Lindsay Kellock Sets Course for Tokyo after Double Victory at 2021 CDI Ocala

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2021 CDI Ocala

Canadian Lindsay Kellock and Enterprise Farm Equestrian's Sebastien have clearly set their course for Tokyo after claiming a double victory at the inaugural 2021 CDI Ocala at the World Equestrian Center and topping a field of Grand Prix riders, dominated by her Canadian team colleagues.

Inaugural CDI Ocala

The World Equestrian Center Dressage III CDI3* wrapped up competition on Sunday, April 18, with the final classes for CDI and national competition. This was the first international dressage event hosted at the brand new, mega size World Equestrian Center which has set a new standard for horse sport in the competition world.

On the final day of competition, Lindsay Kellock (CAN) and Sebastien captured the win in the Grand Prix Special CDI3*, their second win of the week after also winning Friday’s Grand Prix CDI3*. Kevin Kohmann (GER) and Five Star swept the Small Tour with a third win in the Intermediate 1 Freestyle CDI3*.

Kellock Reigns Supreme

Kellock and the 15-year-old Rhinelander gelding Sebastien (by Sandro Hit x Fidermark) have found their form in Florida.

In the Ocala Grand Prix Special on Sunday they received a winning score of 72.021%. Second place went to Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu (CAN) and All In (by Tango x Damiro) with 71.936%. Jessica Howington (USA) finished third on Cavalia (by Sir Donnerhall x Gribaldi) with 71.447%.

Kellock twice in the winner's circle in Ocala

The show calendar of 2021 puts a high emphasis on the Grand Prix Special, which is longer, more technical, and offers more challenging movements. Points scored in the GP Special will counts towards the team medal ranking at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo and riders are practicing the programme this spring.

Kellock likes riding the Special as it highlights her horse's strengths.

“The pirouettes to the one-tempis down centerline, that’s a difficult move,” Kellock agreed. “It’s just overall longer, so it’s harder for them to keep their power throughout. For this horse, it’s a good test because his strengths are his passage and his extended trot, and there is a lot of that in this test. He likes this test.”

Kellock felt that Sebastien improved from Friday’s grand prix and noted, “Sebastien again brought his ‘a’ game and tried his heart out for me. I just could not be happier. We had some great passage today and good pirouettes. My overall feeling was that I had more power in this test than I did in the grand prix. That showed in the score.”

Sebastien is a “very, very confident horse,” described Kellock. “He loves attention. He doesn’t always show it, but he always wants attention. My manager Meghan Donovan, is his number one caregiver, and he loves her to death. She is constantly giving him attention in every way. He’s a people horse for sure.”

Course for Tokyo

Kellock was thrilled with her results this week in her first time at World Equestrian Center – Ocala.

“I think it’s an incredible facility,” she said. “The stabling is so nice, and the air-conditioning is a huge bonus. It’s also just great exposure for our horses to be able to compete in an indoor environment. We don’t have that a lot in North America, so that was great to know that my horse can come into an indoor and perform. I can’t wait to come back here and compete again. To be at WEC for the first time and win the first CDI here is pretty special.”

For Kellock Ocala has been a stop-over in between a highly successful season at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington and on her way up to her New York base with a final halt at CDI Tryon in May. Tryon will be the last qualifying competition for the pair before Canadian Olympic team nominations will be announced in June.

The pair is a strong contender for Canadian Olympic team selection. They are the second highest ranked Canadian duo on the FEI World Dressage Ranking and in Wellington they achieved top three placings in four big tour starts, winning the Grand Prix Special on a score of 73.319% in February.

Small Tour Sweep for Kohmann and Five Star

Kohmann and Five Star danced their way to a score of 75.350% in the Intermediate 1 Freestyle 3*. This marked their 14th win together, 11 of which have come in the 2021 winter season. This was their fourth freestyle win, and the music and choreography were compliments of Kohmann’s good friend and student, Jody Stoudenmier.

“She was nice enough to give me the music when we needed the music to qualify for Regionals, so that we could ride it one time,” explained Kohmann. “The music suited the horse so well that we just kept it. It has worked out fantastically.

“I just made some small adjustments,” he continued about the freestyle and choreography. “It suits him because it’s big music, plus everything suits this horse. When he moves, I can control the tempo and speed of it. He is very adjustable. It’s nice and easy with him to do.”

Sunday’s freestyle score is not the highest they have received because, as Kohmann noted, “I tried to do some bold things that didn’t quite work out.”

Declares for U.S.A.

This final win together at the show was bittersweet for Kohmann, who teared up while listening to his native country’s anthem for the final time while riding for Germany. Kohmann, who is 32 and originally from Pansdorf, Germany, recently received citizenship for the United States and will ride under the USA flag in future competitions.

“I’m happy we won today, and I got to hear it one more time,” he said. “Thank you, Five Star.”

This class also marked the end of the Small Tour for Five Star. The plan is to move into national Intermediate-2 classes and then grand prix tests.

“We want to do it the right way and don’t want to rush into it,” said Kohmann. “At home I can already do it, but as we all know, doing it at home and doing it at the show is a big difference.”

Second place in the freestyle went to Anna Marek (USA) riding Felissirana, an 11-year-old KWPN mare by Belissimo M x Prestige VDL owned by Alise Carrico, with a score of 74.975%. Sarah Lockman (USA) rode Balia, a nine-year-old Westphalian mare by Belissimo x Florestan I owned by Summit Farm, to third place and 73.983%.

Other Winners

The champion of the Amateur Tour of the CDI was Taryn Hartnett riding Edward, while Cynthia Davila and Fayvel were reserve champions. Jillian Sheppard and Bahai took the championship in the Young Rider Tour, and Brooke Mancusi rode Grand Amour to the reserve championship. Nicole Scarpino and Lambada 224 were the Under 25 Tour champions, and Kerrigan Gluch with Vaquero HGF won the reserve championship.

The World Equestrian Center Dressage III CDI3* has concluded, but international dressage competition will return to World Equestrian Center – Ocala with the World Equestrian Center Dressage IV CDI-W on October 21-24, 2021, and World Equestrian Center Dressage V CDI-W on December 9-12, 2021.