Elizabeth, The Prof and Jacob after placing 12th in the dressage phase of the CIC*** at Red Hills
Jacob Fletcher is a young rider who combines college at Arkansas with competing at the top level of eventing. Trained by Mike Huber, he recently spent some time at the 25 and Under Training Camps with new USEF Coach David O’Connor, and seems to be putting everything he’s learned to good use, jumping clear xc around his first Advanced a couple of weeks ago in the mud at Pine Top, and now poised handily in the CIC*** here at Red Hills in 12th after a very respectable dressage and just a rail down show-jumping in a competitive division, “Red Hills is my favourite event ever, we always call it mini-Rolex! It’s great because there are so many spectators and you have the fenced-off galloping lanes, and you really have to ride cross-country, really get down and grit your teeth and ride here to make the time, although with the new course I think there’s more galloping so it should be easier this year. In the past it’s always been something of a cross country event and as the dressage has not always been my best phase so it’s been good for me in that regard.” The Prof is a horse that Jacob found in England, and he told me when they first saw him he looked pretty different to the sleek, top level eventer he is today – rather chubbier and slightly hairy, Jacob and Mike saw something about him and decided to trust both their guts and producer, former international GB rider Charlotte Bathe. The clincher may have been that his sire, Aughabeg Patch, who Charlotte is particularly fond of, is a paint horse and of course Jacob made his name in Young Riders and enjoyed his first real success on the lovely paint horse Falcon Splash who is coming back slowly from injury and stem cell treatment.
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As to the CIC*** cross country, Jacob is looking forward to it, “Well, I don’t really know much about how three star courses should look. It looks like a challenging course but I wasn’t overly depressed after I walked it, I feel like it’s do-able if I ride well” We chatted a little bit more after his dressage:
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Later, when teased once more about his and Lauren’s “marriage” when they showed up together at the press conference she remarked with a smile, “He’s gone a lot, it’s a long-distance thing,” and Jacob added deadbeat, “It has it’s ups and downs but we always know where home is!”
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Wishing Jacob the very best of luck at Red Hills today, a happy marriage, and we look forward to watching him for a long time in the future. Go Eventing!
