Wellington, FL – March 24, 2016 – Louise Serio, of Kennett Square, PA, rode SS Telling Secrets to the championship title in the Perfect Products Pre-Green Hunter Level 2 (3’3″) this morning in the Rost Arena. Serio and the seven-year-old Trakehner gelding topped the under saddle and one of the four over fences classes on their way to the championship win.
The pair also earned a fifth-place ribbon in another over fences class. Heather Hays and Stacey Shore Werner’s Sebastian took home the reserve title, placing first, third, and fourth over fences. Sebastian, a six-year-old Holsteiner gelding, also earned a fourth-place ribbon in the under saddle.
Rain clouds circled around the show grounds for much of the morning, but veteran rider Louise Serio was not daunted by the potential for bad weather. Despite some windy conditions, Serio and SS Telling Secrets performed consistently well.
“Today he got a little bit green in the first round and over-jumped some. In the second round he went really nicely,” Serio commented.
Serio was pleased to have a successful first outing with new mount SS Telling Secrets. She plans to take things slowly with the young gelding. “He hasn’t shown much before; he’s only shown four other times in his life,” she explained.
SS Telling Secrets is indeed a very new horse for the team at Derbydown Farm. The gelding was only purchased one week ago. “We just bought him,” Serio commented. “We bought him through Kim and Andy Marone. He had only shown one other time here at WEF, which we got to see, and then we purchased him just last week.”
Serio expressed a lot of excitement about the new acquisition and is enthusiastic about the young gelding’s future. “We are very excited. He’s gone very nicely so far!” Serio said.
“He has an outstanding disposition,” Serio remarked. “He’s just really, really quiet, and we are very happy. He’s been really pleasant since the purchase.”
SS Telling Secrets is a stunning mover, which is what convinced Serio to purchase the gelding. “He’s just a gorgeous mover,” Serio stated. “He won the under saddle in this division yesterday, and I think he will continue to do well in the under saddle classes wherever he goes.”
Serio plans to continue showing SS Telling Secrets in the Pre-Green Hunter divisions. “I plan to gear him up to show in the Pre-Green incentive classes,” she added. Serio also explained that the gelding was purchased for amateur rider Meredith Lipke and that she will be taking over the reins and begin showing with him very soon.
The eleventh week of competition at the 2016 Winter Equestrian Festival continues on Friday with the $35,000 Illustrated Properties 1.45m Classic featured in the International Ring in the morning and the 9th Annual George Morris Excellence in Equitation Championships in the evening. For more information and full results, please visit www.PBIEC.com.