Katie Gardner Gets the Win in $100,000 DIHP Pro Equitation Challenge

Thermal, Calif. – The $100,000 DIHP 3’3” Pro Equitation Challenge, presented by Valencia Sport Saddlery, offers the rare opportunity for professional riders to step into the equitation ring and compete for substantial prize money. That alone makes winning the class at Desert International Horse Park significant; however, for this year’s winner, Katie Gardner, the victory on Friday, February 27, felt even more meaningful.

“The words, they’re hard,” said an emotional Gardner following her win at Desert Circuit 8. “I lost my dad a few months ago, and it’s all for him, honestly. It’s so hard not to be able to call him. I just had to make a choice to keep going.”

On Friday, Gardner kept going up the ranks through three rounds of competition in DIHP’s Grand Prix Stadium. A field of 45 professionals took on the first-round equitation course, designed by Archer Bailey, on Friday afternoon. Then, the top 12 riders were invited back on a clean slate for a second round under the lights on Friday night. From there, the top four competitors switched horses for a final test phase.

At the conclusion of the first round, Gardner sat in third place aboard Dark Harbor, owned by Monarch Farms LLC, and at the end of the second round, she sat in second.

“I have a tendency to sort of rush. My goal today was to just take it one step at a time,” said Gardner. “The course was super fun. I liked a lot of the different tests…I also kind of liked where I was sitting coming into [round two]. I know it’s a clean the slate, but I kind of had a feeling it was a good spot to be in, a little bit behind. So, I just gave it my all that second round. I have to say, I felt the most relaxed I’ve ever felt, and I think maybe that showed.”

Gardner continued, “It means a lot to me to have the opportunity to ride [Dark Harbor]. Every step of the way with our short career, he’s just done nothing wrong, and he’s given me so much confidence. It’s just one of those horses where – it doesn’t matter what’s in the ring or what test there is – he doesn’t falter. Just to have that is really, really cool.”

While the 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood – that Gardner just began riding in December – got her to the final test, it was Gardner’s ride aboard Zoe Brown’s mount, Kronos, that ended up clinching her the win. With Brown leading heading into the final phase, she and Gardner switched mounts. Nicole Bourgeois on Loui K and Juliette Joseph on Vivant sat in third and fourth place, respectively, and also swapped rides with one another.

“The switch horse looked lovely to ride, and I watched it and thought that there were places I could be pretty slick on that horse!” said Gardner, who proved to be quite slick indeed, securing her the victory.

Bourgeois moved up a spot to take second place; Brown finished in third, and Joseph rounded out the top four.

“A few years ago, I thought I was going to give up on the whole thing, and I met these people [at Pegasus Show Stable], and they brought me out of a lot of despair,” said Gardner, who currently rides for Pegasus alongside the Endicott family. “They’re my family now too, and to have their support has been huge. As well as Danielle [Morrow] trusting us to buy the horse. We were like, ‘We really love this horse,’ and she said, ‘Absolutely!’ So, I mean, there are a lot of different levels to this win today. It means a lot for sure.”

Gardner concluded, “What a cool class – and the prize money! It’s just really, really cool to get that opportunity because I don’t do the big jumpers anymore. So, I don’t quite ever get to ride for that much money. I think it’s really, really awesome that they’re supporting it that way, and I can’t wait to do it again!”

For full results of the $100,000 DIHP 3’3” Pro Equitation Challenge, presented by Valencia Sport Saddlery, click here.