A whimsical stage was set in the Kentucky Horse Park’s Rolex Stadium with the theme of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Streamers, balloons, jumps set to 3-foot-3 with candy and Oompa Loompa decorations, a chocolate river tarp and a Violet Beauregarde ball were spread around the arena for Elisa Wallace’s freestyle with her mustang Zephyr. Dressed as Willy Wonka, Wallace entered the arena riding Zephyr bareback with only a rope halter and neck strap. The pair delivered an impressive performance to win the Mustang Classic title and $50,000 in prize money.
Elisa Wallace and Zephyr Take Top Honors
Wallace is a five-star eventer who began training mustangs 12 years ago. She jumped at the chance to compete in the inaugural Mustang Classic, a competition focused on highlighting mustangs as English discipline mounts, and she found her partner Zephyr back in February. Wallace and Zephyr had a solid start to the Mustang Classic by winning Friday’s dressage and placing second in arena cross country and fourth in show jumping on Saturday.
When preparing her freestyle for the competition, Wallace aimed to embrace a theme and match it with Zephyr’s personality.
“He is so goofy,” Wallace laughed. “[‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’] just really fit because he loves cookies and treats. It was really fun working with my husband to mix the music and keep changing it up.”
Showcasing Zephyr’s Jumping Abilities
In addition to the fun theme, Wallace also wanted to showcase Zephyr’s talents. The 5-year-old mustang gelding has proven that he’s quite the jumper, competing at the Beginner Novice level in eventing and in some jumper shows.
“Zephyr’s a very good jumper and he likes to jump,” Wallace said. “He’s had a natural ability from day one of holding a line and jumping a corner. He’s a little bit of a freak that way.”
Wallace decided to include a corner jump in her freestyle, though it was a risk with the electric atmosphere of the Rolex Stadium.
“It was a fairly difficult corner, but he nailed it,” Wallace said. “That made me feel good. I was really proud of him and probably the biggest thing was that, mentally, he was so relaxed about everything and with me. So, I couldn’t have asked him to be better this weekend.”
Looking toward the future, Zephyr has a prospective new home as a low-level eventer.
“The goal has been to really get these horses out, and he’s an amazing ambassador for the breed,” Wallace noted. “[Mustangs are] fantastic. They are really fun horses with really nice qualities.”
Samantha Rock and Handy Dandy Secure Reserve Champion Title
Samantha Rock wowed the judges and spectators with a “Lilo & Stitch”-themed freestyle aboard Handy Dandy, paying homage to Rock’s upbringing in Hawaii. Rock is a frequent competitor at mustang competitions and has had several successful freestyles.
“I was going to be a Hawaiian surfer, and I thought I better do an actual Disney theme because those always done well for me,” Rock said.
Their freestyle consisted of Rock long lining Handy Dandy into the arena on a surfboard and jumping double combinations across an ocean of a tarp. Rock said Handy Dandy was afraid of the tarp for some time, but their hard work paid off for Sunday’s performance.
“He’s still kind of goofy about it,” Rock said. “But he knows how to do it.”
Rock had a solid start to the competition with Handy Dandy, finishing eighth in dressage, winning arena cross country and finishing second in show jumping. The pair finished strongly with their freestyle on Sunday.
“It was just so much fun,” said Rock. “With the freestyles, I like to be creative.”
While Handy Dandy is for sale, Rock plans to keep showing him in evening mini trials and team roping events that she does with her husband.
Chris Phillips and WFR Sin City Sister Clinch Third in Mustang Classic
Chris Phillips had already found success earlier this year with WFR Sin City Sister by winning the Western discipline-focused Mustang Challenge back in July. Phillips’ achievements are all the more impressive considering that he started riding at the age of 45. He got into training mustangs about 10 years ago after his daughter competed in a mustang competition.
While Phillips was choosing his mount for the Mustang Magic competition (where trainers compete mustangs that have only been handled for 100 days), he noticed WFR Sin City Sister in the same pen.
“I went back and after everybody had picked, and we got her,” said Phillips.
Learning New Disciplines
Phillips typically focuses more on Western disciplines, but he found English trainers to coach him in the lead-up to the Mustang Classic.
“The English disciplines are just so different. I’ve been doing dressage and learned a lot doing this event. I’m actually continuing my lessons with my dressage coach after this,” Phillips said. “I’m going to go back because my coach said things just a little differently and in a helpful way. It’s helped me because it’s collection-oriented and focused on pushing from behind.”
Phillips and WFR Sin City Sister’s hard work paid off. They finished seventh in dressage as well as earning respectable finishes in arena cross country and show jumping. Their freestyle had a theme of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” and included a pirate ship, wave and shark jumps, walking the plank, and much more. It was similar to what the pair did at the Mustang Challenge with some minor changes.
“We took some of the side passing stuff out and did more of a leg yield and then put more jumps in,” Phillips explained. “We had the three wave jumps, but they weren’t moving at the time.”
WFR Sin City Sister will likely soon find a new home approved by Phillips. While he has adopted mustangs to compete in numerous competitions, he noted that he’s not a collector.
“I love finding [the mustangs] new homes, especially if people are going to just spoil them to death,” he said. “The two people looking at her would spoil her and that would just make my heart so happy.”
For More Information
The entire event can be viewed on demand with an EQUESTRIAN+ (equestrianplus.com) subscription.
To learn more about the 2024 Mustang Classic, click here.
