Boyd Martin and Commando 3. Photo by Liz Crawley Photography.
The 2024 Olympics in Paris are just over a month away and this weekend we’re at Stable View to cheer on Team USA at their last Mandatory Outing before heading overseas. The team is using this weekend to fine tune details and iron out what they need to work on over the next few weeks as the U.S. seeks a strong finish after coming silver at the FEI World Championships in 2022. All team members, traveling reserve, and alternates are here in Aiken competing in the Advanced division.
Our first leaders after dressage this morning were Boyd Martin and Yankee Creek Ranch’s Commando 3 (Connor 48 – R-Adelgunde, by Amigo xx) on a 27.8 from judges Sara Leary and Jame Hamlin. Boyd and Fedarman B, his main Olympic mount, scored a 31.8 to sit in fourth place after the dressage.
Boyd Martin and Fedarman B. Photo by Liz Crawley Photography.
The riders this weekend used FEI CCI4* Test D, which shares some similarities with the Olympic Eventing Dressage Test that was first unveiled at Tokyo in 2021. Where most CCI4*/CCI5* tests can reach into 4.5/5 minutes in total runtime, the FEI introduced a shorter test (approximate time from entrance to final salute being about 3 minutes, 50 seconds — so it’s a lot shorter to some of its counterparts, historically!) in Tokyo in order to allow for a more spectator appeal, among other reasonings.
For all the riders, the focus has been yes, practicing the upcoming Olympic test, but also making sure they’re still looking at the big picture of correct training. Overall, Boyd was happy with his horses’ tests and plans to use the last few weeks before Paris to really work.
“I’m not really allowed to ride them unsupervised for the next couple of weeks,” Boyd joked, referencing Grand Prix dressage rider and his wife Silva. “She’s really taken these two horses under her wing and basically every day we’re training the horses together. It’s just practice, practice, but I don’t want to make him sour by overworking him either. It’s going to be short, intense work so that it’s quality work, but I’m not going to make him miserable by overtraining him.”
Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake. Photo by Liz Crawley Photography.
Caroline Pamukcu was elated with Mollie Hoff and Sherrie Martin’s HSH Blake (Tolan R – Doughiska Lass, by Kannan) after scoring a 33.3 in dressage. Her goal for today was simple: have a relaxed test. “He’s a unicorn. He’s honestly perfect and makes me look so good,” Caroline says.
Will Coleman and the Off the Record Syndicate’s Off The Record (Arkansas VDL – Drumagoland Bay, by Ard Ohio) sat in ninth place with a 35.0 after dressage. Will has approached this weekend as a stepping stone and plans to continue maximizing on Off The Record’s strengths leading up to Paris.
Traveling Reserves, Liz Halliday and The Nutcracker Syndicate / Ocala Horse Properties’ Cooley Nutcracker (Tolant R – Ballyshan Cleopatra, by Cobra) sat in 6th with a 32.8 after dressage.
Cooley Nutcracker is just one of three of Liz’s horses in the Advanced division this weekend, along with Ocala Horse Properties’ and Deborah Palmer’s Miks Master C (Mighty Magic – Qui Lumba CBF, by Quite Easy) and Ocala Horse Properties’ Shanroe Cooley (Dallas – Shanroe Sapphire, by Condios), who are alternates for Paris as well as named to represent the U.S. at CHIO Aachen in two weeks’ time.
Liz Halliday and Miks Master C. Photo by Liz Crawley Photography.
Even though there will be the different Olympic test to contend with in Paris, Liz is approaching her training for it the same way she normally does. She’s always focused on practicing the movements of a test rather than the test as a whole, so this test will be no different.
Cooley Nutcracker was a bit spicy in dressage, as he hasn’t been out since Kentucky, she noted. “That’s why we’re here, right? Just to practice and brush the rust off,” she says.
Although show jumping was early in the afternoon, it was blazing hot. These horses and riders are all such good sports and kept pushing on, with three out of the four team pairs jumping double clear rounds.
Fedarman B was excited to jump to say the least, and is in third leading into tomorrow. Boyd says that “he flew around the course with his eyes shut, so I was extremely pleased with the way he came out and jumped today.”
Will Coleman and Off the Record. Photo by Liz Crawley Photography.
Off The Record was enthusiastic to jump at an event for the first time since Kentucky and is in seventh place after show jumping. “We’ll take this and go back to the lab to try to make it what it needs to be, clean it up a little for Paris,” Will said. He plans to take “Timmy” to a jumper show or two before heading off to the Olympics.
Caroline and HSH Blake had one rail and 1.2 time penalties to put them in 10th, but she says that the plan is not to cram anything new into his training, just to focus on being consistent and keeping him happy. “I was very pleased with it. It’s a bummer to have a rail, but better to have a rail here than at the Games,” she says.
Liz Halliday and Cooley Nutcracker. Photo by Liz Crawley Photography.
Liz and Cooley Nutcracker jumped a double clear round to sit in fifth. Simply put by Liz: “He was spectacular!”
Boyd and Commando 3 stay in the lead overnight on their dressage score, Will and his direct reserve horse, the Diabolo Group’s Diabolo are in second on a 29.6, and Boyd and Fedarman B are in third on a 31.8.
Will Coleman and Diabolo. Photo by Liz Crawley Photography.
Again, the point of this competition isn’t to go out and win and push the pedal down for the Paris-bound pairs. We can expect time penalties and the use of Stable View’s not-insubstantial terrain as a fitness top-off tomorrow, which can cause a shake-up on the final leaderboard, which isn’t necessarily a big part of these pairs’ goals for the weekend.
Team USA will begin leaving the start box tomorrow around 10 a.m. and we’ll be sending them off with a toast after they finish up on cross country. Stay tuned!
Go Eventing.
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View more of EN’s coverage of the Paris Olympics here. We are pleased to bring you our Olympic coverage with support from Kentucky Performance Products.
