Tag Archives: Sarah Lockman

*Featured/Spotlights, Dressage

2021 AGDF to Host 2020 Lövsta Future Challenge and Summit Farm Future Challenge Series Finals

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Sarah Lockman and Balia were the high score of the qualifiers in the Summit Farm Prix St. Georges Future Challenge Series. ©️Susan Stickle.

Wellington, FL – March 26, 2020 – Adequan® Global Dressage Festival announces that the $15,000 Lövsta Future Challenge/Young Horse Grand Prix series and the $10,000 Summit Farm Future Challenge/Young Horse Prix St. Georges series, both slated to hold finals during the final week of the 2020 AGDF, have been postponed until the first week of the 2021 AGDF due to the cancellation of the final two weeks of the circuit because of coronavirus. After a highly successful inaugural season of 10 qualifying weeks, the horse and rider combinations have been determined for the Finals.

“While we are disappointed to have to cancel the last two weeks of AGDF and postpone these series finals, we look forward to hosting them as a kick-off to the 2021 AGDF,” said AGDF Director of Sport Thomas Baur. “We were thrilled to see how popular both of the series were and that so many riders, trainers, and owners appreciated the opportunity afforded for their up-and-coming horses.”

The $15,000 Lövsta Future Challenge/Young Horse Grand Prix series idea, originally set up by Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén and Louise Nathorst in its home country of Sweden as a talent development program, is for horses age eight to ten years old at the Grand Prix level. They competed in the FEI Intermediate II test.

During the 2020 AGDF, Lövsta also announced the launch of a new charitable initiative to benefit the local charity, Friends of Palm Beach. Lövsta supported the charity and its mission by donating $250 for every ride in the series throughout the circuit, ending up with a total of $8,500 given to the charity.

“For us at Lövsta, sustainability has been a strong driving force,” said owner Antonia Ax:son Johnson. “Our slogan is ‘Save the earth. It’s the only planet with horses.’ To underline our commitment, we decided to support the charitable organization Friends of Palm Beach with $250 for every entry in the Lövsta Future Challenge this season. This fine group of people clean the Palm Beach beaches from trash to support the beautiful creatures of the sea and keep our beaches clean and environmentally safe. The beauty of our ocean and the beauty of our horses align.”

Friends of Palm Beach is a 501(c)3 organization that cleans the beaches of Palm Beach regularly to remove incoming plastics, trash, and unnatural debris and to educate the community on the effects of this on our environment and marine life. They partner with other non-profit job placement programs to help end the cycle of homelessness while also helping to end the cycle of trash in our ocean.

The popularity of the $10,000 Summit Farm Future Challenge/Young Horse Prix St. Georges series for horses seven to nine years old was evident at the 2020 AGDF, and many of the best young small tour horses competed for a chance to qualify for the Finals.

One of the qualifiers was Pan American Games team and individual gold medalist Sarah Lockman (USA), who is also the professional rider for Summit Farm. She and Balia were multiple winners during the series and scored the highest of all the qualifiers with a 73.603% at AGDF 6.

Lockman said that the series fits perfectly with the business model and goals for Summit Farm.

“We start horses young and develop them into top international horses,” she said. “It’s meant a lot for us to support this series that is specific to seven- to nine-year-old horses. We hope to see more of this and want to provide an incentive for trainers and riders to put these top young horses out there.

“It was a great thing to offer prize money to a class outside of the CDI,” she continued. “Trainers and riders can enter a horse in this series and get notoriety. In Europe, young horses get a lot of praise and press, with financial gain by showing young horses and developing them. To support that idea in the U.S. and give that incentive and reward meant a lot to us at Summit Farm. We are very proud to be a part of this series at AGDF.”

The 2021 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival will be held on January 6 – March 28. For more information on AGDF, please visit www.GlobalDressageFestival.com.

*Featured/Spotlights, Dressage

Sarah Lockman Crowns a Bumper Week of Wins in AGDF Week Six

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Sarah Lockman and Balia. ©️Susan Stickle.

Wellington, FL – February 16, 2020 – National dressage competition continued apace in week six of the 2020 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida.

Three combinations picked up tickets for the Future Challenge developing horse finals — which take place in the main Stadium Arena in week 12 — two in the small tour class presented by Summit Farm, and one at big tour, which is sponsored by Lövsta. The lucky recipients at small tour were Sarah Lockman and Heather Blitz, with the big tour qualifying slot going to Jan Ebeling.

It was a bumper week for USA rider Lockman and her mount Balia. The pair topped Saturday’s open Prix St. Georges with over 74%, and followed up with a win in the Future Challenge class at the level on Sunday with 73.603%. The eight-year-old German-bred mare by Belissimo M out of a Florestan dam is owned by the class sponsor, Summit Farm. Lockman bolstered her success by also topping the USEF developing Prix St. Georges class riding her own horse, Dehavilland, by Diamond Hit, to another plus-73% score.

“Balia’s still young and green and we missed a couple of the changes, so if it was a clean test, I think it could have been over 75%,” said Lockman, who is based in California and is spending the season in Wellington for the first time. “It’s been a really great week for both my younger horses. Dehavilland needs ring experience, but I’m really proud of Balia, who we bought from Helgstrand here in Wellington when she was five. She’d only been here about two days.

“Balia’s been a lovely addition to our string of horses,” she added. “She’s also part of the USEF developing program, so they have their eye on her. And I’ve owned Dehavilland since a foal, so it’s really special to have seen him come up from an ugly duckling with a big head and ears — his nickname is Donkey — to his score from today which puts him at number one in the country.

“It’s been a really great start to the season,” added Lockman, who debuted the 10-year-old stallion First Apple, her Pan American Games individual gold medal ride, at grand prix level the previous week, scoring over 70%. “It’s especially good for the young horses to have a horse show available every weekend here. They spend an hour doing their thing, then we go back to my trainer Scott Hassler’s barn and the horses go back out in the field.

“I feel really lucky,” concluded the 31-year-old. “Not many riders have such a pipeline of horses coming through. I feel fortunate to have Summit Farm so behind me in my career and all the help I’ve had from Scott, who has been there since the very beginning with these horses. I feel like I’m set up for the future.”

For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.

*Featured/Spotlights, Dressage, Pan American Games

Americans Turn the Tables to Take Dressage Individual Gold and Bronze

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(L to R) – silver medallist Tina Irwin (CAN), gold medallist Sarah Lockman (USA), and bronze medallist Jennifer Baumert (USA). (FEI/Daniel Apuy, Getty images)

It was Team USA on the top step of the podium when Sarah Lockman steered the lovely chestnut stallion, First Apple, to clinch Individual Dressage gold at the Pan American Games 2019 taking place at the Army Equitation School at La Molina in Lima, Peru. A superb score of 78.980 in the Intermediate l Freestyle clinched it for the 30-year-old who pipped Canada’s Tina Irwin and Laurencio by just over a single percentage point, while Lockman’s team-mate, Jennifer Baumert, claimed the bronze with her gelding Handsome.

This was America’s ninth individual Dressage title in the history of equestrian sport at the Pan American Games, which dates back to Buenos Aires (ARG) in 1951. And Lockman made it a US three-in-a-row as compatriot, Steffen Peters, posted a consecutive double at Guadalajara (MEX) in 2011 and Toronto (CAN) in 2015.

Both Small Tour and Big Tour combinations compete at the Pan Ams, and the Small Tour riders were first to battle it out in the Intermediate l Freestyle. Just four horse-and-rider partnerships contested the higher-level Big Tour class that followed, but the medals were decided by the biggest scores on the day, regardless of the category, and it was Small Tour contenders Lockman, Irwin, and Baumert who posted those to claim the top three steps of the podium.

The USA was never eligible for one of the two Olympic team qualifying spots on offer because they sent just three Small Tour riders to Lima. They already had their Tokyo ticket in the bag after claiming silver at last year’s FEI World Equestrian Games™ on home soil in Tryon (USA) and were quite happy to settle for silver in the team competition won by Canada on Monday.

But they were gunning for the gold and they got it, thanks to a stunning performance from team debutante Lockman and her sensational nine-year-old Dutch stallion which is owned by Gerry Ibanez. Judges Thomas Kessler (GER), Mary Seefried (AUS), Eduard De Wolff Van Westerrode (NED), and Janet Lee Foy (USA) all put the American first, while Canada’s Brenda Minor placed her second, and the winner achieved high marks for Degree of Difficulty from all five judges, including a nine from Kessler.

“I’m over the moon excited about it!” Lockman said. “It’s everything I ever dreamed of and wanted, and I’m so proud of my horse and grateful to everybody who helped me get here and the whole support staff that have been here helping me at my first ever Games experience – it’s been truly unforgettable!”

Irwin and Laurencio, members of Canada’s gold-medal-winning team on Monday, put a strong 77.780 on the board to hold second spot, and when Baumert and Handsome slotted into third on 75.755 then all three medal contenders had an anxious wait while the Big Tour foursome strutted their stuff in the Grand Prix Freestyle. And Dominican Republic’s Yvonne Losos De Muñiz put in a strong challenge here with her 14-year-old mare, Aquamarijn, but when the scoreboard showed 75.430 then she just missed out on the podium and the top three wouldn’t change.

US Chef d’Equipe, Debbie McDonald, who with the great mare Brentina was double-gold medallist at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg (CAN) in 1999, couldn’t hold back her tears of delight. Lockman described the motivation her team leader has been providing throughout these Games.

“Debbie has been sending us some really amazing quotes and I think I’m going to have to have one put up in my barn and on my mirror…. she told us ‘you are what you believe, and preparation is everything and you can really do it, and to work to the very last moment for it.’ I’m so thankful to her for the leadership, and to my coach Scott Hassler for his encouraging words leading up to this which have helped me handle the pressure and figure my way through my first Games!” said the new Pan-American individual Dressage champion.

Results https://online.equipe.com/en/competitions/32361.

by Louise Parkes