Andrea Baxter was twice charmed on her homebreds at Galway Downs Summer Horse Trials and Young Event Horse Competition, which took place July 6-8 in Temecula.
Andrea won both the Advanced division on Estrella and the 4 Year Old Young Horse division on Rolex IV.
When Andrea’s mother, Connie Baxter, who owns Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, went to a Barretts Thoroughbred sale she brought Ruthie Wheeler (a Galway staffer) as an extra pair of eyes. They didn’t see anything they liked until the end of the auction, when a brood mare named Destined To Be, by the great British sire Sharan, came up for auction. Both women loved her look, and Connie purchased her for $850. It turns out that the stallion Sharan currently lives just a couple of miles down the road from Galway Downs, and, along with an impressive racing record, has a lot of substance and bone.
Then Connie bid on and won a stallion service to Fran Steinwedell’s late Westphalian 1988 Olympic silver medalist sire, Starman. The resulting foal, Rolex IV, was started by a local cowboy for 30 days, after which Andrea took over the reins. The Baxters weren’t even going to bring the young horse to Galway, but having just purchased a new, larger trailer, they decided to fill it.
While Rolex IV didn’t particularly impress dressage judge Wayne Quarles, scoring 6.5, he really shone in the jumping and galloping, receiving a 9.07 from judge Andrea Pfeiffer, and earning a final winning score of 78.11. Pfeiffer really liked how he planted both hind legs and punched off the ground. He was also the best galloper in the group, picking up his front end and lengthening his stride rather than quickening.
To top off the day Andrea also won the Advanced division on the Thoroughbred Estrella, adding just 2.4 time penalties to her 38.8 dressage score to win with 41.2.
Estrella’s dam, Say Grace, was also cheaply purchased at another Barretts sale for $750 in foal to British racer Thaliard. Both mother and daughter competed the mare, still sound at 23, through Preliminary. This was Estella’s third Advanced. Andrea had recently competed in the Galway Downs Two-Star and, as she walked the course, she thought she would have a comfortable ride.
Very, very hot Estrella galloped in a perfect rhythm. “Her ears pricked and she was radar detector focused on the next jump!” gushed a very happy Andrea. A tight, almost 90-degree angled jump, after the second water, caught a number of other riders, but didn’t faze Estrella. The mare went right to it. Andrea, 24, is a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate. She and Estrella are headed to the Fair Hill event back East.

Small Packages
Gin Fizz, at Thoroughbred by Valley Crossing out of She’s A Party Girl, won the 5 Year Old Young Horse section with an 83.86 score. Originally found at Fair Hill as a 3-year-old by eventer Robyn Fisher, the 15.1 hand Gin Fizz was just a bit too small for Robyn. Yves Sauvignon competed the filly three times at Novice level, and she was never out of the top three.
The moment 5’2” Hawley Bennett sat on the filly she fell madly and enthusiastically in love with her. “She’s by far the most talented young horse I’ve ever sat on,” Hawley says. “She’ll do a Four Star as an 8-year-old.” Hawley says Gin Fizz is the whole package: good mind, well balanced, fancy, good in dressage. (Although the mare called for her barn mate during the dressage test.)
“Honestly, I couldn’t have a better ride on her, she’s ready to go Preliminary, but we’ll wait until she’s older.” One of Hawley’s students, Jackie Farr, also competed Gin Fizz in Junior Training Rider, earning third with a 40.3. Hawley Bennett is 30, originally from Langley, B.C., and currently lives and works across the road from Galway at Kingsway Farms with Linda and Terry Paine, who also run Santa Fe Hounds.
Judge Wayne Quarles was “pretty impressed” with the quality and good variety of young horses presented. “It was nice to see the owners presenting their horses,” he commented. Initially he was concerned because, in the East, it’s all professionals. Quarles feels the young horse testing is a particularly good opportunity to school a youngster. A number of horses went on to compete in the Novice Horse Trials after the test.

Hot Stuff
Young Zachary Brandt rode his MP2 to a win in the Junior Novice Rider category, finishing on his dressage score of 32.6. Zachary, a well-spoken and composed 14-year-old, started riding just two years ago, and in 2006 was sixth in the nation at Beginner Novice and Novice Reserve Champion in Area VI. MP2 was purchased in Virginia by his mother, Elizabeth Cannon, three years ago to help her move up to Preliminary.
Competing through Intermediate, the16.2 hand Thoroughbred by the top racing sire, El Prado, with Bishop Hill on the dam’s side, had never raced when Paul Ebersol started him at the age of 4. Diminutive Elizabeth found MP2 a bit too challenging, and when Zachary needed to move up from his pony, she convinced him to try the horse. Initially worried that the big, strong horse would frighten him, he discovered they made good partners and now loves the ride on MP2, whose only hesitation on course is a dislike for mound jumps.
Zachary attends Crossroads Middle School in Santa Monica. He likes to read about politics and hopes to become a riding instructor.
Young horse tests are new to Southern California, and so are horse trials set in the heat of July. Galway Downs manager Robert Kellerhouse, son of horseshow manager Anne Kellerhouse, rides and competes, as does his wife Erin, so when he decided to hold an event in the middle of the summer heat of Southern California, he went with a “siesta” format, running classes until noon and starting up again at 4:30.
Inflatable waterslides were offered during the breaks, and Robert tried to provide those extra small touches that mean a lot to competitor comfort. Port-a-potties with sinks, two ambulances on cross-country day, music and really good food for the exhibitors party on the grass under the trees.
Adding to the fun are competitor and course builder Bert Woods’ chainsaw creations (Woods was fourth placed Senior Training Rider 49.6. with Cyrus). Substantial hand-hewn tables and chairs for judges and spectators are on the grass jumping field and, on course, a menacing “Totem Pole” and a difficult bending line at 4-a-b caused some Advanced riders a bit of trouble. So did Woods’ impressively rendered Catfish two-stride combination to a Mallard duck in the second water. Woods’ true skill greets visitors at the entrance to Galway Downs, the life-size and lifelike three-foot tall hatching dinosaur eggs are not to be missed!
Complete results are available on
www.galwaydowns.com.
Author Nancy Louie owns Horse Coin Jewelry and can be visited at many California competitions.