All Horses Accepted on Perfect Day at Fair Hill’s First Horse Inspection

Will Coleman and Soupcon de Brunet. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Will Coleman and Soupcon de Brunet. Photo by Jenni Autry.

All 46 horses that presented to the ground jury were accepted in the CCI2* at the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International on an unseasonably sunny and warm afternoon here in Elkton, Maryland. Only one horse, Elena Hengel’s mount Say I Do, went to the holding box in the CCI2* and was accepted upon re-presenting.

Forty-eight horses presented to the ground jury in the CCI3*, with Joe Meyer withdrawing South Paw from the holding box. Just one other horse, Justine Dutton’s mount Huck Finn, was sent to the holding box in the CCI3* but was accepted after re-presenting.

With the vast majority of horses and riders cruising through the first horse inspection without issue, there was plenty of time to ogle the fashion on parade on the jog strip, as well as the top-notch presentation of the horses thanks to the super grooms.

Leather/pleather by far emerged as this year’s theme on the jog strip, with a slew of ladies and guys rocking leather pants — or going all out with head-to-toe leather like Chris Talley with his mount Unmarked Bills in the CCI2*.

EN’s Best Dressed voting at Fair Hill is always hotly contested, and this year we’ve called in the big guns with a very special guest judge. We’re delighted to welcome Tate Reynolds, a former Advanced event rider and fashion designer for Ralph Lauren, as a guest writer this weekend.

Tate carefully scrutinized the turnout at today’s inspection, so stay tuned for EN’s Best Dressed Picks, which we split into separate male and female categories this year due to popular request. As always, a $100 SmartPak gift card goes to the winner of each category.

Erin Sylvester and Mettraise. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Erin Sylvester and Mettraise. Photo by Jenni Autry.

With a promising forecast full of sunshine ahead of us, there’s plenty of excitement in the air for this year’s event. Dressage kicks off tomorrow for the CCI3*, CCI2* and USEA Young Event Horse East Coast Championships. YEH dressage kicks us off tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. EST, with the CCI3* starting at 10:40 a.m. EST and the CCI2* starting at 2:10 p.m. EST. Click here for ride times.

There is no live stream at Fair Hill, but you can follow along with all the action here on EN and on Twitter, plus see plenty of behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram. Stay tuned for much more from the USEF National CCI3*/CCI2* Championships. Go Eventing!

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