Britta Lippert and Quintus Garner Gladstone Equitation Amateur Classic Victory at HITS Championship
Saugerties, N.Y. – September 9, 2023 – Eighty-four horse and rider combinations gathered on Saturday evening to vie for the winning honors in the 2023 USHJA Gladstone Equitation Amateur Classic. Britta Lippert with her mount Quintus impressed the judges as soon as they entered the ring. After a stunning classic and handy round, the pair got called back with five others to perform a test, where she eventually claimed the top prize in a very competitive class.
"Quintus is 17, and I’ve had him for eight years now," explained Lippert. "He’s always been my A/O Hunter, and I normally do equitation on another horse, but this year I decided to try him in the equitation ring. He really stepped up to the occasion and has been doing such an amazing job!"
Britta Lippert and Quintus. Photographed by ESI Photography.
The classic round was composed of 10 obstacles and included an option at fence 3, multiple technical rollbacks as well as four bending lines that made riders perform the necessary adjustments in order to have a smooth round. The handy round introduced two new obstacles including fence 6, a vertical placed on the centerline and as well as fence 7, a trot jump that rolled back to an option oxer, giving riders the opportunity to demonstrate their mount’s handiness.
“I was a bit nervous going into the handy round since Quintus gets a little antsy when I ask for too tight of a turn, but I kept telling myself to be neat and just ride the turns as smoothly as possible –luckily the jumps came up really nicely for me, ” McReynold noted. “There was a part in the test where we were asked to halt at the judges box and pick up the left lead, then demonstrate two lead changes down the centerline then sit the trot out of the ring. Quintus has wonderful flying changes so we ended up being the only ones to do flying changes and I think that really helped us stand out to the judges.”
Britta Lippert and Quintus. Photographed by ESI Photography.
With two beautifully executed rounds, Lippert earned an impressive combined score of 174. Taking home reserve was Alexis Hurchalla with her mount LL Cool J with their two round total of 178. The USHJA Adult Jump Seat Medal Final winners, Grace McReynold with HH Hyyerr Calling, rounded out the top three with a combined score of 181.
Alexis Hurchalla and LL Cool J. Photographed by ESI Photography.
Being local to the area, Lippert is a regular at HITS Saugerties concluding, “It’s so convenient to come here and the recent improvements being made makes it so much more enjoyable. The decorations, the way they built up the ring – I’m just over the moon about how the showgrounds look now!”
The HITS Championship will conclude on Sunday with the week’s main event, the $300,000 FEI Grand Prix CSI4*, which gets underway at 1pm. Riders can also continue to showcase their skills at HITS Saugerties the following week during the 2023 Marshall and Sterling Finals.