Reed Kessler was a little disappointed with her second-place finish.

Then she saw her thrilled father excitedly throwing 10 digits in the air – as in $10,000.

Earning $9,800 as runner-up to 19-year-old Karl Cook in the $40,000 ATCO Structures & Logistics Double Slalom 1.50-metre final Sunday afternoon, the 15-year-old Kessler showed once again she is comfortable in the International Ring at Spruce Meadows.

Comfortable and fearless at 15.

Letting her horse, Ice D’Ancoeur, run wild in the only match event on the National tournament schedule, Kessler had a faster mount but lost out after switching sides for the final against the veteran Cook. Her mount got confused turning the opposite way than in the previous three victories and pulled up in front of the third jump.

The three-second penalty cost her a few thousand bucks, but Kessler wasn’t complaining.

“I was worried that would happen. I went to the white gate and she was like, ‘Where are we going?’ and hit the brakes,” said Kessler, who was bounced in the semifinal a year ago in the same event.

“Every year, I get closer. She was so, so good.”

Fast, definitely. She actually finished ahead of Cook but was tagged with three extra seconds for her only fault of the day.

There was no restraint during her rides.

“She’s so naturally careful that I don’t need to be wrestling her off the jumps. She knows where her feet are,” Kessler said of her caution-to-the-wind approach. “In fact, the more I fight her, the less careful she gets. Just to really let her gallop and figure it out herself, that’s what she likes.”

The $15,000 didn’t hurt, either.

“It’s something to be pretty happy about.”

steve.macfarlane@sunmedia.ca

Source: Calgary Sun