Beorn Winner

Show jumper Alex Granato came to the World Equestrian Center to school a sale horse. He ended up winning the Grand Prix.

Granato made his debut appearance at the Wilmington, Ohio show park this week, bringing the ten-year-old gelding Beorn, a re-sale horse owned Alliy Moyer of Indiana, to compete in the open division.

The pair have been competing together since the winter. But for the past six weeks, Beorn’s has been in light work at Granato’s Lexington farm, flatting in the fields for fitness and doing cavalettis and rail exercises to work on his rideability over fences.

The World Equestrian Center Invitational marked the Dutch Warmblood’s first week back in competition since August and first indoor Grand Prix victory with Granato. Last to go in a four-horse jump off for Saturday night’s $50,000 Grand Prix, Granato and Beorn posted the fastest double clear over Steve Stephens shortened course.

No one was more surprised than Granato.

“He’s felt great at home and he’s a competitive horse. But he really surprised me this week,” said the 34-year-old rider. “I thought I’d be a fun warm-up week for him. He was second in the welcome and then to do this tonight I was thrilled with him!”

While winning may not have been the plan for Granato, it appears to be in the cards for Beorn.

“He’s got so much natural power, but he’s a compact horse so he carries it well,” said Granato.

“That’s a little bit what we’ve been working on this year—containing his power and making him a little bit more rideable in his mouth so his job is actually easy on him. He puts too much effort into it sometimes. He’s really starting to work well with himself.”

Veteran show jumper Debbie Stephens seconded that opinion. Stephens discovered the horse in Florida as a six-year-old for then-student Michael Murphy, but ended up selling him to the Moyers. Even at that young age, she believed Beorn had Grand Prix potential.

“You already felt the day you jumped him the first time that he could jump a Grand Prix course. You felt the powerhouse there,” said Stephens.

She’s equally enthused about the match with Granato.

“I saw Alex on him in Florida this winter and I just thought it was the most amazing partnership I’d ever seen,” said Stephens.

“It’s just so nice when you find a talented horse. But it’s funny, he is the same type of rider as Michael…He’s a strong rider, not strong as in aggressive, but he’s always definite. He always gives whatever horse he’s riding a very definite feeling—we’re going forward or we’re coming back. And he rides with a lot of pace and a lot of balance. Usually if you ride with a lot of pace, you don’t ride with balance or if you ride with balance, you ride slow. I think he’s a very talented rider.”

As for Granato, he sees a promising future for the sale horse.

“He’s a fun horse, he’s been competitive from the beginning,” he said. “I think he’s coming into his own.”

Chances are, though, the price just went up.