Articles: Horse News
Todd Flettrich Leaves Lexington Disappointed, But Not Discouraged
Todd Flettrich and Otto. Photo © 2010 Lauren Fisher.
Contact:
Lauren Fisher for
Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com
Wellington, FL - April 30, 2010 - Todd Flettrich and Cherry Knoll Farm's
Otto traveled to the Kentucky Horse Park to compete in the 2010 Kentucky Cup
CDI*** Dressage Tests, but had a disappointing weekend when Otto showed up
not feeling well. On Tuesday, Flettrich rode the Grand Prix test and
finished seventh, but Otto did not have his usual brilliance. When Otto
still wasn't feeling well on Wednesday, Flettrich chose to withdraw from the
competition, and sent Otto home to Florida to rest.
"We completed the test, but it was definitely not our best," Flettrich
noted. "The nice thing about it was that he really kept on trying for me,
but he definitely didn't feel right. I chose to ride the Grand Prix to prove
that he could still do it under difficult circumstances, but I didn't want
people to think that there was something permanently wrong with him."
Flettrich has his qualifying scores to compete at the Alltech FEI World
Equestrian Games Selection Trials in August, so he chose to compete in
Lexington to get used to the facility and keep working on the tests. "I
want to stay in the arena and work towards scoring in the 70th percentile so
that I can stay at the top of my game," Flettrich stated. "We came all that
way to compete in Lexington, and I went thinking that I was going to do very
well, and the horse has been going so well, so it was disappointing."
Now that Otto has had a week off and is feeling better, Flettrich plans to
work him lightly through May before returning to competition in June. The
pair will do one national show and then Flettrich's goal is to take a brief
trip to Europe to compete in Aachen in July.
Other than the competition, Flettrich acknowledged that he had a great time
with the other riders that were all at the horse park for the WEG tests and
the Rolex Three-Day Event. Flettrich had never shown at the Horse Park and
was very impressed with the new stadium and facilities. "I thought the
facilities were excellent and I thought it was also fabulous to spend time
with all of the riders," he said. "The Eventers were so cool; we definitely
got more spectators from them being there and we also got to hang out with
all of the other equestrians; it was just so fun."
Todd Flettrich is based in Wellington, FL, has earned his USDF Silver and
Gold Medals, and is a graduate of the USDF 'L' Judge Program. Flettrich
competed at the North American Young Riders Championships (NAYRC) four times
and won the Individual Gold Medal and Team Silver in 1991. Flettrich served
as Region 1 Coach and Chef d'Equipe at NAYRC from 1988 through 1994. His
student Catherine Malone won the Individual Gold in 2005. Flettrich's
current mounts are owned by Cherry Knoll Farm. For more information, call
Todd Flettrich at 484-459-2749.
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