There’s something about showjumping’s biggest stage that brings out the best in its competitors.
DeWinton’s Tayah Sobie continued an almost annual tradition of mastery at the Spruce Meadows Masters in winning an event and earning a second-place finish in the All Canada Ring.
“You know going to the Masters that it’s going to be tough,” said Sobie, a 2015 graduate of Foothills Composite. “The courses are going to be hard, the jumps are going to be big and the competition is going to be stiff so you go in very well prepared as opposed to some of the other shows.”
Sobie with her new mare Brise CR enjoyed an ideal lead into the Masters with a terrific summer including strong finishes at Spruce Meadows’ National and North American.
The riding partnership has grown steadily in just one year.
“A major part is my trainer Frank Selinger. He’s really good at picking out each horse and what they need and how to help you figure them out faster. I definitely wouldn’t be able to do it on my own. She’s a pretty easy going horse and she’s got a lot of heart and puts up with my mistakes.”
Those miscues were few and far between in the All Canada Ring.
Sobie was one of just four competitors to jump to a clear round in the Philips, Hager & North Cup at the 1.40 m height on Friday.
“They pulled out all the stops, they had a really difficult last fence, it was a skinny,” she said. “There was a lot of tricky fences on the course. They used the natural obstacles on the top and then you’re coming downhill to a plank jump that’s on flat cup that’s really easy to knockdown.”
She went on to win the jump off by over three seconds, anxiously waiting to see if her score would hold up. It’s the first win she’s enjoyed at 1.40m.
“I knew I had a lot of good riders behind me and didn’t feel secure. I just held my breath and hoped for the best,” she said. “It’s only my second show in metre-40 so it was all very new to me. That was pretty incredible, definitely a pleasant surprise.”
She nearly repeated the feat the next day in the same ring. Sobie jumped to a second place finish in the JLT Cup at the 1.40m height. Priddis’ Ben Asselin was first while Okotokian Lisa Carlsen claimed third.
“I needed to ride like I did on Friday and be positive and ride forward, that was key with my horse,” she said. “Not to get overconfident was a big thing too, to make sure I rode every jump how it needed to be ridden.”
A Spruce Meadows competitor since riding ponies at the age of 10, Sobie is zeroing in on jumping at the venue’s biggest arena – the International Ring – after knocking down victories in incrementally higher divisions.
“That’s definitely my dream,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t know how close I am yet, but it’s a goal of mine and it would be really special to ride at a ring like that at Spruce Meadows.”
In the International Ring, the richest event in showjumping saw Philipp Weishaupt of Germany claim top prize in the CP International while Canadian superstar Eric Lamaze finished fifth.
The United States won the prestigious Nations Cup, Brazil was second and Germany third.
