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Local Rider’s “Special FX” at the WIHS
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“We had a great time!” Lisa J. Smith noted with excitement about her first competition at the Washington International Horse Show at the MCI Center. With her 6-year old Belgian/Thoroughbred cross, Special FX, she competed in the Local Adult Jumper Finals Saturday morning.
Ms. Smith has been riding for about thirty (30) years, and, though she has competed before, did not become really serious about it until this past year. Since Special FX, or, as he is known at the barn, “Moose,” was very green when she first started riding him, Ms. Smith started with the basics, trying to “instill a dressage foundation.” She quickly discovered that jumping came very naturally to him. Given his size – an impressive 19 hands – she bypassed the ground poles and went directly to low 2’ jumps. By July, she enlisted the help of local trainer, Michael Friedman, to hone that natural talent and “teach him how to jump correctly.”
Since she began working with Special FX, they have won numerous year-end jumper championships, including the Howard County Horse Show Association’s Schooling Jumper Championship and the Child/Adult Jumper Reserve Championship. The team was also Reserve Champion in both jumper divisions of the Maryland Saddle Association – the Low Schooling and High Schooling – and placed second for the MSA No Faults Perpetual Trophy. They also earned the Washington Bridle Trails’ year-end Low Schooling Jumper Championship. As she pointed out, “This year has been a great year!” This “great year” was topped off by the competition at the Washington International Horse Show. Having competed at the Local Show the weekend of October 20-22, at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center, Ms. Smith and Special FX finished as first alternate, and slid into their qualifying slot when another rider declined to attend Saturday’s event.
The Finals, an AHSA Level 3 event, was comprised of 11 obstacles of heights up to 3’ 6” and spreads up to 4’. Since the show started at 7:00 a.m., one of the more difficult tasks was to get up and out to the MCI Center in time to school her horse. She explained that the WIHS officials had scheduled the schooling time for each division, with her group to school in the arena between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. Having never competed in this type of an arena or set-up, Ms. Smith was a little concerned about Special FX’s reaction. She had little to fear – with his easy-going nature, he took it all in stride. She laughed, “He was more worried with the ponies than the arena itself.” Unfortunately, she had another two (2) hours to wait with him before they competed, which allowed plenty of time for those “butterflies.” But once she got on him and started concentrating on what they needed to do, then the nerves went away.
Despite the benefits of the small warm-up area, which she felt, because of his size, helped him “tighten up and pay attention, . . .he pulled 5 rails . . . he just wasn’t lifting his feet up.” These faults put them last in the division, and though disappointed because she knew he could jump those heights, she was still elated with his overall performance. In reviewing the video of the event, she saw definite improvement, with better movement and engagement of his hind end – areas that she and Friedman had worked at in their training program and were evident in the ride. At the same time, she pointed out that “he was not focusing on the job and not sure what to look at,” which will be key in the next steps of his training – teaching him to be more careful. She reiterated, though, that he has achieved all the goals she had established for him, and the WIHS is not a stopping place, but a place from which to work to the next level.
 Upon being asked about her experience at the WIHS and the MCI Center itself, she noted, “They did a decent job with everything, considering the constraints they were working within.” She only wished the WIHS officials could have arranged for a parking area for the trailers when the horses were brought in. By unloading horses right on 6th Street, there was only a limited availability of both space and time. She pointed out, though, that anytime you compete at horse shows and at different venues, “you just deal with what you’re faced with . . . unless it is something glaring and correctable, it is not worth complaining about.”
She is looking forward to continuing Special FX’s training during the winter, teaching him things he needs to do to get to the next level. By next spring, she expects him to be jumping 4’, and plans on taking him to a few rated shows next year. Her ultimate goal is to get him up to Grand Prix level. In terms of the 2001 WIHS, though, she predicts, “Look for us next year!”
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