Blythe Marano Victorious in USEF Talent Search

Blythe Marano, 17, of Bedminster, New Jersey, riding Little Foot for owner Missy Clark and North Run Stables, topped a class of 22 entries today to win the two-phase USEF Talent Search at the Manchester Summer Festival, the first week of the Vermont Summer Festival Horseshows in East Dorset, Vermont.  With 800 horses on the grounds and five rings in action, stand-out performances also included Whitney Goulart’s win in the USEF Hunter Seat Medal, and Andrew Philbrick’s victory in the Open NAL Speed III.

With Judge Mike Rosser officiating, Marano solidly showcased her expertise in the USEF Talent Search, which included an equally weighted jumper phase and a flat phase. It was only the second time Marano had ever ridden the seven-year-old bay gelding, Little Foot, and she gave full credit to the talented young horse.  “He’s flashy on the flat and he’s very simple for me to ride,” said Marano.  “I like riding him a lot. He’s very straightforward.  He doesn’t spook at anything.”

Marano is aiming to qualify for her third consecutive trip to the USEF Talent Search finals held at the USET Foundation headquarters in Gladstone, New Jersey.  She has won the flat phase of the finals for the past two years.  Marano competes in the high junior jumpers, but she prefers classes on the flat.  “I like doing equitation more.  I have a tendency to make my jumpers go low and do equitation courses on them. I like doing tighter turns rather than flying!” she laughed.

Anthony D’Ambrosio designed the USEF Talent Search 11-jump course, the first phase of the class, which included three double combinations and several bending lines. “The jumper phases are always my stronger point because there’s a lot of room to fix things, especially on a bending line,” Marano said.  “I don’t usually count (strides) very much when I go around the course.  I ride off of my eye.”

All 22 riders were invited back for the flat phase.  Marano noted that the horse’s abilities to show extensions or to respond appropriately to the rider’s leg are part of what contributes to the judge’s assessment, and she acknowledged that with Light Foot, she had the advantage of a cooperative mount.  “Light Foot will do whatever you ask,” Marano said. “It was up to me to keep my heels down and my back straight.”

Marano, a high school junior who plans to attend Columbia University in New York as a business major, has been riding since age three, and for the past four years has been in training with Missy Clark.  Marano notes that at North Run Stables, she’s grown accustomed to riding horses she doesn’t know well, which helped prepare her for today’s win aboard a new partner.  “The good thing is we ride so many horses in the barn that eventually it gets easier and easier just to hop on.”