoring 68.83%.
This was also the horse’s second big tour CDI, and her first run through the Special in international company.
Marek also topped Thursday’s qualifying Grand Prix class on Fire Fly, with whom she won a Pan American Games team gold medal in the fall of 2023.
“HE WAS A little more tense than I’m used to in the Freestyle,” said Marek, who is based near Ocala, Fla. “He had a giant spook in the same corner that my other horse Fyvel did. I thought it was the fern, then I was thinking to myself, maybe they’re not afraid of the fern; I’m afraid of the fern. Then we got our flow, and then he was great.”
Marek’s tactics for keeping the spooky gelding happy include him living out 24/7 at her home farm.
“I call it pampered outdoor living,” said the 34-year-old. “But Fire Fly’s such a tense horse that as soon as he started living outside with another horse, it completely changed his riding. And he adapts no problem to being in a stall at horse shows. It’s been so great for him.”
Marek took over the ride in 2021, despite being pregnant, and Fire Fly turned out to be one of the horses she continued to ride until late on.
She then picked him up again in December 2021, a month after her daughter was born.
“When he first came to me, he would over sit and get scared in the piaffe," said Marek. "I spent a long time never putting the piaffe on the spot and I make sure I never let him feel trapped again. Sometimes he’ll still over-sit, but he doesn’t panic like he used to. It’s taken him time to realize he’s never going to get in trouble.”
Her goal this year is to be selected to be among the U.S. squad of riders to go to Europe for the summer, somewhere she has never competed before.
