by Wendy Dudley
Christina Marlin is used to jumping with the big guns, but to rise to the top in a field of more than 30 amateur riders is still a big deal, especially on a young and challenging horse.
Marlin, from St. Albert, AB, jumped her way to first place in the Kirchman Family Junior Grand Prix, a 1.3-metre event held as part of Spruce Meadows’ Skyliner Tournament in June.
Among the top 1.30-metre event jumpers, she then placed second in the Red Deer Advocate Final Four.
The Skyliner Tournament, established last year, is strictly for amateur and junior riders, and boasts almost 400 entries from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.
The Kirchman Grand Prix had its share of nasty obstacles, including a double combination with an oxer and green hedge as its first element. But Marlin and her powerful Holsteiner gelding Lakey cleared it easily, as one of only three horse-and-rider combinations out of a field of 32 to jump the course clean.
“You really have to jump his front end, but he has an incredible hind end,” said the 20-year-old who began riding at age three. She’s competed at Spruce Meadows for the last six years, on her first horse Raleigh, a grey Dutch Warmblood gelding.
Winning the Kirchman Family Grand Prix jump-off (against American riders Kristin Crosland and Suzy Kay-Jackson) helped Marlin qualify for the Red Deer Advocate 1.3-metre Final Four event, where the tournament’s top four riders competed for $7,500 in prize money.
The format is unique, fashioned after the World Championships where riders tackle the course four times, each time on a different horse. They are allowed two minutes to bond with a strange horse, before entering the arena.
Lakey proved to be the toughest mount, failing four times to jump the course clean.
“He’s a strong horse and can leave you behind,” said Marlin who’s had the horse less than a year. “He’s got a big stride, so sometimes you’re at the jump before you know it. Right now, he’s not a very careful horse, but we can work on that . I’ll grow with him.”
After four rounds of jumping, it came down to Marlin on Lakey and Allison Van Sickle, of the U.S.A., on Blue Bayou who rode clear. Marlin had to settle for second, when she and Lakey scored 12 faults. “He was tired. He just didn’t have any more in him.”
But Marlin wasn’t about to complain. This tournament lets riders know how they stack up against other riders of the same age and experience, she said.
“I’m used to competing with professionals, which is good because they set the bar high. But sometimes it can be discouraging, so it’s nice to compete at this level so you know how you’re really doing.”
One of her greatest moments was beating Spruce Meadows’ riding master Albert Kley at an Edmonton horse show. “Jonathan Asselin was first, I was second, and Albert Kley was third. It made me feel so good.”
As far as mentors, she admires the smooth cadence of Asselin, and the intense focus of Richard Spooner. “He doesn’t care how he looks. He just goes to win. He’s an efficient rider.”
Marlin’s overall goal is to compete in the Olympics, but for now she’s taking it one event at a time, hoping to compete in the North America Young Riders Championship to be held in Virginia in August.
She hopes Lakey is the horse that will carry her on this journey. “He jumps big. We got him to be my 1.50-metre horse. It doesn’t bother him to take rails down, or if he stops on me, he’ll go back and do it again and clear it. This is the experience I need if I’m going to move up.”
Because Lakey’s a difficult ride, Marlin expects he’ll make her a better rider. “He’s a good horse. He just doesn’t have as much blood in him as some of the other horses. But we clicked right away. You just really have to ride him.”
To improve his gaits between the jumps, Marlin spent the winter taking dressage lessons from Calgary coach Joely Mann. “The difference in him now is like night and day. His canter is just so much better.”
Marlin took this year off school to jump full-time. She may return to Grant McEwan college to take business, but it depends how many ribbons she brings home this summer.
“I can’t do this half-way. I want to be good, I want to be great. I can’t do well at school and jump well, too,” she said.
“You have to have talent in this sport, so I’ll have to see if I keep winning.”
