When Lisa Goldman had a splash through a river to get from the schooling area to the ring for the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix at HITS Ocala (Fla.) on Feb. 4, she knew this wasn’t going to be like any other jump-off she’d ridden in. The rain was pelting down, and there was thunder and lightning in the distance.

There were eight other horses in the jump-of. “And they didn’t hold back!” Goldman said. “Sometimes, if it’s raining, it’s like ‘Let’s see if we can all just creep around clean and get out of here,’ but everyone really went for it!”

So, Goldman kicked Morocco into high gear and went for it.

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“He was so good! I can’t even believe—I’m awed by how well he jumped,” she said. “My only thought was trying not to fall off because I was soaking wet! I was soaked all the way through, down to my skin. And that was before the jump-off even started.

“I was going slow in the schooling ring because I was worried about falling off, so going to the first jump, I was thinking ‘Go!’ And I went too much because he left a stride out to the triple bar and I almost fell off!

“I still wasn’t really thinking about winning until after I jumped the third jump. I was like, ‘All the jumps are still up; maybe I can stay on and do this!’ It was just so wet.”

And win she did, as she and Morocco took their second grand prix victory in three weeks on the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit.

Goldman noted that she did consider scratching, given the conditions. “Not because I was worried about the footing,” she said. “The footing held up unbelievably well even though there was 3” of water on top of it. I was more worried that I wouldn’t be able to stay on! I was so loose and everything was wet. I nearly fell off in the first jump of the jump-off just from being so wet and slippery. There was lightning and thunder—I was thinking, ‘Are they going to stop the class?’—but it rained that way for five hours, so I guess they knew that and figured to just get the class done.”

Goldman noticed on the way back to the barn, as they slogged through inches of standing water, that they were the only ones on the whole showgrounds still out in the downpour.

Goldman’s boots are still hanging up in her camper with a fan blowing on them, trying to get them to dry. Hopefully they’ll be ready for the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix on Feb. 7, since Morocco is in fighting form. The U.S.-bred (Roc USA—Pinkys Pumpkin) has been double-clean in five of the six classes he’s jumped during the first three weeks of HITS Ocala.

Morocco and Goldman won the $50,000 Tuff Rider/Equine Couture Grand Prix on Jan. 24, then were second in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix on Jan. 28 and third in the $50,000 Equioxx Grand Prix on Jan. 31.

“He’s really stepped up his game here. He has never felt better. He’s 13 and he’s never felt better. He sees the chiropractor to keep him on top of his game and he feels great,” Goldman said.

She plans to show at HITS Ocala through Week 5, then head to Wellington, Fla., to show at the Winter Equestrian Festival.

Want to know more about Lisa Goldman? Read about her other veteran grand prix horse in this 2014 article “Centurion B: Grand Prix Winner And Parade Horse.”