Lauren Hough Edges Out Beezie Madden for $50,000 Animal Planet Sporthorse Cup

Syracuse, NY: Today’s final action in downtown Syracuse wrapped up with the “Syracuse Seven” competing in the $50,000 Animal Planet Sporthorse Cup. This competition is the only one of its kind in the world. The three phase format is the brainchild of John Madden, the chairman of the organizing committee of the event. The seven riders were: McLain Ward - USA, Beezie Madden - USA, Margie Engle - USA, Leslie Howard - USA, Stein Endresen - Norway, Harrie Smolders - Netherlands and Lauren Hough - USA.

Phase II is the Four-Bar, a “power” phase that tests the strength and prowess of the horses as well as the riders’ nerves and skills. The riders jump their horses down a line of 4 jumps in a row with each jump getting progressively higher. They jump in order for a total of 4 rounds maximum, but cannot move on to the next round unless they are clear. Between each round, the fences are raised. As the lowest ranked rider, Margie Engle back first. Her horse Hidden Creek’s Wapino had one rail, so they were done for the phase, and Engle opted to retire from the competition. Howard was back next on Lennox Lewis 2, and they jumped clear through the line of four jumps to come back for the next round. Stein Endresen did not have much luck with his Graf Special when they pulled a rail and were done for the phase. Harrie Smolders was next, this time on Riovanna who jumped brilliantly and cleared all the jumps. Beezie Madden was next riding Judgement, one of the horses she rode to win last year’s Sporthorse Cup. They also had a clear round. Lauren Hough on Quick Study and McLain Ward on Pinkata de Longpre both had clear rounds to return for the next round. In the 2nd round Leslie’s horse had a rail and so did McLain’s, while Beezie, Harrie and Lauren all went clear to move to round 3. At this point, the final jump in the line was set to 5’6”.   Beezie rode Judgement through to an impressive clear. Next was Lauren, and she bravely jumped her small horse through the line clean. Last to go was Harrie Smolders. His mare put in a good attempt but had one rail, knocking them out of that phase. This left Beezie and Lauren to jump their horses through the final round with the last jump set at 6’4”.   Lauren opted to not jump her horse this height, explaining to the enthusiastic spectators that her horse is younger and less experienced so she would take the 2 point penalty in the hope that she would still come put ahead in the final round. Beezie guided her powerful horse down the line one last time and much to the crowd’s amazement and delight they cleared 6’4 jump with ease. The pair set a new height record for the Sporthorse Tournament, breaking the record they of 6’2” they set in 2006.