Kerrigan Gluch rides HGF Brio in Wellington.
Kerrigan Gluch Rides P.R.E. Horses To Success On Dressage Circuit In the early 1980s, the P.R.E. — which stands for Pura Raza Española or Pure Spanish Horse — started to be introduced in the international dressage world. The great Alvaro Domecq catapulted the breed into the high competitive scenery. Very few people bet on the Iberian horses back then, since the international dressage world was dominated by Warmbloods. Three decades later, thanks to the investment of breeders and owners, the P.R.E. has the respect of the judges, and the United States is now home to the second-largest population of P.R.E. horses in the world. Today, there are a growing number of young, talented riders who choose P.R.E. horses for dressage competition, which means that the Spanish horse is among the future stars of American dressage. One of these riders is Kerrigan Gluch. “I have found the P.R.E. horses to be super-sensitive,” Gluch said. “Their personalities are very prominent. With each horse, you can tell their personalities very quickly, and that makes it much easier to adjust to a new horse. The Spanish horses are still new to international dressage, so I think when
you ride a horse that is still new to the judge’s eye, it makes you ride much more correctly and accurately in order to get the scores that are needed.” Gluch met Kimberly Van Kampen, owner of Hampton Green Farm and a major supporter of P.R.E breeding, through Lendon Grey’s Dressage for Kids program. “I participated in Dressage for Kids for many years,” Gluch said. “Through those clinics, I attended Robert Dover HorseMastership Week the first time it was held, seven years ago in Wellington.” Students in the program rode horses provided by local sponsors, and Van Kampen provided HGF Camaron IX for Gluch to ride during the Robert Dover event. “I just happened to ride her horse,” Gluch recalled. “I’m originally from Michigan, and she has a farm in Michigan. I started as a working student at age 15, and it just kind of developed from there.”
Gluch spent the summer there working with Van Kampen and her team. She helped prepare several of Hampton Green Farm’s horses for the next winter season and returned with Van Kampen to Hampton Green Farm in Wellington. Since then, Gluch has been advancing up the levels in dressage on Van Kampen’s P.R.E. horses. She found success in 2015 at the North American Junior & Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC), when she became reserve champion with Vaquero HGF in the Young Rider Division. After a successful 2016 season in Wellington, Gluch was selected for the European Tour, including the CDI in Compiègne, France and the Festival of Champions in Hagen, Germany. Then 19 years old, Gluch and 2007 P.R.E. stallion Vaquero HGF concluded the 2016 USEF Young Rider Euro Tour in the ribbons at the Young Riders Nations Cup in Hagen, capping the six-week tour of Europe. The Hagen CDIOY, known as the PSI Future Champions show, brings together teams of Young Riders and other youth levels from all over Europe in both dressage and show jumping. wellington the magazine | april 2018
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