 From the Chronicle of the Horse:
Kingpin Rules First Years at Devon Horse Show While Amanda Steege has been a regular at Devon for several years, this year marked Kingpin’s first time in the Dixon Oval. The 6-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Carolus II—Mirkowitz) made his debut a winning one, clinching the first year green championship. “He was just so relaxed the entire weekend. This is his first time showing at Devon. You can really never expect exactly how they’re going to act here. Some horses come and seem like they eat up the activity and the attention, and it makes them better and rise to the occasion, and some get nervous, and it goes the other way. For him, I think he really loved it here. Each day he felt better and more relaxed,” said Steege, 37. “Bruno” is owned by Jimmy and Ellen Toon and lives with them in Wellington, Fla. and South Salem, N.Y., but Steege rode him briefly as a 4-year-old, then picked up showing him again last year. Steege, of Bedminster, N.J., was proud of Bruno’s win in the handy class on Tuesday, and she hopes to continue on with him this year. “I’m a professional rider, so I’m supposed to be able to ride all styles of horse, but there’s certain horses you get on that just feel like you were made for each other, and the style of riding that I like to do is the style he likes as well, which is just a soft, relaxed, trusting ride. It’s never really felt like work for me on him,” she said. |