It was love at first sight for Leslie Berndl when she first caught sight of Uminco, known affectionately as “Travis”. Berndl was persistent about buying him from his former owner. “I shall never forget the day I was allowed to buy him. It was the same day that Travis I and won our first
United States Equestrian Federation Championship!”
Victory after victory followed. Uminco won the National Championship three times as a single horse and once as part of a pair and won every major competition in the United States.
Uminco entered his 2014 campaign carrying high expectations and did not disappoint as he once again showed he was one of the most formidable horses on the Single Horse
U.S. Driving scene.
As has become tradition, the Royal
Dutch Warmblood gelding made the cross-country journey with his driver and owner Leslie Berndl from their Newcastle, California base to Florida to go head-to-head with the best competitors in the U.S. and prepare for their third
World Championship appearance.
In the first competition of the season, the talented pair notched a second-place finish at the Sunshine State CDE on the strength of Uminco’s second-place effort on the marathon.
Three weeks later Uminco and Berndl went one better, scoring a win at Kingdom of the Sun, in a performance that saw the gelding stand second after both the dressage and marathon and climb to the top of the leaderboard with an immaculate cones performance.
Next up for the talented duo was Live Oak International, serving as its final prep for the 2014
United States Equestrian Federation (USEF)
National Single Horse Driving Championship. In Ocala, Uminco was again the top performer in the cones, and finished the weekend less than a point behind winners in a valiant second-place effort.
Berndl and her longtime companion headed to the Southern Pines CDE with their sights firmly set on repeating their National Championship title and got the weekend off to a quick start, winning the dressage by more than a four-point margin.
The following day in the marathon, the pair posted competitive times through each obstacle to maintain its lead heading into the final phase. On the final day of competition, Uminco put forward a professional effort in the cones, securing victory to be named back-to-back USEF National Single Horse Champion.
They then headed to Europe and completed the CAI3* Piber as they put the final touches on their preparation to represent the United States at the
FEI World Driving Championship.
At the World Championships in Iszak, Hungary, Uminco closed out his immensely successful campaign by leading the Americans in the dressage and helping the U.S. to a 10th-place finish.
With his incredible success in 2014, Uminco continued to build on his reputation as one of the best in the sport and earned his place as a Horse of Honor by the
United States Equestrian Federation.