It turned out to be a double 1-2 result for Erin Nichols and Chris Hickey Saturday evening in the Grand Prix Special at Kingsview Partners Dressage at Devon. Those riders also had finished in that order on Friday in the qualifier for the class.
Erin earned 69.447 percent on Elian Royale, while Chris was marked at exactly two percentage points lower for his performance on Stenagers Wyatt Earp.
Erin Nichols and Elian Royale.
Erin, who trains with Christoph Koschel, is 23 and can now check off riding at Devon from her to-do list.
“It was definitely a great learning experience,” said Erin of her D@D debut in weather conditions that were not ideal.
“Kind of different circumstances with the rain and the wind and the night class. Lots of different learning opportunities and we’re coming out stronger than we came in. I’m really excited we can build for the future after all this experience,” she said.
Chris was eager to give a thumbs up to the Dressage at Devon management in the face of a major storm that rocked the East Coast.
Chris Hickey and Wyatt Earp.
“Even though the weather was bad, the manager and the organizing people are trying to make the footing the best they can for the riders. That’s very important, because that’s what keeps riders coming back.”
Kaleigh Marie and her paint pair from Braveheart Beasts gave an impressive “liberty” demonstration on Saturday.
It’s also worth noting that it was the first D@D to be headed by its new president, Nicole DelGiorno, a go-getter who seemed to be everywhere as she was determined to make the show memorable under less-than-ideal conditions.
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