It was a quiet weekend for eventers as we look ahead to the Nations Cup at Great Meadow next week, but meanwhile Chattahoochee Hills and The Horse Park of New Jersey both kicked off their first summer shows.
Buck Davidson and Huck Finn. Photo via Justine Dutton’s Instagram.
Horse Park of NJ 1
The Horse Park of New Jersey I held on Advanced and two Intermediate divisions. In the Advanced, Buck Davidson won the division on a catch-ride: Patricia Weiser and longtime student Justine Dutton’s Huck Finn. One pole down was the only penalty added to their dressage score of 35, giving them a final mark of 39.
Justine, who has piloted “Finn” through the Advanced level herself, posted on Instagram that she was “so proud of my coach and friend for giving Finn the ride of his life and showing me he does indeed still want to play at this level.” With this confidence booster under his belt, we’re looking forward to seeing continued success for Finn and his team.
Erin Sylvester took second place with Frank McEntee’s Paddy the Caddy. After posting a 35.6 in the sandbox, they knocked one rail and came in one second over the optimum time on cross country to finish on a score of 40.
Erika Nesler rounds out the top three with Doug and Cindy Howe’s Right Above It. They had two down in the show jumping, but joined Buck and Finn as the second pair to finish the cross country within the time, ending the weekend on a score of 44.
This Advanced division fared well around Morgan Rowsell’s cross country track, with only three of the sixteen starters having problems. Show jumping proved to be influential however. Only four pairs in this group managed faultless rounds: Katie Ruppel & Foreign Affair, William Hoos & Ducati, Amanda Beale Clement & Get Ready, and Emily Beshear and Silver Night Lady.
Megan Lynn and The Natural E. Photo via Megan’s Facebook Page.
In the first Open Intermediate group, Megan Lynn took home blue with The Natural E. They led from start to finish, adding only 3.2 cross country time penalties to their dressage score of 26.5. This time last year “Leo” was cruising around training level, and Megan has piloted him successfully up the levels to this win at his second Intermediate.
Hallie Coon and Celien finished on their dressage score (29.8) for second place, followed by Buck Davidson and Park Trader on a score of 32.3.
Victory in the Open Intermediate-B went to Emily Beshear and Olney Uncle Sam. This pair picked up .8 time penalties on the cross country to finish on 34.1. Emily got the ride this spring, and the pair has now won four of their five horse trials together.
Boyd Martin swooped in for second with Long Island T. One rail down and 2.8 time penalties on cross country gave them a finishing score of 39.3
Caitlin Tierney and Killea Gynis View earned third place with a 39.9. They added just 3.2 cross country time penalties to their dressage score (36.7).
Chattahoochee Hills H.T.
At Chattahoochee Hills, Leslie Law ruled the Open Intermediate from start to finish with the Law Eventing Syndicate’s Cooleys Rule of Law. A 31.5 on the flat put them out in front, and 10.4 time on cross country and 2 time in show jumping handed them the win on a final result of 43.9. You might remember this horse from Leslie’s epic AEC Save in 2015, but he seems all grown up now!
Ashley Kehoe took second with Kehoe Enterprise’s Kiltealy Toss Up. The pair were in third after earning a 36.9 in dressage, and kept it after picking up 11.6 time penalties across country. They ultimately finished in the reserve spot with one rail down and two time added in show jumping.
Kingfisher Park’s Forever Young ended the weekend in third with Dana Cooke in the tack. 37.7 on the flat, 12.8 time on cross country and a single pole down gave them a final result of 54.5.
Fourth-place finishers Zackary Brandt and Vasiliev ended on 60.5 and were the only pair to have a double clear show jumping round.
Chattahoochee Hills has a quick turnaround to their second summer event next weekend, which will also host the Area III Championships.
Horse Park of New Jersey I H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Live Scores]
Chattahoochee Hills H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]
