Eventing Competition Coverage: October 2009 Archives

VHT results through Saturday.  The competitors are enjoying a bonfire tonight, hopefully the rain will hold off through tomorrow.

The CCI2* course at Galway presented some challenges with problems for 11/21 starters.  The top four from Dressage all had double-clears and Kristi Nunnink on Corner Street are your leaders.  The CCI* and CCI* w/o also had double-clears for the top few riders from those divisions.  Full Leaderboards, Recap Article, USEA Article

DC McBroom and Twain, photo courtesy of DC.

DC described her competition with Twain, a 13yo gelding Connemara TB cross, as "a little bit up and down."  Twain suffered a mild colic Wednesday morning, but, thanks to great work by the competition vets, recovered quickly.  Sitting 5th after Dressage, Twain "ate up the Cross-Country and Stadium" with two double clears to capture the big win.  DC's ultimate goal is to get to Prelim and do a Classic, hopefully sometime next year.

The Event lasted just several short days, but takes a year of hard work to organize.  As DC explained, the Area II Adult Riders spend all year gathering sponsorship and organizing the event, and dedicate most of the volunteer effort at the T3DE itself.  Waredaca Farm, owned and operated by the Butts family, generously provides the land.  Gretchen Butts, who rode in Rolex as a long format, is passionately dedicated to maintaining the long format tradition and spends countless hours preparing the course and grounds.  

Furthermore, many Eventing professionals, such as Karen O'Connor, Max Corcoran, Kent Allen DVM, Danny Warrington, Peggy Pariso of the Ground Jury, Stephen Bradley, and many more, dedicated their time to educational seminars for the competitors.  In speaking with several riders, these seminars were a wonderful experience and very informative.  DC explained that all of the professionals were happy to give their time, and I wonder why we couldn't have similar seminars as regular component of every Horse Trials.  This would be a great way for upper-level riders to connect with the fans and recruit students and would give competitors an incredible opportunity to further their education.

As VP of Area Affairs from the USEA and a member of the USEF Eventing Technical Committee, DC offered some great insight into the future of the long format.  Thankfully, as of December 1st, Training and Preliminary long formats will be used as qualifiers and year end points.  This saves me the trouble of pointing out how absurd it is that these Events currently do not count as qualifiers.  The long format is an amazing help to horsemanship, and has thankfully found a great home at the Training and Prelim level.  

Thanks to DC for chatting with Eventing Nation, and thank you for reading. 

Galway Downs (CA): Times and Live Scoring, Website, Location, Weather, Schedule. CI2*, CCI*, CCI* w/o, T3D, HT.  Note: Eventing Nation will have a friend on site, so join us for complete coverage throughout the weekend.

Virginia Horse Trials: HT and Future Event Horse Championship, Website, HT Times, FEH Times, Weather.  Of course, we will also have friends at VHT.

Briar Fox Fall HT (KS): Website, USEA Page, Prelim Virtual Course Walk.

Links: Results, Location, Website 

**Check out our new polling feature, the first poll is nice and easy...**

From Carrie's FB Page

  

**10/24 T3DE Results: In Division A, DC McBroom won on Twain as the only pair to finish on their Dressage of 35.3.  Steve Fulton was 2nd with a 39.9 on Full Moon's Manila Bay, with Dawn Evans Beach on Sudden Eclipse with 41.4.  In Division B, Carrie Meehan and Blue Devil held on to their overnight lead and finished on 28.4.  According to Carrie, "Duke was a superstar," good boy Duke.  Rebecca von Schweinitz on Bombay Saphier were 2nd with 32.9, and Melinda Maslin on Midnight Treasure were 3rd with a 33.7.  In division C, Jamie Doolittle on A Dream Come True moved from 3rd to 1st on a 38.7.  Thanks to everyone who helped get us these results!  I have a few more hours left at work, but we will have much more later tonight. Horse Trials Results, Waredaca Homepage.

 

The Area II Adult Riders and the Waredaca crew have done a great job putting on this weekend's competition (thanks LB).  I have heard from riders that they particularly enjoyed the educational seminars by vets and other experts before the competition started.  This is a great article from EventingUSA about a seminar at the Indiana Eventing Association's T3DE in May, featuring the man, the myth, and the legend Chris Newton.

This weekend's other big Three-Day was the Hagyard Midsouth 3Day and Team Challenge.  I apologize for being late in our coverage, but we were a bit distracted by FHI and the Midsouth results page was down until today.  No other sites seem very concerned with covering the competition, but, with nearly 400 competitors, its a really big event in the Midwest and a ton of fun.  The Hagyard Midsouth competition was held at the Kentucky Horse Park and included a CCI* long format, a CCI* w/o steeplechase, a Trainig 3-Day, and novice to prelim Horse Trials with team competitions. 

In the CCI* Long, Elisa Wallace and Good For Me crushed the competition by finishing on a 36.9, 15 points ahead of second place.  In the shorter CCI* , Erin Freedman and Viola won with a 46.  Gabby Dickerson and Folie a Beux won the T3D on 29.2.  In the team competitions, the Antibellum Dream Team (Alison Wilaby, Jenn O'Neill, and Katie Eckert) won the prelim with 117.3, Area 3 YR (Chaleise Everly, Jenny Caras, Jennifer Dougherty, and Allison Mickler) won the training, Favorite Things (Anna Kjellstrom, Robyn Estep, Robin Walker and Hallie Glennie) beat 42 other teams in the novice, and the Fox Creek Farm Cocktail Kickers (Kara Andrew, Maria Carlone, Marinna Schafer, and Debrea Bowling) won the BN.  A big Eventing Nation shout-out to the Antebellum Farm teams who had a great weekend.  For Midsouth individual results click here, and team results are at this link.

Finally, This article is a nice tribute article to Jack Le Goff, former US Eventing coach who recently passed away.

Update: USEF has just published this press release from Midsouth.  USEA has this article. 

Thanks to everyone who is returning to Eventing Nation after a great weekend of Fair Hill coverage.  We had over 1,000 page views on Sunday alone, which is incredible considering that I expected about 30 when I left for Maryland at 5am Saturday morning.  Our goal is to carry this great momentum into this week.  I am working on getting a fantastic guest for a live blog later this week, so please keep checking back for more news on that front.  Now, here are my top key thoughts from over the weekend:

As always, here are the final results from the FHI Three-Day Event.

Here is the USEF press release, which is a really great presentation of the weekend.

Here are some videos for your viewing pleasure.  With 2 rails in hand, Boyd and Neville won their first CCI3* with this ride.

The price of these videos is that Eventing Nation takes a long time to load, especially when we have a lot of visitors online at once.

Click here for official 2009 Fair Hill CCI2* and CCI3* results.

Photocred: Kelsey Sherman

Click here for CCI2* results and the order of go for the CCI3* (reverse order of placing).  To view the live blog, click the countdown circle once we have started.  Welcome to Eventing Nation and thanks for reading!

Also, the comments are moderated, meaning that when you hit 'submit' they show up on my screen but not immediately on the live blog.   I then have to hit a button to put them on the screen that everyone can see.  I tend to get absorbed in watching at writing and it sometimes takes me a few minutes to ok comments, so please bear with me.  

If Eventing Nation takes a while to load or goes off-line, it means that our servers have crashed due to such a high traffic volume.  We will get back online asap.

Hannah Burnett and St. Barths are your Fair Hill CCI2* champions!!!!  Doug Payne and Rebecca Howard both had rails down, giving Hannah a rail in hand when she entered with St. Barths.  Hannah was clear, with a great round going as she approached the last jump.  Then, just to make things interesting, St. Barths chested the last fence and Hannah nearly fell off but regrouped just in time to get across the finish line.  The arena was silent for a few seconds and then the crowd erupted with cheers.  Hannah left the ring smiling after a great weekend.

The course rode well, with a good number of clean rounds.  The horses all looked good, another tribute to the great job by riders and show officials in handling the tough conditions yesterday.  Today is cold but the rain has held off thus far.

Can you feel the excitement?  A mood of intense calm shrouds the Fair Hill International today. Pride, reputation, sponsorships, Spring goals, team goals, dreams, and much more hang in the balance of wooden rails precariously perched on metal cups.  The Show Jumping course is very tough.  The second from last element is a triple combination, which is composed of a triple bar, to a square oxer, to a vertical.  Who does that?  The triple combination leads to the last, which is a very airy vertical.  This is going to be good!

Neville Bardos and Boyd looked good and passed.  It's great to see that Neville has fully recovered from the two minor injuries Boyd talked about in the Saturday press conference after fully resolved.  Boyd's vet, Kevin Keane is one of the very best in the business, and they have obviously done a great job bringing Neville back.

CCI2* 65, Scott Keach and Vamor was held and withdrew in the holding area.

CCI3* 149, Kelly List and Minstrel were held. and withdrew in the hold.

CCI3* Christian Eagles did not present.

Over the years, I have heard people say that Karen is the best jogger in the business, and I agree.  She kept Mandiba balanced and in a great trot every step of the way, giving him the best possible chance to do well.  If you don't think jogging is an art, watch Karen sometime.

After talking to a few experts, the consensus is that the horses had lots of energy and the judges were very fair.

*For some great commentary on the first horse inspection, click here and scroll down for n1cholson's post.

As always, click here for your Fair Hill International leaderboard.

That's all for now, the CCI2* SJ starts at 11am and we will have a full recap post as soon as the 2* Show Jumping wraps up.  Our LIVE BLOG of the CCI3* will start around 1pm, which is when the CCI3* course is scheduled to open for walking.

For Fair Hill XC results, click here.

Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos charged to the lead of the Fair Hill CCI3* with the type of accurate and fast Cross-Country ride that we have come to expect from Boyd.  As the only CCI3* competitors to finish Saturday on their Dressage score of 51.0, Boyd and Neville jumped from 16th to the lead.  In 2nd and 3rd, Karen O'Connor and Phillip Dutton are tied, just over a rail behind Boyd on 55.2, but Phillip gets the edge because he was speedy as always, and closer to the optimum time.  Click here for the entry on Boyd's blog about his performance.

Karen O'Connor delivered one of the most courageous rides I have ever seen on Mandiba.  We have been covering the story that Karen shattered her shoulder-blade and broke three ribs a month ago.  These injuries had clearly not healed completely and Karen rode most of the CCI3* in an incredible amount of pain.  Towards the end, she had to half-halt with one arm, and she nearly collapsed after crossing the finish line.  Mandiba helped his Mom by making the course look like child's play.  Karen is made of some seriously tough stuff and if she can possibly be ready to go tomorrow she will.

Another big headline for the weekend has been the horrible weather, which has been both cold and rainy.  The officials and fence crew handled things really well.  They removed multiple jumps from both the CCI2* and CCI3* courses.  They took 9 jumps out of the CCI3*, mostly components of technical combinations, leading to a much safer course, given the conditions.  

That said, of the 72 horses to finish Dressage in the CCI2*, about 30 withdrew before XC, and only 28 finished Cross-Country.  Of the 66 with dressage scores in the CCI3*, about 20 riders withdrew before Cross-Country, and only 38 finished Cross-Country.  Almost all of these withdraws were due to concerns about the weather, in the sense that riders who felt their horses didn't need the XC (someone like Bruce Davidson on Jam perhaps), or that the conditions would make the course too tough, decided to stay in the barns.  

On the whole, for those riders who did go out, a pretty good ratio of them got around clean.  In the CCI2*, of the approximately 35 to start on XC, 22 finished without any jumping penalties  In the 3*, there were 33 clean rides on about 45 starters.  Statistically, this works out to about  

60% in the CCI2* and 70% CCI3*, which I think is a very high percentage for the level.

The crowd small, but spirited and they made some noise to help Karen around as well.  Everyone in the crowd was soaking and shivering, but I saw lots of smiles.   In places the mud was 6 inches deep.  There were at lease two tractors constantly working to pull cars out of the helpless parking lots.  

The area around the barns is churned completely into mud, but again, spirits were high and the horses looked surprisingly fresh.  From what I have heard, it is probable that not all the horses are going to get past the jog, but the icing, walking, and everything else will continue long into the night and we wish everyone the best tomorrow morning.

We are very thankful that, to my knowledge, there were no serious injuries to either horses or riders.  This is a tribute to the discretion of the officials in reducing the courses and the mature and safe riding by all competitors.  I hate to mention this, but I feel obligated to our readers to point out that the normally very reliable pair of Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone II were pulled up by event officials.  Nate was clearly having trouble keeping Rolling Stone going, and the officials stepped in after the horse broke to a trot approaching a large corner at 18B.  I have not heard anything about the status of Rolling Stone, but Nate cares deeply for his horse and I am sure they will rebound well.

For a quick approximate breakdown of the refusals on course in the CCI3*, there were 3 refusals at fence 23, 2 at number 20, 2 and number 13, number 18, number 7, and  number 6 all had one refusal.  Thanks to commenter "lsa" who counted these from our Cross-Country live blog and sent them to me.

Click here for some great quotes from the press conference from the USEF press release.  I am tempted to add a funny anecdote to Boyd's story about buying Neville, but I had better to keep my mouth shut.  Its great to see Neville back from his injuries, and we are lucky to have Boyd riding for the US now.  If you don't know much about Boyd, he is married to German supermodel and Grand Prix Dressage rider Silva Martin. 

When I grow up, I want to be just like Boyd. Check out Boyd and Silva's website here, and blog here.  Boyd works closely with Phillip Dutton, which seems obvious when you watch both of them consistently make really tough XC courses look easy.

CCI2*:

1. Hannah Burnett on St. Barths 51.9

2. Rebecca Howard on Roquefort 53.8: the Dressage leaders, dropped after 11.6 time.

3. Doug Payne on Running Order 55.1: great ride with only 4.8 time.

...Other notables...

7. Karen O'Connor on Allstar 62.2

OCET member Hannah Burnett and St. Barths posted one of two CCI2* double clear and jumped from 15th to the lead.  When Nike arrived at OCET, he was struggling with EPM, but Hannah has done a great job developing him into a top horse.  Hannah's teammate at OCET, Lauren Kieffer had a great ride on Radio Flyer in the CCI3*, and a nice trip on Ulra Tim in the CCI2*.   OCET is developing some great riders, and if you don't know their names now, you will soon.

Eventing Nation citizen "Retreadeventer" left a comment on the live blog post that she was in the XC warmup all day and counted 4 falls, but no injuries.  Thanks.

Photocred: Special thanks to Retreadeventer, and sorry we didn't get the photocred sooner.

Saturday is moving day.  Riders in the front of the pack are trying to stay aggressive, riders in the back are telling themselves that Fair Hill starts tomorrow, and pretty much everyone is at least a little scared.  The two people I don't think feel much fear before XC are Boyd and Phillip, and perhaps Bruce Davidson, but I don't know him very well.  From talking to some of the riders, tomorrow is going be a very very tough challenge; they described the 3-star course as "extremely long" and say "it doesn't let up."  To make things even more interesting, the weather stinks.  So far the footing seems to be holding up.  One rider told me "the ground is really good.  Its only slick in some downhill parts but it wont be too bad if the rain stays like it was today."  The weather will help the horses stay cool, but if the ground gets sticky horses are going to end up getting very tired.  Look for technical elements late on the course to be a real challenge as tired riders try to rebalance tired horses.  

I remember reading one of Jimmy Wofford's books, in which he said that he never minded waking up to poor weather on a Cross-Country Saturday.  He said that he was comforted in knowing that his competitors would be worried about the weather, while he would only be thinking about putting forth his best effort.  We all can remember Bruce Davidson's extraordinary ride around Rolex in 2002 on Little Tricky when the rain was absolutely insane.  The weather became terrible and then it got worse.  I think that 12 out of the last 13 riders scratched, and I have no idea why I was still there, but Bruce tore around that course like it was nothing.  Bad conditions give experienced riders even more of an advantage, so I anticipate that some top names will shoot to the top throughout Saturday.  

Some interesting story lines to follow throughout the CCI3* Cross-Country: 

-How will Karen O'Connor rebound from Burghley and the time off from being injured?  The smart money bets on Karen's experience.

-How will Nicki Henley handle coming back from a two-year layoff?  Mara Dean withdrew him from the Pan Ams in 2007 and the horse sat out the next two years due to injury.  Having known the feeling of bringing a horse back from he brink of retirement, I know that Mara can feel how fortunate we are for each and every ride on these animals and no one is more motivated to go out and give their horse a great ride.

-Which young star will step up and make a real name for themselves?  Its anyone's guess.

**For a map of the Cross-Country course with pictures, click here.  The three-star is blue, click on the jumps to see the picture.  Only the CCI3* jumps have pictures.  Eric Bull and crew have done a great job building the jumps, as always.

Click here for XC ride times.

Thank you for reading the XC Preview post, keep checking back for updates and hopefully a live blog starting around noon tomorrow.

Related Articles: Fair Hill Dressage Recap, Fair Hill Preview

**For a complete Fair Hill leaderboard, click here.

**For the USEF Thursday recap press release, complete with interviews and quotes, click here.

For more info on the CCI3* leader Sweepea Dean, visit this bio.  Glancing at Sweepea Dean's record, the horse has a very clean XC record, with one W and zero stops in 32 events, yes I did say zero.  That is what we call doin' work.  The horse does have time penalties at almost all of his events and 8 or more SJ penalties in five out of his last six events.  Check out this wikipedia page for more info on John.  John Williams is a class act, and is always courteous and friendly at competitions.  Eventing Nation will be rooting for him (among others) throughout the weekend.

[warning: lame joke alert] Unfortunately, the second place CCI3* competitor, Erika Treis Peterson had to withdraw after being arrested by Maryland police for riding Under the Influence. [this concludes our test of the lame joke warning emergency broadcast system]

 

Turning to the CCI two star, Leslie Law probably won't have too much trouble handling the pressure of being the day one Dressage leader.  All he has done with his Eventing career is jump a clean Show Jumping round to win the individual Eventing gold medal at the Athens Olympics.

Looking ahead, the big dogs come to play in the CCI3* on Friday.  Karen O'Connor, Phillip Dutton, Buck Davidson, Boyd Martin, Bonnie Mosser, Bruce Davidson, Mara Dean, Sharon White, and many more will bring their best to the Dressage arena.  For a list of ride times by rider, click here.

Thanks for visiting Eventing Nation, and please keep checking back throughout the weekend.    When people at the barn ask you how you are so informed about Fair Hill, just tell them "Well, there is this awesome website that is the first ever Eventing content aggregator.  Other than some idiot writer named John, the website is pretty cool..."

Related Pages: Fair Hill Dressage Results as of 2:45pm Thursday, Fair Hill Preview and Jog Update

The Fair Hill International CCI2* and CCI3* Three-Day Event is the largest and most important Eventing competition in the United States this Fall.  The top riders, whether they will admit it or not are all looking ahead to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games next summer, they know that a good weekend at Fair Hill will set them up perfectly for a good Spring, and thus a coveted spot on the Team.  Eventing Nation will cover all the weekend's action, which gets underway when Dressage starts Thurday.  A few thoughts:

The first horse inspection (Wednesday) saw quite a few holds, and a few horses being eliminated.  One competitor texted me that "over 20 horses were held and around 4 were spun."  In my opinion, the FEI should consider giving yellow cards for getting spun (eliminated) at a first inspection.  I understand the pressure riders feel from all sides, and I understand that sometimes horses step on a rock or twist an ankle right before the jog.  But, competitors and vets need to be responsible enough not to present a questionable horse before the competition even starts.  Cross-Country is hard enough on these horses without asking them to compete while sore or lame.

Speaking of Cross-Country, I hear the CCI3* XC is extremely tough this year.  One rider told me the track is "extremely long" and said it "doesn't let up."  Look for technical elements late on the course to cause lots of run-outs as tired riders struggle to rebalance tired horses. 

Just over 70 horses are entered in the CCI3* and 80 in the CCI2*, the vast majority competing for the US.  These numbers suggest an improving depth of talent in the US, a very encouraging sign.  A lot of young talent has the opportunity to make a name for themselves over the next few days.

If you are in the Maryland area, and like the sound of 47 and rainy, consider stopping by the event.  The good news is that there will be a dog agility competition.

 

Check out this Fair Hill XC map.  The CCI*** is 5700m long, which, off the top of my head, is about 3.54181 miles.  The average speed of 570m/min is about 21mi/hr, which should be a cake-walk, considering that Secretariat ran the 1.5mi 1973 Belmont Stakes in 2.4minutes, which is an average speed of 36mph.  "AND HE IS MOVING LIKE A TREMENDOUS MACHINE!" (1:42)

As I mentioned, Fair Hill is an important stepping stone for many of the riders seeking to make the 2010 WEGs squad.  Most of the riders with a legitimate shot are on this Fall's High Performance List.  We will keep a special eye on these pairs as the weekend develops.  Finally, I leave you tonight with a list of the CCI3* riders who were entered at the beginning of the competition:

 

Anees, Imtiaz	Interwin
Ashker, Laine	Anthony Patch
Atkins, Peter	HJ Hampton
Beebee, Susan	Prowler
Bennett-Awad, Hawley	SplendoroftheSun
Bennett-Awad, Hawley	Gin N Juice
Blackman, Madeline	Gordonstown
Brannigan,  Jennie	Cooper
Brown, Kate	Mojito
Byyny, Jan	Inmidair
Chambers, Nate	Rolling Stone  II
Coleman,  William	Nevada  Bay
Costello, Robert	Dustin IV
Coudray,  Tiana	Ringwood Magister
Crabo,  Barbara	Eveready
Davidson Jr., Bruce	Triomphe
Davidson Jr., Bruce	L.A. Albert
Davidson Jr., Bruce	Titanium
Davidson Sr,  Bruce	Jam
Davidson, Colin  B.	Draco
Dean, Mara	Nicki Henley
Dutton, Phillip	Kheops Du Quesnay
Eagles, Christian	The Gingerbread  Man
Fiore, Gina	Feral Errol
Halpin, Sinead	Manoir de  Carneville
Hepp, Holly	Last Monarch
Hicks (Ditchey), Kate	Belmont  II
Holman, Bob	Catmantoo
Holstein, Ralph	Franklin
Holstein, Ralph	Arctic Dancer
Howard, Rebecca	Riddle Master
Kozak, Chelan	Tasman Sea
Lambert,  Lauren	Baba Creek
Leatherman,  Andrea	Mensa
List, Kelly	Minstral
Loiacono,  Olivia	Subway
MacVaugh, Ashley	All's Fair
Martin, Boyd	Rock On Rose
Martin, Boyd	Neville  Bardos
Martin, Boyd	Remington   XXV
McDowell, Martha	Gaelic  Marriage
McEvoy, India	Jumbo's Jake
McKissock, Casey	Special Blend
Mendivil,  Escipion	Azteca
Mesher, Leigh	Mar de Amor
Mittleider, Sara	El Primero
Moon, Pippa	Ribbo
Morris, Heather	Slate  River
Mosser, Bonnie	Merloch
North, Dornin  Anne	Jimminy Cricket
North, Dornin  Anne	Lion Display
Nunnink, Kristi	Corner Street
Nunnink, Kristi	R-Star
O'Connor,  Karen	Radio Flyer
O'Connor,  Karen	Mandiba
Prather, Kelly	Ballinakill Glory
Rhodes-Bosch, Stephanie	Port Authority
Roberts, Ian	Napalm
Ruppel, Jessica	Naughty By Nature
Ruppel, Katie	Sir  Donovan
Schmolze, Kristin	Castle Jordan
Schmolze, Kristin	Cavaldi
Sexson, Jolie	Killian  O'Connor
Slezak, Karl	Braveheart
Slezak, Karl	Charley Farley
Southam, Wendy	Ruba Z
Springer, Allison	Destination Known
Sult, Kelly	Hollywood
Thieriot,  Frankie	Fric Frac Berence
Treis Petersen, Erika	Under The Influence
Walton, Jil	My Sedona
White, Sharon	Rafferty's  Rules
Williams, John	Sweepea Dean
Willis, Katie	Polar Storm
Zabala-Goetschel,  Ronald	Che Italica

Thanks for reading, please vote in the poll, and please keep checking back throughout the weekend.  We have some exciting surprises in the works for our readers this weekend.

Props: little black agility dog, my sources, readers.  Mad props: Secretariat owning.  Fail: rain this weekend.