February 16, 2024, Myakka City, Florida. The TerraNova Winter Series features four weeks of hunter/jumper competition at TerraNova Equestrian Center, Southwest Florida’s premier equestrian venue, minutes from Lakewood Ranch.
Derbyshire has ridden Otto BH, a 12-year-old Zangersheide stallion owned by Gochman Sport Horse, LLC, for about a year. “I know he’s very fast and careful, so I just went as fast as I could today, and he left them all up,” Derbyshire said. “He always tries his best.
Rupert Winkelmann (GER) and Duverie (Diamant de Semilly x Phenixe Duverie), an 11-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Eickendorf Horses GMBH & Co, were a mere nine-tenths of a second from catching Derbyshire and Otto BH.
Emily Smith and Vera Vita Win the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby
The morning’s feature class in the Magnolia Arena was the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, presented by Laughlin Tanner Group at Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. The first Derby course included 11 jumping efforts and had four high options, with the successful completion of a high option adding one point to the score.
In the first round, Emily Smith (Aiken, South Carolina) and Vera Vita (Larino x Vita Wiwa), a 9-year-old warmblood mare owned by Lorian Peralta-Ramos, earned a 91 after jumping all of the high options. Brooke Cudmore (Bennington, Nebraska) and So They Say (Breitling LS x Kiki), an 11-year-old KWPN owned by Kathleen Rose, were the only other pair to jump the four high options, earning a first-round score of 89.
Robertson designed courses at TerraNova in 2023 and said he is pleased to return to the venue. “I love coming down here, it’s a nice feel,” Robertson said. “You can see the horses like it, the rings are a great size, the footing is always quite great, the jumps and materials are always fun to work with.”