Double Pan American Games medalist, Heather Blitz and Paragon won the Wellington Classic CDI3* Freestyle at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, FL on March 17, 2012 giving them their first victory at Grand Prix level with a score of 75.360%. The U.S. bred nine year old Danish Warmblood gelding (Don Shufro – Pari Lord) has made the change seamlessly and with extraordinary confidence from the Small Tour last October when they won the team gold and individual silver at the Pan American Games to their debut in Grand Prix.
Heather summed up their win acknowledging Paragon's incredible maturity: “He was amazing in the freestyle. It was definitely a personal best on how he felt in the ring, he was so powerful and really supple. I think he enjoyed quite a bit being under the lights and being at night, he just had himself in such a great place; a combination of power and energy, and also relaxation and confidence. The freestyle went really well from beginning to end and it all stayed very coordinated with the music and perfect timing. It's such a beautiful freestyle that it's easy for me just to ride in a way that really puts positive energy into it and I think he really picked that up from me. The facility is so fantastic at the Global Dressage Festival that it's a nice place to be. The footing is perfect and we love being there so the whole experience was fantastic, and I just hope I can keep up that kind of performance.”
Heather also rode Oak Hill Ranch's young Dutch Warmblood stallion Ripline (Hotline x Riviera – Blue Hors Cavan) to win the USDF Materiale Class with a score of 80%, and also the USEF First Level Test 1 with a 69.655%.
Heather was enthusiastic about the young stallion's performance and the way in which he coped with the competition:
“Ripline has an extremely impressive temperament. He handled his first show experience with flying colors. It was a busy show with lots going on and he was hardly phased by it all. He is already showing strong promise to become a competitive upper level dressage horse at such a young age. He's the easiest horse I've ever had in training. To be able to say that about a coming 4 year old stallion is remarkable.”
Ripline is owned and bred at Oak Hill Ranch in Folsom, Louisiana by Richard Freeman who also bred Paragon. To find out more about the Oak Hill Ranch stallions and breeding program, please visit Oak Hill Ranch.