For Brian Hafner, riding in the Golden State Premiere, Feb. 4-6, wasn’t just about making his Grand Prix debut. He and Lombardo LHF also left Rancho Murieta, Calif., with blue ribbons in two classes and the scores needed for Hafner’s U.S. Dressage Federation gold medal.

“I was really happy with him,” said Hafner after scoring a 62.97 percent. “It was a fairly clean test. We kind of messed up on our pirouettes, but other than that I was super happy. This was a really green Grand Prix for him, so I think that there’s definitely room for improvement as he progresses and gets stronger.”

Lombardo was a little more tense in his second test and made a mistake in the ones, for a 65.74 percent. The ones were easy for the big bay gelding to learn, especially after he had a hard time learning single changes.

“I expected more problems with the ones, and he kind of picked them right up,” said Hafner. “The piaffe is definitely our weak point right now. We’re working on it, and it just takes time. He’s definitely got the talent for the passage—he just needs more strength. It’s fun to progress with Lombardo and make it all the way with the same horse.”

Hafner, 22, purchased Lombardo LHF (Londonderry—Waluga, Werther) from Legacy Hill Farms in Castle Rock, Colo., as a 4-year-old. He was bred in Germany by Klaus Juergens and im-ported by Legacy Hill Farms. Hafner has earned his bronze, silver, and now gold USDF medals on Lombardo during the seven years they’ve been together.

Hafner had a transitional year in 2010, competing at Intermediaire I and Intermediaire II and preparing for Grand Prix. In 2009 he competed at the Ade-quan FEI North American Young Rider Championships for Region 7, bringing home team gold and individual bronze medals.

Hafner relocated to Templeton on the central California coast last year. He’s working for Gina Miller, who’s building a new dressage facility there. Hafner was previously located 300 miles south, in San Diego, Calif., where he’d been a working student for Laurie Falvo Doyle since 2007. He started training with Heidi Gaian in Hollister since moving north last July and still trains with Doyle when he travels to southern California for shows.

H Pavicic Polishes New Partnership

Karen Pavicic brought two small tour horses to Golden State and won classes on both.

This was her third show with London Z, an 8-year-old Zangersheide gelding that trainer Dirk Glitz found for her on the Internet. London Z (Lacapo—Colum-bina, Come On) was bred by Harm Thor-mälen in Germany.

“Dirk found him in Ohio in the middle of a cornfield,” said Pavicic with a laugh. “I saw some real potential in him. He was bred to jump, and I’m sure he can jump quite well—but that’s too bad. He’s going to be a dressage horse whether he likes it or not!”

Pavicic, Richmond, B.C., didn’t have room for the 16.3-hand dapple gray at her barn, so she shipped him to Glitz, who is based at Yarra Yarra Equestrian Center in Pleasanton, Calif., last July.

“It’s difficult to really build a strong relationship when I haven’t had a lot of time with him,” said Pavicic, who’s made the trip to California a few times to ride him. “He’s quite different from the other horses I ride at home. So it’s a transition to come down to California and try and figure him out. Combined with that is the fact that I’ve always trained my own horses. I’ve been working with Dirk just over a year now. I really get along well with him and believe in his program.”

London Z won the Prix St. Georges class on Sunday (66.84%) and was third (66.31%) on Friday. Saturday, in his first test at Intermediaire I, he placed third (65.78%), behind stablemate Don Daiquiri (68.94%) and Utango DG and Dominique Culham-Buckland (70.00%).

“I felt he was quite rideable even though he was a little up on Saturday afternoon because of the north wind,” said Pavicic. “But he stayed with me really well. He got a little bit spooky with the tablecloth [on the judge’s stand] waving in the wind. He never gets too bothered; he seems to look to me for confidence. He has a super character. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season down here.”

Pavicic believes that she and London Z, owned by Lynda Hol of Delta, B.C., complement each other well. “It’s a little bit young still in our relationship,” she said. “I think there’s a real strong future there for us.”

Don Daiquiri (Don Cardinale—Neastate III, Rubenstein), Pavicic’s second small tour mount, is starting his second year at Prix St. Georges and won Friday’s class with a 71.57 percent.

“He got a very good score with a couple of minor mistakes,” said Pavicic of their Intermediaire I. “He can be a little more challenging in his mental states sometimes than my other horse, though he’s been very well behaved here. He’s maturing. In the past there have been some issues with tension and getting excited.”

The 9-year-old Oldenburg, owned by Pavicic in partnership with Jayne Essig of Nanoose Bay, B.C., is more of a modern sport horse, in contrast to London Z, who is more massive.

Don Daiquiri competed in his first Intermediaire I freestyle—put together by Karen Robinson—winning with a 70.25 percent.

H Don Frederic Aces First Test

This was the first show for Alix Curry’s new Rhinelander gelding Don Frederic, whom she purchased in October. They won the USEF Young Horse 4-year-old classes with scores in the 70s.

“He’s not 4 until July, and I didn’t really want to put that much pressure on him,” said Curry. “In these tests all you do is walk, trot and canter, so I didn’t really have to ‘train’ him. At home I ride him on Pescadero Beach and trail ride him in the state parks near our farm. I have so much fun with him.”

Curry lives in Pescadero, Calif., which is on the coast about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Her two horses, Don Frederic and Z, a 7-year-old Dutch Warm-blood gelding, are in the pasture all day, every day, rain or shine. They’re used to deer, sheep and farm equipment.

“I brought Don Frederic to this show because there are big rings here,” said Curry. “I didn’t really think about the tents though—but he was good about them. Murieta has the best footing and the most space. There’s always somewhere you can go to ride.”

Murieta Equine Complex manager Tim Postel installs big tents over four of the outside arenas for the winter shows to go along with the two permanent covered arenas. This still leaves multiple uncovered arenas for use in nice weather.

“I was so pleased with Don Frederic on Saturday, because it was windy and there was a lot else going on,” said Curry. “I felt that he just came in and did his test. He was tired too. I think he used everything up in the warm-up.”

Curry purchased Don Frederic (Don Federico—Flockchen, Florestan) from a photo, which is also how she purchased Z three years ago. Her trainers, Dirk and Katrin Glitz, have known Jan Brouwer in the Netherlands for years and contacted him again, looking for a second horse for Curry.

“Each horse has been exactly what they said they were going to be,” said Curry. “He’s really quite incredible. He’s very sweet and he’s just a baby. It’s been a great show because I didn’t know what he was going to do. He hasn’t shied or done bad things.

 “This was a really good test of his temperament. We thought he had a good temperament, but you don’t really know until you bring him to a show,” she added. “He handled everything well. There were Grand Prix horses being way more stupid than him Saturday in the warm-up tent. He was looking at them and I said, ‘No, no, no, that’s not what we do.’

Curry clinics with Katrin Glitz and meets them at shows. With her previous horse she tried keeping him in full training, but the three to four hours of commuting each day to ride didn’t work while also running her own farm.

“Katrin comes to Pescadero two week-ends a month now,” explained Curry. “We all probably would be a lot better if we were in full training, but it works.”