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<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>Sabine Schut-Kery and the talented Hanoverian stallion Sanceo recently returned to California after spending nearly two months in Wellington, Florida, where they handily qualified for the 2014 Markel\/USEF Developing Horse Prix St. Georges Dressage National Championship. In Del Mar they earned a 79.868 to win the $500 Prix St. Georges Sweepstakes. Acknowledging her dominance in the national classes, Robert Dover playfully chided Schut-Kery, suggesting it was time to move on. \u201cYou\u2019re ready for the CDIs,\u201d he urged. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to build for greatness!\u201d Schut-Kery found Sanceo (by San Remo out of St. Pr. Hauptstutbuch Riveraas) a 2 \u00bd-year-old in her native Germany for owners Alice Womble-Heitmann and Dr. Mike Heitmann. \u201cHe\u2019s a very sensitive horse, and it\u2019s very important to me that I keep him mentally happy and physically healthy,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause he\u2019s a stallion, I\u2019m concentrating on managing that side of him so that he stays focused on the job and doesn\u2019t get sidetracked.\u201d<\/p>\nUnder her careful guidance, the 8-year-old Hanoverian has steadily gained confidence and maturity since the pair represented the United States at the Young Horse World Championships in Verden, Germany, in 2012. The trip to Wellington was an important step in their journey. Dover himself planted the seed when Schut-Kery participated in the USEF Dressage Observation and Strategic Planning Session in California last November. The Heitmanns embraced the plan, shipping Sanceo from California to Florida, with a stop at their Horsegate Ranch in Texas along the way, and then setting up the horse in Wellington at the Palm Beach Equine Sports Complex, conveniently located across from the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went to Florida with the goal of exposing him to a more concentrated show schedule and competing in a hotter climate,\u201d Schut-Kery explains. \u201cHe did very well, winning every class we entered with very consistent scores. His quality and his great work ethic and honesty really shined through.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Schut-Kery, the trip east meant jumping into Wellington\u2019s 24\/7 horse culture with both feet. \u201cProfessionally, it was quite an experience. The footing is really amazing, and there\u2019s so much going on.\u201d When she wasn\u2019t showing, she attended educational seminars, watched a clinic with Kyra Kyrklund, worked with U.S. Developing Dressage Coach Debbie McDonald and had three-time Olympian Juan Matute offer pointers on the piaffe and passage.<\/p>\n
Florida was an unforgettable opportunity, but don\u2019t expect Schut-Kery to relocate any time soon. \u201cI\u2019m a total California girl,\u201d she says. Her coach, Christine Traurig, is here, and her husband, Kristian Kery, works in Hollywood as a stuntman and filmmaker. And her training business is based at one of Southern California\u2019s most idyllic equestrian facilities, El Campeon Farms in Thousand Oaks.<\/p>\n
As she looks ahead to the Developing Horse Championships in Chicago in August, Schut-Kery is busy preparing Sanceo for his CDI debut at Intermediaire 1 debut at next month\u2019s annual Dressage at Flintridge CDI* in La Ca\u00f1ada, California. \u201cThe long-term goal is the Grand Prix. He\u2019s doing piaffe and passage, but I have no desire to rush. I want it to be a positive experience for him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sabine Schut-Kery and the talented Hanoverian stallion Sanceo recently returned to California after spending nearly two months in Wellington, Florida, where they handily qualified for the 2014 Markel\/USEF Developing Horse Prix St. Georges Dressage National Championship. In Del Mar they earned a 79.868 to win the $500 Prix St. Georges Sweepstakes. Acknowledging her dominance in the national classes, Robert Dover playfully chided Schut-Kery, suggesting it was time to move on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":610,"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608\/revisions\/610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/horsegateranch.com\/horsegate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}