Quartet of Wins for Allison Gerlt at World Equestrian Center Dressage in February
February 28, 2023 - Ocala, FL
Photo by Q2 Photography
Photo by Q2 Photography
Photo by Q2 Photography
The back-to-back Dressage XIII (February 22-24, 2023) and Dressage XIIII (February 25-26, 2023) USEF/USDF-rated shows at World Equestrian Center – Ocala proved to be successful for local trainer Allison Gerlt, who won all four of her tests with her two horses, Sir Lommel and Lavatijn Van Kairos. The show — sponsored by Hampton Green Farm and Discover Dressage — held classes from Training Level to FEI Grand Prix and was an official qualifying competition for the 2022 Great American/USDF Regional Championships.
Gerlt rode two Grand Prix Freestyle tests on the 16-year-old Sir Lommel (‘Lonnie’), gaining 72.15% in the first, and boosting their score to 73.125% in the second. She has had the gelding by Sir Donnerhall for almost a decade and through Juniors and Young Riders, but it has taken time — and a move from her native Illinois to Florida in 2019 — to figure out how to bring out the best in him.
“The last time I did Lonnie’s freestyle was in 2019 at the Festival of Champions — before we figured out what works for him in life — and he got 59% or something horrendous,” recalled the 27-year-old, who trains with Belinda Nairn-Wertman and Anne Gribbons. “The other tests went pretty well, but he doesn’t love music. Now we can use the soundproof ear bonnets, and he needs a quiet mind to think everything through.
“He’s a very typical Sir Donnerhall, in that they’re very inconsistent but when they show up, they fully show up,” she continued. “His FEI scores were pretty tumultuous, and there hadn’t been a lot of consistency until I moved to Florida and nailed down what he needed.”
It turns out that Lonnie’s desired program consists of Gerlt getting up at 4:30 a.m. daily — to feed him before all the other horses at 6 a.m. and ride him first at 7:30 a.m. In the summer it’s even earlier.
“We first did big tour in December 2021 and spent all last year doing as many as we could that he was ready for,” she explained. “Belinda has really helped him come out of his grand prix shell and now he feels stronger and better than ever.
“With his hectic and unreliable past [in the freestyle] it was unnerving for me to come to WEC — Ocala, as I didn’t want a bad score on his record, but you also need experience — it’s a toss-up. Now that he’s confident in his own skin, he came out in that freestyle in a positive and exciting way,” added Gerlt, who rode to a Terry Ciotti Gallo compilation of Vanessa Carlton’s song A Thousand Miles, Katy Perry, Coldplay and Bruno Mars.
Her small tour horse Lavatijn Van Kairos (‘Lava’) was imported after Nairn-Wertman found him in the Netherlands. He arrived at Gerlt’s barn on February 20, 2022 — her 26th birthday. At WEC, the seven-year-old gelding by Expression logged two wins at Prix St. Georges level, with 68.382% and 69.412%.
“He’s very powerful and because he’s so young he thinks he knows what he’s doing, but he throws everything at the wall and in the tests, it turned into tension moments,” explained Gerlt, who is based just down the road from WEC — Ocala in Golden Hills. “Lava’s 17.1 hands high and a massive mover, so handling all that at such a young age is daunting for him and hard to manage as a rider — but it’s such a rush.
“He was the best birthday present ever,” she expressed. “He has so much to give, and we let him go at his own pace, but also teach him the things he needs to know to be a future FEI horse. As much ambition as I feel in him, I think he could get fried as he gives everything every ride. It’s such a fine line between protecting and pushing them.”
Another locally based rider, Alejandro Salazar, picked up a win and three second places with his two horses. He rode Janice Dulak’s six-year-old gelding Finnegan RF by Finest to top honors in Saturday’s Second Level Test 1, beating the 12 entrants across all divisions with 71% — 3.4% percentage points ahead of the field.
Salazar, who is a jumping and dressage rider and USDF Gold Medalist, owns Pura Vida Sporthorse — so named for his home country of Costa Rica. He claimed two second places at First Level on his other horse, Eric Scott Robinson’s 13-year-old Will Scarlett, who is by Werbellin and was bred at the University of Massachusetts.
Janine Little produced three wins from three starts, including two on Prairie Sportpony Farm’s 14.3-hand Zothens Colani, a chestnut stallion by Cosmopolitan NRW. He scored over 70% at First Level, with his top score of the show — 73.4% — coming at Training Level. Little also rode Elexis Ortlieb’s Westphalian gelding For Fun at Third Level, winning Test 3 with 69.188%.
Dressage competition at World Equestrian Center – Ocala continues with a USEF/USDF-rated competition, presented by Hampton Green Farm and Discover Dressage, on March 8-12, 2023, which includes the Florida Youth Dressage Championships. For full horse show results, visit www.foxvillage.com.