Ashlee Bond and Ace Of Hearts won the $126,000 Reliable Equipment Rentals Grand Prix CSI at the WCHR Summer Fort Festival in Langley, British Columbia. Bond had to go very fast in the jump-off to beat Rich Fellers and Flexible. Ace Of Hearts is a feisty 8-year-old gelding with a temperamental personality, but Bond's patience has paid off as the horse has won three grand prix classes in his first year at the level. Brent Balisky won the $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the same event with Classical, his first time jumping the horse over 3'6".

1. 88 The Chronicle of the Horse
HORSE SHOWS
Bond’s
Patience
Pays Off
For A Grand
Prix Win At
Thunderbird
She and Ace Of Hearts
overcome a rocky
beginning to triumph in
British Columbia.
BY KATIE ALLARD
PHOTOS BY AIMEE MAKRIS –
MOI PHOTOGRAPHY
W
hen Rich Fellers and
his Olympic veteran
Flexible went clear in
the $126,000 Reliable
Equipment Rentals Grand Prix CSI
jump-off at the WCHR Summer Fort
Festival in Langley, British Columbia,
Ashlee Bond knew she and Ace Of
Hearts would have to be good to catch
him. Despite being 19 years young,
“Flexi” has lost none of the speed that
enabled him to win the 2012 Rolex FEI
World Cup Final (Sweden).
“I knew that I was capable of going at
least as fast as him,” Bond said. “It was
whether we were going to jump clear or
not.”
The8-year-oldHolsteinergelding
(Ace—Ezrah)didjustthat,stoppingthe
clockjustafewtenthsofasecondfaster
thanFellersat40.06andsecuringthewin
attheThunderbirdShowParkonAug.23.
“It was a really cool thing because I
finally got to get to a jump-off with Flexi
and see how fast my little demon child
could go,” said Bond, of Hidden Hills,
Calif. “He proved that he is capable, so
that is the first step.”
The pair bested a tough field,
including Richard Spooner, who bred
Ace Of Hearts and has been Bond’s
mentor since she started training with
“He’s probably the smartest horse I’ve
ever ridden,” she said. “He’s never going
to go conventionally. He’s never going to
go where I want him to go.”
She did note that Spike can have a
softer side and behave very well, causing
outsiders to liken him to a sweet pony.
A Trying Beginning
However, when Spike was younger,
his smart attitude and temperamental
personality were a lot to handle, and
Bond didn’t always think he was worth
the trouble. While she was living in
Belgium, she sent Spike back to Los
Angeles in May of 2014 to live with her
dad, Steve Bond, who manages the
family’s Little Valley Farm.
him at age 13.
“It’s always fun and cool [to compete
against Spooner],” said Bond, 30.
“Richard was standing at the back gate,
and we were all really excited because
this was such a big win for this little
guy.”
“Little demon child” is just one of
many nicknames Bond uses to describe
the feisty gelding. While his barn name
is “Spike,” she also calls him “Lil’ devil
pony” and “Zlatan” (a Swedish profes-
sional soccer player known for his talent
but also his attitude). Bond says the
names describe his personality both in
and out of the ring.
“He’s Dennis the Menace,” she said.
“That is exactly him. Sometimes he just
wakes up on the wrong side of the bed,
and there is nothing [you can do]. He’s
just a little brat.”
Instead, Bond has to make Spike think
that everything is his idea, and she tries
to stay out of his way as much as she can.
At one point Ashlee Bond tried to give Ace Of
Hearts away due to his feisty temperament,
but he’s secured a place in her stable now
with wins in classes such as the $126,000
Reliable Equipment Rentals Grand Prix CSI
at the WCHR Summer Fort Festival.

2. September 14, 2015 • chronofhorse.com 89
Sometimes
he just wakes
up on the
wrong side of
the bed.”
—ASHLEE BOND
$95,734
RELIABE RENTALS
GRAND PRIX CSI***
Langley, British Columbia,
Canada—Aug. 23
HORSE/RIDER/NATION FAULTS TIME PURSE
1. Ace Of Hearts/
Ashlee Bond/USA
0-0 40.06 $31,592
2. Flexible/Rich
Fellers/USA
0-0 40.43 19,146
3. SF Ariantha/Andres
Rodriguez/VEN
0-0 42.86 14,360
4. Ziedento/Susie
Hutchison/USA
0-0 43.74 9,573
5. Okapi De Terlong/
Jenn Serek/CAN
0-0 49.42 5,744
6. New York/Hardin
Towell/USA
0-4 43.41 4,308
7. Christian Grey/
Tiffany Sullivan/USA
0-4 49.43 2,872
8. Chivas Z/Richard
Spooner/USA
0-4 50.65 2,393
9. Baldira/Ray Texel/
USA
0-8 40.62 1,914
10. Ayma De La Demi
Lune/Cara Anthony/
USA
0-16 54.29 1,914
Also competed: 11. Lapsus Du Lavoir/F. Steinwedell-
Carvin/USA, 4; 12. The Dude/W. Simpson/USA, 4; 13.
Djakarta/A. Strain/CAN, 4; 14. Calero/A. Hecht/USA, 4;
15. Plume De La Roque/B. Asselin/CAN, 4; 16. Quigley/K.
King/USA, 4; 17. Bybalia SMH/J. Fields/USA, 4; 18. S F
Uryadi/L. Crooks/USA, 4; 19. Domino/S. Solanki/ISR; 20.
Babette/G. Graves/CAN, 8; 21. Umbra 34/Z. Hoffman/
USA, 8; 22. Ferro DC/K. Boyce-Lockhart/USA, 8; 23.
Zanzibar/T. Levorchick/USA, 8; 24. KVF Zeno/L. Jamie-
son/CAN, 8; 25. Agamemnon/A. Lawler/USA, 12; 26.
Clapton/K. Rufer/USA, 12; 27. Constant Surprise/C. Doty/
USA, 12; 28. Garcia/M. Costa/USA, 12; 29. Warco Van De
Halhoeve/K. Harris/USA, 12; 30. Don Vito/J. Herod/CAN,
12; 31. Cippolini VD Gasthoeve/E. Edgar/CAN, 16; 32.
Cadence/J. Gates/USA, 16; Prim’ De Lairaud/L. Tidball/
CAN, E; Clockwise Of Greenhill Z/U. O’Neill/USA, VW.
At one point Ashlee was trying to
give the horse away because he was so
unmanageable.
“Spin, rear, you name it he did it,” she
said. “You couldn’t even go on trails,
and I mean he’s got so much energy, you
would never win the battle.”
Thankfully, Steve saw the potential
in the unruly Spike, putting more than
seven months of hard work into the
horse.
“My dad was the one who convinced
me to keep him,” said Ashlee. “He got
him to where I could actually ride him.”
That time paid off, as Spike has
already won three grand prix classes in
his first year competing at the level.
Even with his recent accomplish-
ments, however, Ashlee doesn’t have
any concrete plans for Spike. Instead,
she is taking it day by day and focusing
on experience.
“He’s only 8, so I mean he’s doing way
more than any 8-year-old I’ve ever had
at this time,” she said. “So I’m just going
to try to keep it going this way and stay
consistent.”
Ashlee is applying that same philos-
ophy to her own career. She spent a little
more than a year in Europe, where she
competed in 2014, including contrib-
uting to a winning U.S. team result at
the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup in Gijon,
Spain, with her mare Chela LS.
“There were some really good
moments, and it was a great learning
experience to be out there and doing it
all on my own,” said Ashlee.
While living in Belgium, she met the
man who would become her husband,
Roy Meeus, a professional soccer player.
The two moved back to Los Angeles
in February of 2015 with the idea of
starting a family in the next few years.
But for now, she just wants all her
horses to be happy and healthy so they
can continue to grow.
Still, Bond would cheerfully consider
aiming for a Nations Cup team or World
Cup Final if the pieces fell into place.
“If the timing’s right, if the horses
are peaking,” she mused. “If Spike next
year really blossoms and continues the
way he’s going, yeah for sure anything is
possible. He’s proven me wrong. I didn’t
think he could do this at all.”
Hometown Hunter Derby Win
Winning the $15,0000 USHJA
International Hunter Derby with
Classical tasted especially sweet for
Brent Balisky, as the victory came on
his home turf. Balisky, 53, is a quarter
owner in the Thunderbird Show Park,
along with wife, Canadian Olympian
Laura Tidball-Balisky.
Taking all but one of the high options,
Balisky, of Grand Prairie, Alberta,
and the 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding
(Contender—Gina-Ginelli) brought in a
two-round total score of 373.5, beating
out Morgan Thomas and Hennepin
County for the top spot.
Balisky said he hadn’t necessarily
intended to take the high options, but
his horse felt fresh and ready, as he’d
only contested the performance hunters
earlier in the week. “He is specifically
my horse, so his whole lead-up is getting
ready for the derby,” he said.
Classical was imported from
Germany several years ago to be an
amateur-owner hunter for Tracy Sully.
Sully had been a client of Balisky’s
previously. She showed him in
California but didn’t end up clicking
with the gelding, and after Classical
suffered some soundness issues,
she brought him up to the Pacific
Northwest.
“[Sully] heard that I was going
forward doing hunter derbies, and so
we made a deal, and so he’s mine,” said
Balisky.
He began showing Classical in May
and won a national derby right off the
bat at the Thunderbird Show Park
Canadian Premiere.
“[Classical] is such a great horse
because he’s got such a strong, elastic
canter stride,” Balisky said. “He makes
everything look a little smoother than it
sometimes is.”
Balisky added that the gelding is a joy
in the barn as well.
Until the WCHR Summer Fort
Festival, he’d never jumped Classical
much higher than 3'6". However, he
wasn’t nervous for the bigger and more
challenging spreads put together by
course designer Tucker Williams.
“I jumped a 1.35-meter vertical in the
schooling ring for the first time, and I
kind of went, ‘Wow, this doesn’t feel too
difficult,” said Balisky. “Everything I’ve
asked him to do he’s just said, ‘Yep I can
do that, yep I can do that.’”
Balisky’s goal is to compete in the
USHJA International Hunter Derby
Championship in Kentucky next
year, but for now, he and Classical

3. 90 The Chronicle of the Horse
HORSE SHOWS
$11,396
USHJA INTERNATIONAL HUNTER DERBY
Langley, British Columbia, Canada—Aug. 22
Judges: Panel 1: Scott Hofstetter, Dalene Paine; Panel 2: Jeff Ayers, Scott Williamson
1ST ROUND 2ND ROUND TOTAL
HORSE/RIDER PANEL 1
SCORE/
HEIGHT OPTION
PANEL 2
SCORE/
HEIGHT OPTION
PANEL 1
SCORE/BONUS/
HEIGHT OPTION
PANEL 2
SCORE/BONUS/
HEIGHT OPTION
1. Classical/Brent Balisky 87/4 86/4 88/7/3 85.5/6/3 373.5
2. Hennepin County/Morgan Thomas 86/0 87/0 85/8/1 88/8/1 364
3. Sabina Fey/Megan Champoux 78/0 77/0 86/9/2 86/9/2 349
4. Duck Duck Goose/Nicole Bourgeois 84/0 81/0 83/6/0 85/6/0 345
5. Aphrodite M/Dustin Goodwin 77/4 80/4 78/6/4 82/5/4 344
6. Citation/Alexis Taylor-Silvernale 73/2 80.5/2 80/7/4 77/6/4 335.5
7. Cancun/Andrea Strain 82/0 80.25/0 79/3/1 84/5/1 335.25
8. West Side/Samantha Smith 81/1 79/1 75/5/4 75/5/4 330
9. Cousteau/Kendra Best 72/0 78/0 81/6/0 80/5/0 322
10. Farscape DSF/Cheryl Keith 75.5/2 75/2 59/3/0 58/5/0 279.5
11. Petit Filou/Catherine Guyman 78.5/0 84/0 — — 162.5
12. Easy Company/Tiffany Sullivan 76/0 85/0 — — 161
35 horses competed.
are aiming for the two hunter derbies at
the Royal West in downtown Calgary in
mid-October.
“You know if you told me 10 years
ago I was going to be doing this I would
have said no,” said Balisky. “Not really
because I didn’t want to, just because I
couldn’t really afford the right horses for
these competitions. It’s been really fun
just getting back into the sport this way
and having a super great horse.”
Brent Balisky hadn’t jumped Classical above
3'6" before the $15,000 USHJA International
Hunter Derby at the WCHR Summer Fort
Festival, but that didn’t stop him from
choosing the high options for the win.
Summer Fort Festival
Langley, B.C., CAN—Aug. 19-23.
3’3” PERFORMANCE HUNTER CH: Hennepin
County, Terry Garfield.
RES: Harvard, Gwen McCaw.
1ST YR. GREEN HUNTER CH: Papyrus, Bailey Smith.
RES: Bleeker St, Heidi Kane.
HIGH PERFORMANCE HUNTER CH: Papillon, Krista
Taylor.
RES: Le Cavalier, Robin Kellogg.
CONFORMATION HUNTER CH: New England, Emily
Perkins.
RES: Saint Cloud, Andrea Snyder.
3’6” PERFORMANCE HUNTER CH: Classical,
Thunderbird Show Stables.
BABY GREEN HUNTER CH: Roosevelt, Elise Myers.
RES: Go Go Gadget, Ellicia Edgar.
TRAINING PONY HUNTER CH: Mr. Magoo, Channay
Lloyd.
RES: Polly Wanna Ribbon, Emma Woo.
3’3” PRE-GREEN HUNTER CH: Juno, Thunderbird
Show Stables.
RES: Cara Mia, Kathleen Waldorf.
PRE-GREEN HUNTER CH Tie: Churchill, Ellen Brown
& Kilkenny Esquire, Kilkenny Crest.
LOW AMATEUR-OWNER HUNTER, 36 & OVER CH:
Conviction, Briteney Mercer.
RES: Cecilia, Gwen McCaw.
LOW JR. HUNTER CH: Daybreak, Erika Serek.
RES: Silhouet, Mackenzie Audino.
CHILDREN’S PONY HUNTER CH: Ella Enchanted,
Red Gate Farm LLC.
RES: Fandango, Kaela Lee.
PONY EQUITATION CH: Taylor Blair.
RES: Emma Smith.
SHORT STIRRUP EQUITATION CH: Cate Jeschke.
RES: Megan Kelly.
LONG STIRRUP EQUITATION CH: Ellen Brown.
RES Tie: Christine Pittet & Kim Nixon.
PRE-CHILDREN’S EQUITATION CH: Jessica Felcan.
RES: Tatum Mayo.
PRE-ADULT EQUITATION CH: Robert Fries.
RES: Emma McArthur.
MODIFIED CHILDREN’S/ADULT EQUITATION CH:
Jenna Whitehead.
RES: Marielle Fries.
CHILDREN’S EQUITATION, 14 & UNDER CH: Sarah
Bian.
RES Tie: Jenna Whitehead & Emily Perkins.
CHILDREN’S EQUITATION, 15-17 CH: Reed Dinger.
RES: Serena Gardner.
EQUITATION, 15-17 CH: Cara Konowalchuk.
RES: Rachael Davis.
EQUITATION, 12-14 CH: Sarah Bian.
RES: Annika Meyer.
EQUITATION, 11 & UNDER CH: Ella McCaw.
RES Tie: Josie Harbottle, Emma Smith & Nyah Chernoff.
GREEN RIDER EQUITATION CH: Anna Kotler.
RES Tie: Sophie Crooks, Bernadette Alexander & Emma
Neher.
ADULT EQUITATION, 18-35 CH: Kathleen
Beekmann.
RES: Tamara Neehall.
.75M PACIFIC PARK JUMPER CH: Sinikka’s
Finesse, Sundance Equestrian Industries Ltd.
RES: Rescutarme, Summer James.
.75M JR./AMATEUR-OWNER JUMPER CH:
Creedence, Hanna Waldron.
RES: See Spot Run, Henry Brewster.
RES: Know-How, Karson Parry.
LOW AMATEUR-OWNER HUNTER, 18-35 CH:
Campeche Z, Julia Nagler.
RES: Boston, Taylor Kungle.
AMATEUR-OWNER HUNTER CH: Best Man, Julie
Nordstrom.
RES: Advance, Sara Nordstrom.
JR. HUNTER, YOUNGER CH: Sabina Fey, Kathleen
Thomas.
RES: New England, Emily Perkins.
JR. HUNTER, OLDER CH: Papyrus, Bailey Smith.
RES: Wallabee, Jolene Benham.
SMALL/MEDIUM PONY HUNTER CH: Always
Happy, Erika Serek.
RES: Page 6, Morgan Thomas.
LARGE PONY HUNTER CH: Farnley Hi There,
Jennifer Arnoldt.
RES: Shrek, Taylor Blair.
ADULT AMATEUR HUNTER, 35 & OVER CH: Maple
Bay, Ellen Brown.
RES: Ashton Hill, Ellen Wilber.
CHILDREN’S HUNTER CH: Cambiaso, Grace
Pearson.
RES Tie: Cenerife, Barbra Pearson & Monopoly, Singh
Family Farms LLC.
SHORT STRRUP HUNTER CH: Incentive, Ellen
Brown.
RES: Beamer, Megan Kelly.
SHORT STIRRUP PONY HUNTER CH: Celebration,
Madison Givant.
RES: Time To Shine, Cate Jeschke.
LONG STIRRUP HUNTER CH: Marley, Anna Hunt-
Binkley.
RES: Claire, Jaime Auletto.
PRE-CHILDREN’S HUNTER CH: Oregon, Karin
Korchinski.
RES: Affection, Tatum Mayo.
PRE-ADULT AMATEUR HUNTER CH: Manhattan,
Anne Stollbert.
RES: Esprit, Robert Fries.
MODIFIED CHILDREN’S/ADULT HUNTER CH:
Perfection, Marielle Fries.
RES Tie: Lazaro, Jennifer Molgat & TJ Max, Heidi
Seidelhuber.
SHOW PARK HUNTER CH: Pokerface, Melanie
Kuechle.
RES: Cousteau, Shayla Tocher.
SMALL HUNTER CH Tie: Yoshi, Thunderbird Show
Stables & Marley, Anna Hunt-Binkley.
LARGE HUNTER CH: TJ Max, Heidi Seidelhuber.
RES Tie: Clue, Jessica King & Carrera, Aleron LLC.
GREEN RIDER HUNTER CH: Pretty Please, Emma
McArthur.
RES: Paint The Town, Katie Kotler.