64 The Chronicle of the Horse

Wilhelm Genn’s longtime partner Happy Z is celebrating her sweet 16 this year, and to

mark the occasion she bested a field of the same number in the $50,000 Budweiser Grand Prix in Gulfport, Miss., on March 2.

Genn has owned the chestnut Dutch Warmblood mare (High Valley Z—Anais Z, Alme Z) for 10½ years, and together they’ve racked up a massive collection of grand prix wins. But this past autumn he started to think the 2013 Gulfport tour might have been her last.

“We always had it in the back of our mind that if she starts not doing well, we’ll retire her,” said Genn, Lebanon, Ohio.

Every time he starts to consider transitioning “Happy” over to a brood-mare, however, she snaps right back into form and starts winning again just to prove her rider wrong, so Genn decided to grant her a swan song in Gulfport this winter.

Doubt crept in once again when the mare refused a fence in the first weekend’s grand prix, leaving Genn worried that he’d have to retire her halfway through the circuit. But true to form, Happy bounced back to win two consecutive features—the $50,000

CWD Grand Prix on Feb. 23 and the Budweiser Grand Prix the following Sunday.

“She’s a very interesting horse,” he said. “There isn’t just one way to do it with her—you always have to respond to what she tells you.”

Genn keeps Happy in top shape mentally and physically by allowing her lots of playtime and by avoiding drilling.

“I try to give her some freedom,” he said. “I just let her gallop and buck, just enough that mentally she feels

good, and physically she gets some exciting exercise. As long as I don’t fall off, we’re OK!”

When he and his family are home at their Rheinland Farm in southwestern Ohio, Genn focuses on flat and hill work, with occasional gymnastics to keep the mare sharp.

Gulfport’s course designer, Allen Rheinheimer, set a track that only allowed three clear rounds.

“It was a solid track in height, a long track,” said Genn. “There were a lot of lines that were just long enough to

Happy Z Still Reigns Supreme In Gulfport¬ust as her rider starts plotting the mare’s retirement, she responds with back-to-back grand prix wins.

BY LINDSAY GRAHAMPHOTOS BY FLASHPOINT PHOTOGRAPHY

Wilhelm Genn proved that Happy Z is still a fighter at 16 years old with a win in the $50,000 Budweiser Grand Prix at the Gulf Coast Mid-Winter Classic IV.

HORSE SHOWS

March 17 & 24, 2014 chronofhorse.com 65

$50,000BUDWEISER GRAND PRIX

Gulfport, Miss.—March 2

HORSE/RIDER FAULTS TIME PURSE

1. Happy Z/Wilhelm Genn

0-0 41.36 $15,000

2. Chantilly/Devin Ryan

0-0 41.38 11,000

3. Cookie Monster/Ryan Genn

0-0 42.52 6,500

$OVR�FRPSHWHG�����&ODVVLÀHG�%��.HPSHU��������Capitano/T. O'Neal, 4; 6. Boucanier/D. Ryan, 4; 7. Quattro/D. Bedoya, 4; 8. S&L Zeppelin/C. Beecherl, 4; 9. Sun Tzu/P. Brennan, 4; 10. Paradox/T. Genn, 8; 11. KT Cher/T. Maddrix, 8; 12. Lochinvar/M. Cyphert, 8; 13. Bugatti/W. Genn, 8; 14. Twilight/K. Cox, 16; 15. Gideon/C. Schott, 16; 16. Karenina/T. Russell, 20; S&L Shoe Guru/W. Owens, E; Cracky Z/C. Israel, E; Nepal/J. Land, E.

make you think about adding, and if you weren’t going to add, you had to make sure that you were going to get there. I think at a $50,000 [grand prix] the jumps should be big, and they should be challenging.”

Happy and Genn put in the first clear round and then posted the winning time in the jump-off of 41.36 seconds. Devin Ryan followed close behind on 41.38 aboard Sima Morgello’s Chantilly, while Genn’s son Ryan finished third with his father’s Cookie Monster.

Ryan’s brother Theo also came in 10th aboard Thomas Bruinsma’s Paradox.

“Every stride and every jump they do, I ride with them,” said Wilhelm. “I’m more nervous when they go in the ring than when I go in the ring.”

On Second ThoughtWhen Lauren Hulen Kissel opened the door of her camper on the Wednesday of the Gulf Coast Mid-Winter Classic IV, Feb. 26-March 2, she was met with a downpour driven by 20-mph winds. The weather was so intimidating that the 27-year-old rider from Canton, Ga., scurried straight to the show office and scratched all of her horses for the rest of the week.

But she’d barely left the office when the rain subsided and the wind died down, just in time for the first year green hunter division to get underway. Kissel asked around to see what others thought of the footing, and when the buzz proved positive, she decided to give the first years a go on Celebration, a 7-year-old Brandenburg gelding (King Kolibri—Tamila) trained by her mother, Janet Salem.

Celebration was originally sent to Kissel and Salem to sell, and their client Anne Claire Smith bought the gelding in 2013 with the goal of riding him in the junior hunters and letting Kissel campaign him in the greens. But he mainly competed in the chil-dren’s hunters with Smith while Kissel was pregnant last year.

Kissel described the gelding as somewhat of a princess.

“He was very offended when I pulled him out of his warm stall,” she said. “He doesn’t like it when it’s cold,

and he does not like the mud.” But the gelding hunkered down and

went to work, picking up three blues and a red to dominate the first year green division.

“He came out of the ring and was like, ‘Oh fine. If you’re going to make me horse show, I might as well win,’ ” said Kissel.

Kissel and Salem own and operate Patchwork Farm north of Atlanta. The mother-daughter duo has been in business together since Kissel came home from Auburn University (Ala.) in 2007. After riding on Auburn’s NCAA equestrian team from 2005-2007 and contributing to the team’s 2006 NCAA Varsity Equestrian National Championship win, Kissel moved back home to help her mom expand Patchwork Farm and ride professionally. She later graduated from Kennesaw State University (Ga.) with a degree in management.

While her mother does most of the teaching at home, Kissel does the majority of the riding, and they split the barn management duties. They’re business partners, but she said they

couldn’t be more different when it comes to the paperwork side of the business.

“She calls herself the rainmaker and dragon-slayer,” Kissel joked. “I’m the organized one. I do all the paper-work stuff.”

Weather threatened Celebration’s chance at the championship, but when Lauren Kissel asked the gelding to brave the mud he won the first year green hunter division at the Gulf Coast Mid-Winter Classic IV.

66 The Chronicle of the Horse

Two For TwoSalem also trains Zazou, who carried Quinn Larimer to the large junior hunter, 15 and under, tricolor at Gulfport Mid-Winter. The 10-year-old warmblood gelding (Sheraton—Nimpf) owned by Nestledown Equine Services LLC topped the division ahead of Nekton, ridden by Larimer’s good friend and barnmate, Stella Martin, who was celebrating her 16th birthday that week.

“We were competing, and that was a really fun moment to share with her,” said Larimer.

Zazou, whom Larimer started riding two years ago, aims to please his rider every chance he gets. “He wants to be so good, and he wants to win so badly,” she said.

Larimer also won the large green pony championship aboard Charlie’s Angel, owned by Nicole Husky of Pacific Palisades, Calif. The 7-year-old Dutch Warmblood of unrecorded breeding was sent to Kissel and Salem at Patchwork Farm to campaign on the show circuit and give her a good experience.

This was only the third competition that Larimer and the bay mare have

contested together, but the pony is eager to please. “She’s so easy when you correct her and say, ‘No, no, this is what you should be doing,’ ” said Larimer. “She’s very willing to accept that and do exactly what you ask.”

Larimer is a junior at Whitfield Academy in Mapleton, Ga., and works hard to fit showing in with her full-time studies.

“It can be very difficult to balance school and riding sometimes,” she said. “But I really try, especially on the way to horse shows, to get work done ahead of time.”

Quinn Larimer ended her week at Gulfport with two division cham-pionships—in the large junior hunter, 15 and under, aboard Zazou (pictured), and the large green pony hunter with Charlie’s Angel.

Sue Takata piloted her homebred Aureus to the Gulf Coast Mid-Winter Classic IV low amateur-owner hunter championship.

HORSE SHOWS

March 17 & 24, 2014 chronofhorse.com 65

Good As GoldSue Takata says she knew from the time she first held a baby Aureus in her arms that the mare was destined to be talented.

Takata bred and raised the now 7-year-old warmblood mare (All The Gold—Another Page) at her Stonebridge Farm in Athens, Texas. The bay mare’s name means gold coin in Latin, and she proved her worth by winning the low amateur-owner hunter tricolor at Gulfport Mid-Winter.

Takata keeps Aureus at her home and trailers up once a week to train with Stacie Goodson at Bay Yard Farms in Argyle, Texas, which is a two-hour drive.

“So at home we just flat,” said Takata. “Jumping is the easy part for her.”

And even in the show ring, Aureus doesn’t get flustered when her amateur rider makes small bobbles.

“She doesn’t care if I make a mistake,” said Takata. “It’s always been easy-going and fun, and she doesn’t care about the jumps. She’ll fix it if she needs to.”

While Takata enjoys riding her homebred in the pre-greens, she finds the biggest thrill in the amateur-owner divisions, where the handy courses really challenge them both. “She’s doing way better than I thought,” said Takata. “The jumps don’t bother her at all.”

Takata also keeps busy raising a family, but she always makes time for the horses. Her daughter, Lauren Takata, also rides and shows in the large junior and children’s hunters.

“My daughter’s horses live at home, too,” said Sue. “It’s enjoyable, and it’s relaxing.”

From Give-Away To ChampionWith a reputation for misbehavior

and packing a serious buck, Jet was the kind of gift horse anyone would be likely to look in the mouth. Lila Sessums was wary when her sister, Mary Lavigne, who’d been given the Thoroughbred gelding by race horse trainer Alice Cohn, passed him along to her in 2010.

“I was a little skeptical because she usually doesn’t give horses away, but it was because he was a little naughty and got away with it,” said Sessums.

But any trace of Jet’s former bad-boy reputation had been erased by Gulf Coast Mid-Winter, where the 8-year-old Thoroughbred gelding (Cat’s At Home—Love Whisper, Friendly Lover) cruised to the low amateur-owner jumper division championship.

When Jet first arrived at Sessums’ Live-Lee Farm in Clinton, Miss., he immediately made his jumper poten-tial apparent.

“I saw that this horse was very athletic because he was jumping

Jet showed no trace of his history of naughty behavior when Lila Sessums piloted the Thoroughbred gelding to the low amateur-owner jumper championship at Gulf Coast Mid-Winter Classic IV.

68 The Chronicle of the Horse

out of the pastures at my farm,” joked Sessums, who quickly sent him to her trainer Dennis Murphy at Longview Farms in Vandiver, Ala. “They say he’s one of the best ones I’ve sent them.”

Jet kept his bucking abilities under wraps at Longview, likely, Sessums says, because his rider there, Dennis Murphy Jr., stands over 6' tall, while she’s only 5'. And although the bucking habit seems to have subsided for good, Jet still finds ways to keep Sessums on her toes.

“He still has a little silliness the first day of the horse show, but then he settles in and is a complete champ,” she said.

Sessums recently stepped into the race horse business as well; she has a five-person syndicate for three of her Thoroughbred mares, which are being

$25,000WELCOME GRAND PRIX

Gulfport, Miss.—Feb. 28

HORSE/RIDER FAULTS TIME PURSE

1. Paradox/Theo Genn

0-0 41.12 $7,500

2. Welcome Cor/Wilhelm Genn

0-4 47.32 5,500

3. KT Cher/Timothy Maddrix

0-8 40.09 3,250

22 horses competed.

Gulf Coast Mid-Winter IVGulfport, MS—Feb. 26-March 2.3'6" PERFORMANCE HUNTER CH: Happenstance,

Stonebridge Farm.RES: Metternich, Karen King.

3'3" PERFORMANCE HUNTER CH: Blue Label, Alta Basaldua.RES: Purple Heart, Lynn Rice.

1ST YR. GREEN HUNTER CH: Celebration, Anna Smith.RES: Quedo Z, Pamela Bartholomew.

HIGH PERFORMANCE/2ND YR. GREEN HUNTER CH: Grappa, Devon Craig.RES: Limbo, Sophia Depumpo.

AMATEUR-OWNER HUNTER CH: Her Boy Wonder, Avery Griffin.RES: Red Rooster, Holly Labry.

LOW AMATEUR-OWNER HUNTER, 18-35 CH: Bellagio, Sara Games.RES: It’s Rooney, Alexandra Efird.

LOW AMATEUR-OWNER HUNTER, 36 & OVER CH: Aureus, Stonebridge Farm.RES: Northstar, Cece Williamson.

SMALL JR. HUNTER CH: Petra, Edie Caldwell.RES: Playboy, Sandra Staley.

LARGE JR. HUNTER CH: Zazou, Nestledown Equine Services LLC.RES: Nekton, Stella Martin.

LOW JR. HUNTER CH: Brego, Hailey Livingston.RES: Wesley, Haley Fleming.

SMALL PONY HUNTER CH: Star Command, Erica Van Dyken.RES: Magic Trick, Hallie Rush.

MEDIUM PONY HUNTER CH: Sunset’s Sleepin’ In, Sunset Farm.

Taylor Land rode Merlin (pictured) to a championship in the junior/amateur-owner jumpers at Gulfport the same weekend that her sister, Frances Land, won the Hollow Creek Farm Young Rider Nations Cup in Florida.

HORSE SHOWS

bred to Murphy’s Thoroughbred stal-lion Indy.

While horses are a huge part of Sessums’ life, she also has a 7-year-old daughter.

“I haven’t been doing a whole lot of horse showing because I’ve been trying to focus on my family,” said Sessums. “I need to show more because he sure is a nice horse to ride!”

March 17 & 24, 2014 chronofhorse.com 65

RES: Blue By You, Wind Haven Farm.LARGE PONY HUNTER CH: Sunday Best, Madison

Soffer.RES: Woodlands Not Quite White, Chloe White.

SMALL/MEDIUM GREEN PONY HUNTER CH: Champlain Rowboat, The Hill Farm.RES: Mr. Hollywood, Maggie Huffman.

LARGE GREEN PONY HUNTER CH: Charlie’s Angel, Nicole Husky.RES: Valor, Anna Athey.

ADULT AMATEUR HUNTER, 18-35 CH: Paramount, Journey’s End Farm.RES: Infinity’s End, Susan Itell.

ADULT AMATEUR HUNTER, 36-49 CH: Overseas, Mindy Wurzburg LLC.RES: Gramercy Park, Lynn Rice.

ADULT AMATEUR HUNTER, 50 & OVER CH: Tuckahoe, Camille McNeill.RES: Riesling, Cheryl Rubenstein LLC.

CHILDREN’S HUNTER, 14 & UNDER CH: Don Ramiro, Samantha Posey.RES: Valente, Jenna Zimmerman.

CHILDREN’S HUNTER, 15-17 CH: Cure The Blues, Alyssa Talpos.RES: Serenity, Sara George.

CHILDREN’S PONY HUNTER CH: Spoke Too Soon, Anne Lally.RES: Brownland’s Bugs Bunny, Brownland Farm.

PRE-GREEN HUNTER CH: Southern Cross, Emily Woodall.RES: Sinsational Fox, Foxwick Farm.

3'3" PRE-GREEN HUNTER CH: Current Affair, Carly Lazzari.RES: Quinn, Catharine Cox.

2'6" CHILDREN’S HUNTER CH: Vintage, Hallie Hatcher.RES: Grandor, Sara Doster.

2'6" ADULT AMATEUR HUNTER CH: Styliczed, Bridgett McIntosh.RES: Small World, Sandra Bryant.

NON-RESTRICTED CHILDREN’S/ADULT HUNTER CH: Dolce, Stonebridge Farm.RES: Stowaway, Mindy Wurzburg LLC.

BABY GREEN HUNTER CH: Countryside Lane, Carrie Dahmer & Charles Pigg.RES: Top Cat, Jo Jo White.

THOROUGHBRED HUNTER CH: Mondello, Robert Dreyer.RES: Stillwater, Dorothy Rey.

HOPEFUL HUNTER CH: Internet II, Catherine Cram.RES: Argentina, Shawn Hodgen.

3' SPECIAL HUNTER CH: Summerton, Brooke Weiss.RES: Angelo, Grace McMurry.

SHORT/LONG STIRRUP HUNTER CH: Northwinds Top Secret, Anna Athey & Will She Or Won’t She, McKenna Stacy.RES: Soul Train, Martha Belchic-Loeb & Surprise Package, Donna Kroehnke.

WALK-TROT EQUITATION CH: Mika Garrett.RES: Martha Boulware.

WALK-TROT-CANTER HUNTER CH: Sunny Side Up, Nicolette Perry.RES: Brownland’s Millennium, Wind Haven Farm.

PONY JUMPER CH: Tangled Up In Blue, Emma Ellis.RES: Sky Miles, Hallie Rush.

NON-RESTRICTED CHILDREN’S/ADULT JUMPER CH: Zodiac, Lauren Duggan.RES Tie: Colando, Kalista Manor LLC & HJ Emperatriz II, Ashley Martin.

1.00M CHILDREN’S/ADULT JUMPER CH: Sampras, Carson Grisham.RES: The Dragon, Rita Herzog.

1.10M CHILDREN’S/ADULT JUMPER CH: Rainbow Brite, Wonderland Farm LLC.RES: Untouchable, Alessandra Pino.

ADULT AMATEUR JUMPER CH: Odette, Kimberly Lynch.RES: Queeny, Sarah Meyer.

CHILDREN’S/ADULT JUMPER CH: Jon Snow, Mary Hassett.RES Tie: Cavantos, Donald Stewart & Ofrenda, Annie Bolling.

1.20M JR./AMATEUR-OWNER JUMPER CH: Jet, Lila Sessums.RES: Bull Run’s Camacho, The Jaeckle Center.

1.40M JR./AMATEUR-OWNER JUMPER CH Tie: Merlin, Frances Land & Zeros, Farfetched Farm.

V3'6" Perf. Htr. - 1. Viceroy, B. Bolen; 2. Happenstance; 3. Metternich. V3'6" Perf. Htr. - 1. Happenstance; 2. Metternich; 3. Viceroy. V3'6" Perf. Htr. - 1. Nekton; 2. Elementary, Fleur De Lis Farms; 3. McGraw, K. Quinn. V3'6" Perf. Handy Htr. - 1. Allegro, C. Sacher; 2. Brego; 3. Happenstance. V3'6" Perf. Htr. U/S - 1. McGraw; 2. Happenstance; 3. Metternich. V3'3" Perf. Htr. - 1. Blue Label; 2. Ddominicc, A. Corley; 3. Ring Ling, J. Tuttle. V3'3" Perf. Htr. - 1. Blue Label; 2. Story Line, L. Roberts; 3. Regatta, E. Woodall. V3'3" Perf. Htr. - 1. Purple Heart; 2.