A week ago, British show jumping athlete Jessica Mendoza was on a horseback safari in Africa admiring elephants and other wildlife from the comfort of the saddle. This week, she switched gears for week 2 of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) and rode to a win in the $32,000 CSI3* Adequan® WEF Challenge Cup Round 2 from a star-studded order that included multiple Olympians and top-ten ranked athletes. Highlighted by 12 weeks of consecutive FEI competition, WEF continues through March 30 at Wellington International in Wellington, FL.
After returning from her African vacation, Mendoza took to the grass derby field on Friday afternoon for a victory riding In The Air, a mare creating buzz and already winning up to the CSI5* level with the FEI World Cup™ finalist.
“It was incredible,” Mendoza said of kicking off her season with a big win after a jump-off against a “who’s who” of international show jumping riders that included world no. 1 and Thursday’s victor Henrick Von Eckermann (SWE), German Olympian Richard Vogel and world no. 3 Ben Maher (GBR) to name a few. “It was not an easy jump-off against those boys, so it was nice to beat them.”
Mendoza was one of 14 to jump clear over Olaf Petersen, Jr.’s (GER) first-round track, and one of only three women to get the job done. She took over the lead midway through the jump-off, knowing there were still fast riders behind her.
“My horse is honestly the most incredible horse to go in the ring on, let alone a jump-off,” Mendoza said of In The Air, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Air Jordan x Indoctro). “I have complete faith in her but it’s pretty nice to see them behind me.”
Rounding out the podium was Vogel claiming second place with Cydello. Venezuela’s Luis Fernando Larrazabal took third riding Quick Chick 3 for owner Victoria Huertematte.
“She is the most unique horse I’ve had,” Mendoza went on about In The Air, a horse she began competing internationally at WEF about a year ago. “You can’t jump her at home, she’s horse-shy, people-shy, but you go in the ring and she puts her blinkers on and all she wants to do is win. She’s all business.”
Mendoza found In The Air and her brother, Summerhouse, in the Netherlands being produced by a young rider up to the 1.45m level. A group of her clients came together to purchase both horses for Mendoza to campaign.
“All the moms of my clients got involved so we call it the ‘Mom Club’,” she joked. “We had big plans for her and she’s exceeded them. I’m not sure where she’s going to go but I think she’ll go all the way.”
For Mendoza, WEF is an ideal place to lay the foundation for major goals, especially considering she has several horses that could use the exposure and development in a thrilling atmosphere.
“It’s an exciting year; I have a really good group of horses,” she continued. “I’d love to build this mare towards Nations Cups and championships and see how the others come along. WEF is a great place to do that.”
The preparation with In The Air is as unique as the mare herself, so Mendoza has had to learn to cater her training specifically towards this horse and leave behind the training work she does with most other mounts.
“She has such a positive attitude,” she elaborated. “I take my time and plan everything for her. I don’t ride how I want to ride, I ride how she needs to be ridden. I think she really appreciates that. She’s so careful that doesn’t need to jump big at home; I train, work on her straightness and then she comes and does her job in the ring.”
For complete results from the $32,000 CSI3* Adequan® WEF Challenge Cup Round 2, click HERE.
Mendoza sets her sights now on Sunday afternoon’s $140,000 WeatherTech CSI3* Grand Prix, but before that is Saturday’s $32,000 Hermès CSI3* 1.50m Classic on the grass and $50,000 Palm Beach Equine Clinic Grand Prix in the International Ring under the lights.
BrainJuice Under 25 athletes jogged their horses for U25 action, which begins Saturday as well with the U25 Welcome and 1.40m. U25 competition will conclude for the week with Sunday's $31,020 BrainJuice U25 Grand Prix on the grass field.
Full results from WEF 2 are available HERE.
