21 Challenge Series Wrap Up!

The 21 Challenge Series targets Young Riders at the Preliminary and 1* level. Competitors rode for the top cumulative results throughout the series which included Stable View’s March 21st – 22nd Horse Trials, Fair Hill International on April 14th – 16th, and Plantation Field’s May 13th Horse Trials.
Holland Garret, 19, won the series aboard her own LA Lux, 13. She grew up in Los Gatos, California, but relocated last year to Kennett Square, Pennsylvania to train with Phillip Dutton. Growing up, she did a few horse camps over the summer in elementary school, but a trip to England in 6th grade to see the Grand Nationals made her want to take riding lessons and be more serious about the sport. In her sophomore year of high school, she traveled to Ireland to look for a horse to move up the levels with. This is when she found Lenni. He’s an Irish Sport horse and “has a little bit of a diva persona,” Holland says. The pair started off together at novice, and he took her to her first training, preliminary, and even intermediate events. The pair attempted a CIC2* this time last year but had a bad fall on cross country. Since then, the two have been rebuilding confidence and taking things slowly.
Holland Garrett aboard LA Lux took home the blue in the Junior Young Rider Preliminary Division at Stable View on March 21st and 22nd. She began the show with a 33.40 in dressage and only added 8.40 of time penalties after cross country. A double clear show jumping round on a tough track sealed her win. Holland reflects on competing at Stable View by saying, “the courses were really well thought out. The cross country was slightly more technical, causing some issues in all preliminary divisions, and it made you ride tough. I thought the show jumping required you to ride off of your eye, which I really enjoyed. You could go in with a plan, but it really depended on how you rode into everything and how you reacted.”
Holland again rode LA Lux at the Fair Hill International Event, this time in the CIC*. She started off in 11th place after dressage with a score of 49.90. Double clear cross country and show jumping rounds moved her up to a 6th place finish. When looking back at Fair Hill, she says she “thought the show jumping required a more forward ride, which set me up to keep thinking forward once I got out on cross country. I usually struggle with making time on Lenni, but the open feeling of the course made it easy to keep kicking on.”
While Holland withdrew from Plantation Field Horse Trials, she still took the lead in the 21 Challenge series with her impressive results at Stable View and Fair Hill International.
Holland believes “this series did a really great job setting up challenging, yet confidence building events for both horse and rider.” She won up to one month’s free board with use of the equestrian amenities, on-site apartment accommodations, and training sessions at Stable View during the 2018 winter season. However, Holland would love to give back to the eventing community by donating the board at Stable View.
“I keep my horses with Phillip year round, so I think it would be nice to give back to another young rider who could use the help, plus it’s an amazing facility. I am super excited to get a chance to expand my riding knowledge and be able to participate in the training sessions offered. I think this series is a great new addition and does an amazing job targeting young riders to set goals and give us some great opportunities to learn and keep advancing in our sport.”