Local favourites Kassidy Keith and Havana are familiar faces in the victory gallop at Thunderbird Show Park—this Sunday included. Langley’s resident speed specialists topped a two-horse jump off to claim victory in the 1.40m Langley Grand Prix at the West Coast Classic.
But, it’s just one of many tbird titles for this pair.
Under the saddle of 27-year old since age four, Keith developed Havana up to the five-star level and 1.60m height. They’ve earned 10 international podium finishes to date all at tbird, including two wins. And at age 13, the mare is in her prime with many more likely to come.
We caught up with Keith to learn more about this dynamic duo.
They’ve only ever once had a time fault.
“In one of the very first Grand Prix’s I jumped on her, it was pouring rain and I was so nervous I was probably blue in the face. I said to my mom, ‘If I have a time fault, I don’t even care because I don’t want to jump off.’ And I had one time fault. I came out of the ring and I was still so happy and I haven’t had one since. Now, I actually like to ride in the rain because I find she fights a little bit harder.”
Havana taught Keith to be a forward thinker
“I don’t ever really think about the time allowed with her because I just ride so forward. She used to jump so high I needed to think about moving forward so that she was still covering the ground. I think I learned [how to ride forward] with her.”
She’s actually quite lazy
“Havana never had any soundness issues. She’s pretty easygoing. We don’t jump a lot at home. It’s mostly just managing her energy level because she does get quite lazy and then we have to jazz her up a little bit on the flat. I’ll sit trot and ask her to go forward and come back so that she’s really listening. Lots of trot-canter transitions. Otherwise she’ll just canter on a normal quiet rhythm.
“But for the most part, you could put any kid on her and she would jump right around. And she’s quiet and safe.”
But she also has an “inner demon”
“There are days when she’s feisty—I call it her inner demon. Like I brought her out to hack this morning and she was wild! Sometimes I just have to put her back [in the stall] because there’s no point. I don’t want to fight with her. So I trot around a little bit, canter and then I give her back to the girls. Usually those days she comes out fighting and she normally wins so I’m okay with it. When she’s a little revved up, it’s usually a good day.”
She loves her people
“When I’m not around she acts a little funny. She’s never colicked, but she’ll start rolling in her stall if I’ve been away too long. Usually when she’s like that I spend more time with her because she likes people and used to being with me all the time. So I graze her. I mucked her stall this morning. I like to give her a bath, it’s one of my favorite things to do.”
