Equitation competition at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show kicked off Friday afternoon in the Stonelea Ring with the ASPCA Maclay where Beata Buckley bested a class of 24 entries aboard Daniel Ighani’s Northface to capture the win as she gears up for her last year of eligibility in the equitation finals this fall.
Beata Buckley and Northface. Photo by Phelps Sports
The first round tested riders over fences with two tight rollbacks and a double combination where the top 12 horse-and-rider combinations returned to the second round for a flat phase. Buckley and the 9-year-old Holsteiner gelding proved flawless after two phases to capture the victory while James Faloni and Acido 7 were awarded the second place ribbon and Alivia Kohus claimed third with Cristallo’s Carlchen P.
“He is actually my hunter,” said Buckley of the grey gelding. “I have an equitation horse and I’m doing him in two other classes later, so we decided that I would do [Northface] in the Maclay because I have already qualified [for Regionals].”
The class was the perfect opportunity for Buckley to prepare as the Maclay Regionals will also be held at the Kentucky Horse Park during the Kentucky National Horse Show. Competing there against qualified riders from Region 4, Buckley will vie for a spot in the renowned ASPCA Maclay Championships at the National Horse Show, held in the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena.
“He jumps really big, so I was trying to get him to jump more like an equitation horse and it needs to be a little more forward. The only thing I was a little worried about was my last two jumps [going away from the ingate] because he’s really slow and once he feels like he’s done he will just walk, so I really galloped him past the ingate. He jumped the last jump pretty big,” she shared.
RESULTS
ASPCA Maclay
Place / Horse / Rider
1. Northface / Beata Buckley
2. Acido 7 / James Faloni
3. Cristallo’s Carlchen P / Alivia Kohus
4. Revero / Isabela De Sousa
5. Tiesto / Nicolas Gamboa
6. Cooley Nothing Better B / Chloe White
7. Charleston / Olivia Darnell
8. Casino Royal / Catherine Moorehead
9. Carrilou / Sara Hearn