Pro and Restricted Pro 3'6" Finals Led by Take Away and Jivago

On Saturday evening, May 14th Schatt and Cortie Wetherill’s Take Away won the Pro 3’6” Finals and she was thrilled. “He’s amazing,” said Schatt about Take Away. “He’s slow, he’s scopey and you never question anything you have to jump.”

Take Away only started competing in hunters at the 2005 Winter Equestrian Festival. He mostly competed in jumpers before that, but he’s taken to this new discipline with ease. “He’s a little sensitive because of his jumper career,” added Schatt. “He doesn’t want to make a mistake and when he does he tries extra hard the next time.”

Schatt felt comfortable going into the final phase of the Pro 3’6” division but still knew that anything can happen. In the First Go Round, Take Away changed his lead and that put them ninth in the order but this time without that mistake, his skill shone through and his score of 278 dominated the field and earned them $1,672. Schatt also won the Walter J. Lee Perpetual Trophy as the Pro rider who totaled the most money throughout the 3’/3’6” divisions ($9,839).

Second place honors went to the winner of the $1500 Pro 3’6” First Go Round, Paladijn, owned by Bryan Baldwin and ridden by Louise Serio with a score of 259.5 and $1,232. A third place ribbon and $1,056 went to the first Restricted Pro 3’6” rider whose score of 259 put Bass and Jivago in the lead of their division. They also won the Restricted Pro 3’6” Go Round on May 12. They earned $150 for being the leading Restricted Pro Rider. Bass also added an additional $450 after also winning the Restricted Pro Championship. Her total was $1,656.

Bass was excited about her wins and thrilled with Jivago. “He is brilliant to ride. You just squeeze to the base of the oxers and he powers over them and gives you the most amazing feeling. He also learns from his mistakes.”

Jivago does have his quirks and if you watch closely as he goes around the ring, you’ll see a little tongue hanging out. “He licks and chews,” added Bass, “and he always tries to grab the plants.”

However this time there was no grabbing for Jivago as he took the course by force. “I felt really good,” explained Bass. “He was giving me a confident feeling. He was on the job. He wanted to win. This was a reward for all we’ve been doing.” Earlier in the day there was a torrential downpour and since Bass shares the ride on Jivago with his owner Candace Lubar who competes in the Children’s Hunters, he was also supposed to compete outside. However, Lubar opted to scratch so that Jivago would stay “fresh and excited” for the Pro Finals. “It was a very generous thing for her to do,” explained Bass. Both Bass and Lubar hail from Ohio.

Bass has just recently returned to the hunter ring as an outgrowth of her own business, since most of her clients compete on hunters. Now she divides herself between the hunters and jumpers. “It’s becoming more and more fun,” she admits. “Both are very difficult in their own way. I am very competitive and I like the thrill of the jumpers. Both disciplines are technical but the hunters require an accurate, smooth and invisible ride which has helped me in the jumper ring.”

While Bass was delighted with her victories, she also focused her comments on the importance of the Legacy Cup. “I consider it the Grand Prix of the Hunters. It’s really important to give amateurs, juniors and professionals a goal and it is fun to have a big class.”