May 20, 2022 
The term “boomerang generation” refers to the 21st century young adults who returned home to their parents after living on their own for a brief period.
While this notion typically describes people, sometimes horses need a little extra time to develop and reassess. Like 12-year-old gelding Faro, for instance.
Mclain Ward (USA) jumped to the win in today’s $65,000 Welcome Stake of North Salem in North Salem, NY, with Faro, a horse who rebounded back into his stable. The Dutch Warmblood was sold by Castle Hill Farm last year, but he didn’t stay gone long.
“It’s been a great day. Faro is a bit of a new horse for Susie Heller, his owner, and myself. We actually sold him about a year and a half ago, but he wasn’t a great match for his rider, so we bought him back. I’m really excited about competing him,” said Ward.
Excited, and he should be. Faro placed third last week in the CSI3* 1.50 Grand Prix. Today, his winning effort over the Alan Wade (IRL) course demonstrates the kind of progress any rider would hope to see.
“He’s a very careful, very competitive horse, and he can do some really great things. In the first round, my strategy was to not make any mistakes. He jumped great last week and was third in the Grand Prix Qualifier, so I knew he was comfortable in the ring. This class had a big jump-off with quite a few clear initially, and I planned to go as fast as I thought I could to put a little pressure on everyone else.”
Following Ward and Faro was Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) and 13-year-old Italian Sport Horse gelding Quality FZ owned by Artemis Equestrian LLC. It was a bit of a podium shuffle, as the pair was second in last week’s CSI3* 1.50 Grand Prix. Quality FZ sports a 72% four-faults or less rate at 1.50m according to JUMPRApp.
Captain Brian Cournane (IRL) finished the podium riding his own 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding Armik. Armik has a 71% four-faults or less rate at 1.50m, according to JUMPRApp.
