Ayoung woman who teaches at a local barn won the CCI two-star division of the Jersey Fresh Three-Day Event at the Horse Park of New Jersey.
Top: Phillip Dutton rides True Luck in the show jumping contest during the Jersey Fresh at the Horse Park of New Jersey on May 9. Left: Peter Barry rides Kilrodan Abbott in the contest. Below: Ashley Kehoe rides Mazetto. PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY Jennie Brannigan, 22, rode Cambalda, whose barn name is Ping, to victory. She’s known locally for teaching riding clinics at Footlight Farm in Roosevelt.
Entries were down at this year’s Jersey Fresh, but unlike the past three years, no horses died during or after the competition. There were no serious rider injuries, either.
After the tragedies in previous years, the cross-country course was redesigned.
“John Williams did a great job [redesigning the course], and he should be commended,” Brannigan said. “The course is a lot better to ride.”
Brannigan said the horses still had to push themselves on the course to make time.
“It was not too punishing on the horse,” she said. “It was a good, safe cross country course.”
She and Ping completed the cross-country course in eight minutes and 58 seconds.
Brannigan also participated in the Professional Riders Organization polocrosse game during the Jersey Fresh. She and teammate Doug Payne won.
“It was a lot of fun,” she said.
Although young, Brannigan has already experienced the highs and lows of eventing. She and her Dutch Warmblood gelding, Cooper, won 19 events in recent years, and were named to this year’s United States Equestrian Team’s High Performance B list. They received the Jacqueline Mars training grant and went to the Bramham CCI threestar in England. Last year, during the show jumping phase of an event at Fair Hill, Md., Cooper suffered a freak accident and had to have surgery. He later required colic surgery and then developed laminitis. Brannigan made the tough decision to have Cooper euthanized in December.
With Ping, owned by Nina Gardner of West Grove, Brannigan plans to compete at other two-star events this spring and summer in hopes of getting to a three-star event in the fall. In addition to training and competing, she finds time each month to travel from her base in West Grove, Pa., to Footlight Farm to teach riding clinics.
“I will teach any level, from beginner eventers on,” Brannigan said. “I can teach a Pony Club kid to someone ready to compete at the one- or two-star level.”
Beth Battel, owner of Footlight Farm and mayor of Roosevelt, said, “We are honored to have Jennie Brannigan coming to Footlight Farm to share her expertise with us. Her talent and devotion to the horses and the sport of combined training is unsurpassed. We congratulate her on her win at Jersey Fresh today, and wish her continued success throughout the year.”
Brannigan also competes with Battel’s horses. Brannigan keeps her horses at Olympian Philip Dutton’s farm in Pennsylvania.
For more information, visit Brannigan’s website at www.branniganeventing.com.