AP Prime rocks it at The Red Hills CIC**

Leah Lang-Gluscic and AP at The Owl. Photo courtesy Cheryl Denault/HorseJunkiesUnited.com

Leah Lang-Gluscic, a former banker-turned-equestrian has to pinch herself at the return she gets on the best $750 investment she ever made.

Her ex-racehorse Thoroughbred AP Prime, whom she purchased from CANTER Illinois for short money, continues to rock the Warmblood world back on its collective hooves as she and her flashy dark bay advance up the Eventing ranks.

Fresh from a good showing at their first CIC** this past March 8-10, at The Red Hills, Lang-Gluscic was thrilled with the performance of her quick-thinking Thoroughbred; he handled the toughest course of his young career with aplomb, she says.

“Every single jump from start to finish was huge, the terrain was very tough, and the technical questions were very challenging,” Lang-Gluscic says. “To be honest, it’s the first time in a while that I have actually been nervous in the warm up.

“He was jumping a bit on the casual side and was very nonchalant in his whole demeanor, but I knew I would need him to be attacking the jumps to have a good round—so I was a little on edge.”

Lang-Gluscic checks out a jump. Photo by Cheryl Denault/HorseJunkiesUnited.com

But she need not worry. AP knew what to do.

“Everything changed as soon as we got to the start box,” she says. “AP became nothing short of electric!”

Exploding forward, he literally skipped through a difficult combination at Fence 4 as Lang-Gluscic relaxed. By the time they roared up to fences 18 and 19—the largest obstacles on the course— AP sailed right over, making “easy work” of them, she says.

“The course was designed by Hugh Lochore, and it was absolutely brilliant! It asked more and more of my horse, and because it asked so much, he grew more and more confident at every fence.”

At the end of the day, against the best of the best, AP finished 13^th, a solid score that puts them within striking distance of qualifying at the two-star level.

“This cross-country run gets us one step closer to our goals of competing at the highest levels of the sport.  And when your horse, who has only been eventing for a year and nine months, cruises around one of the toughest CIC** in the country with ease, you can’t help but get excited for his future!!”

AP Prime was first featured in an OffTrackThoroughbreds.com story on Jan. 15. If we have featured your OTTB in the past, and you wish to update us, please write to Susan Salk at susansalk@gmail.com.