December 17, 2022 
It’s been over 30 years since American show jumper Aaron Vale has returned to his home state of Texas to compete.
His full service training and sales facility Thinkslikeahorse operates out of Williston, Florida, which is more than a stone’s throw from Texas. As one of America’s winningest Grand Prix riders (275 and counting), Vale has done his fair share of touring but generally sticks to the East Coast. This week, Vale changed up his itinerary and returned to Texas for the CSI4*-W at Split Rock Fort Worth.
The journey “home” proved to be worth his while. Vale logged the first international win of the week in the $75,000 Lugano Diamonds 1.50m Welcome CSI4*-W on Thursday aboard 10-year-old gelding Prescott. Vale also came fourth with his 2021 World Cup Finals Liepzig partner, 13-year-old gelding Elusive.
In order to win a show jumping class you might think you need to do more than your competitors. The truth is you need to do a little less. Last to contest the Anderson Lima (BRA) shortened track, a little less time and one less stride was the formula for U.S. rider Aaron Vale to take top honors. He and Prescott finished on a brisk 33.70 second time.
“In the first line, I left a stride out, doing one less than everybody else, so I kind of had a little bit of a lead from the get-go. Then I just had to stay on the pace from there and not make a mistake. I got a bit lucky with a rub at the Longines oxer, but it stayed up and he jumped the rest of them super,” Vale said.
Following him was Lillie Keenan (USA) and her 13-year-old stallion Queensland E, with whom she recently won her first CSI5* Grand Prix in Monterrey, Mexico along the Major League Show Jumping (MLSJ) tour. Their 34.43 second finish in Forth Worth was enough for second.
Rounding out the podium was Chris Sorensen (CAN) and 12-year-old gelding Chinox with a time of 35.33 seconds, a respectable result considering it is Chinox’s first 4* class.
Vale and Prescott have been jumping international classes together since 2020, but Thursday marked a first for them too: the Welcome was their first 4* win together. The gelding’s stats are only on the rise, and out of 16 rounds at 1.50m Prescott boasts a 47% top ten finish rate. It’s a 29% improvement according to Jumpr App.
Though it’s near impossible to numericize the feeling of a victory gallop around the Will Rodgers Memorial Center, based on Vale’s smile we gather its a 10 out of 10.
