January 29, 2022 
Shawn Casady and RMF Chacco Top only met a month ago, but Casady immediately found that he and the 13-year-old stallion have a commonality: a strong desire to win.
“He knows what he’s doing, and he’s competitive,” said Casady of the Hanoverian owned by Rushy Marsh Farm, “I don’t know him that well yet, but I can really tell that he loves winning, so we’re a good team. We’re like minded.”
On Saturday, the pair’s like minds came together for the win in the $37,000 Sun Air Jets 1.45m Classic, held during the Desert Circuit II at the Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, CA.
From a field of 24 entries, Casady and RMF Chacco Top were the first of four combinations to advance to the jump-off round, designed by Manuel Esparza. As the first to return for the short course, and with three strong contenders coming behind him, Casady left little to chance, crossing the finish in 41.02 seconds.
“I did hit my ankle on the standard [of the Liverpool after a slick inside turn], but it stayed up!” said Casady in describing his jump-off ride. “It was fun. I’m really lucky to have that horse and the team behind it. I’m really excited.”
Finishing in second place with a jump-off time of 42.01 seconds was Canada’s Vanessa Mannix on her own Catinka 25. With a time of 43.45 seconds, third place went to Mavis Spencer and Con Calle, owned by Georgy Maskrey-Segesman, and fourth place went to Brian Morton who stopped the clock in 44.39 seconds riding Crusador Z, owned by Spruce Meadows Ltd.
Saturday’s victory is Casady’s first FEI victory with RMF Chacco Top, but he’s putting in the work to ensure that it’s far from his last.
“[Chacco Top] arrived between Christmas and New Year’s, so I had two weeks at home in Santa Barbara to spend some time with him and take him up riding around the groves and working in the arena, just taking my time,” said Casady of the stallion that was previously competed by Ireland’s Cormac Hanley. “I was starting him over some little jumps, taking him out hacking—really just working on creating a friendship.
“Right now, I have the opportunity to work with people with similar goals,” continued Casady. “They ask, ‘What do you want to do?’ That’s never really been asked to me before. It’s always been, ‘Get on this horse and get a result.’ Now, I have the opportunity to create my own system, create my own program, create my own goals. I don’t want to be good. I want to be the best.”
For Casady, being the best means not only refining his riding, but working to be a better horseman for the good of the animals that he’s riding.
“[You can have natural talent], but then the technique can kind of the fall through the cracks,” explained Casady, 27. “I’ve been really working on my own technique. I’ve always been natural and athletic enough to do it, but right now, my focus is refining, refining, refining. I think good horses thrive off of that, and good horses create good riders. My goal is to become the best rider that I can be, but also the best horseman. I want to go as far as I can in the sport of show jumping, but without ever sacrificing my morals as a horseman.
“I’m just excited to see what the future brings!”
For full results of Saturday’s $37,000 Sun Air Jets 1.45m Classic, click here.
Show jumping competition at the Desert International Horse Park’s Desert Circuit II culminates on Sunday, January 30, with the $138,600 Purina Grand Prix 1.55m CSI3* beginning at 2 p.m. (PST). Catch all the action live on deserthorsepark.com.
