Sara Christensen Smith rode her own Galileo, aka Gali, to earn the high score of 62.279% in the Adult Amateur Prix St. Georges (PSG) at the Adequan Dressage Days Green Mountain Horse Association’s (GMHA) July show.

Sara and Gali were presented the GMHA Judy Cummings Award for the accomplishment in only their fourth PSG in competition and were given a cooler for Gali while Sara’s name has been engraved on a perpetual trophy.

Gali is a 2006 Belgian Warmblood gelding (Vision-Myra) whom Sara trained herself. She purchased him as a green 3-year-old to be a hunter/jumper horse.

“Gali was my first dressage horse, so this whole process was kind of the blind leading the blind, besides Ruth of course,” she said. “I just think it a real testament to Gali, a horse not genetically or conformation-wise suited to be an FEI horse with a hunter/jumper rider posing as a DQ, that he accomplished this!”

What’s next for the duo?

“That’s the million dollar question right now,” she said, adding that she never thought Gali would go any higher in competition but he continues to exceed her expectations. “So, we’ll continue to train and start to school some higher-level movements. And I’d really like to start freestyling.”

Looking for a new training plan? Ruth occasionally has training slots become available. Contact Ruth directly at vibaek@aol.com to be added to her Vermont or Florida waitlist. In the meanwhile, sign up for the newsletter to get first alerts on openings!