The pathfinder to kick off the Pan Am eventing dressage phase for Canada on Friday was Karl Slezak riding Fernhill Wishes. “It was fantastic,” said Slezak after his smooth, composed ride. “I was really focused on the quality today; there were a few little blips in the accuracy, but I was really pleased with it.”
The only obvious error was a rough canter transition at C. ” I was focussing on getting that energy for the transition and didn’t really focus on the bend and then he was late, so that was unfortunate.” He added that coming down the first centreline he was feeling so good he nearly forgot to halt. The pair was rewarded with a score of 27.7 pp, which Slezak said was his best test not just at this level, but ever.
Slezak has owned the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, who hails from Fernhill Sport Horses in southern Ireland, since he was a four-year-old. The horse was carefully moved up the ranks over the years, but a planned trip to Kentucky CCI5* this spring was thwarted when Slezak broke his wrist.