Weekend Roundup: Area VII Championships, Coast to Coast CIC Results & a Marriage Proposal

It was quite a busy week around the eventing nation. We’ve had our eyes on Blenheim Palace International and still feel like we’re a bit in recovery from Burghley and the AEC, but there was plenty going on from the West to the East Coast. Let’s take a look at some key results.

Aspen Farms, Yelm, WA (Area VII)

[Website] [Results]

Aspen Farms Fall Horse Trials hosted the second 2017 USEA Gold Cup qualifier, the Area VII Championship, and hosted Beginner Novice through Advanced level competitors in the horse trials, awarding over $25,000 in cash and prizes.

Mary Burke and her own Prince William won the Gold Cup Advanced division on a 38.4, adding two rails to their dressage score. In second was Sara Sellmer and TF Kreisler, also with two rails, and Jordan Linstedt and Revitavet Capato dropped from a tie for first after dressage to a third place finish overall.

Patience O’Neal and the wonderfully named Huw Munges were leading the Intermediate division after dressage on a 30.0, but 10 seconds of time on cross country moved them down to third and pumped Anne-Sophie Levesque and Eskapade into the lead. Patience show jumped double clear, however, while Anne-Sophie took a rail down, giving Patience and her Welsh Cob gelding the win by 0.5 points. Anne-Sophie and Eskapade finished second, and Natascha Eickert and Oktoberfest moved all the way up from tenth to third thanks to their double clear cross country round – the only one in the division.

Congratulations to the 2016 Area VII Champions: Karen O’Neal and My Lucky Day (Intermediate), Attila Rajnai and Harry Houdini (Preliminary), Genevieve Kirsch and Fleeceworks Cinco (Jr. Training), Sarah Lorenz and Zuara (Open Training), Martha Wehling and Cavalier (Training Rider), Alexandria Winter and The Duke (Jr. Novice), Julie Williams and Dark Horse (Novice Rider), Lisa Epply and Patos (Open Novice), Courtney Cemulini and Split Decision (Jr. Beginner Novice) and Sarah Matuszewski and Fiesta Bella (Open Beginner Novice).

Copper Meadows Horse Trials, Ramona, CA (Area VI)

[Website] [Results]

Copper Meadows welcomed riders from the Intro level up through Intermediate in the horse trials and also hosted a CIC*, CIC2* and CIC3*.

Amber Levine and Carry On won the CIC3*, leading from start to finish and adding nothing to their dressage score of 46.9. Heather Morris and the Team Express Group LLC’s Charlie Tango were second, adding only 1.2 penalties on cross country to finish on 49.4. Gina Miles and Corie Young’s Contalli Di Revel round out the top three.

Gina picked up a win with Liza MacNaughton’s Lanacapri in the CIC2*, coming fifth after dressage on a 57.2 and adding no other penalties in the jumping phases. Rebecca Braitling and Soaring Bird, owned by Andrea Baxter, also finished on their dressage score and were rewarded with a move up from eighth to second. Sandra Donnelly and Belshazzar led after the first phase, but 6.8 time penalties dropped them to a third place finish.

Heather Morris and Team Express Group LLC’s Get Rowdy handily won the CIC*, adding nothing to their dressage score of 46.7 with plenty of breathing room over second place Amber Levine and Otter Pop on a 55.3. Holly Fox and Flash Gordon moved up from sixth to finish third on a 56.3. Heather also won the Open Preliminary with Judith McSwain’s Fleeceworks Royal in the mare’s first event back after eye surgery as well as the Open Training with Peggy Moore’s Graceland’s Liebling.

Kesley Holmes and NZB the Chosen One were fourth after dressage and while they had 2 time penalties in show jumping, they were one of only two double clears to move them up for a win on a 42.0. Hawley Bennett-Awad and Jollybo are continuing to build their awesome new partnership. They were tied for second after dressage and while they were the only pair in the division without show jumping time penalties, they did add a rail to their score. Those four faults combined with two seconds over time on cross country gave them a final score of 42.1 for second place. Jaime Lawrence and True Distraction finished third on 52.1, moving up from fifth with a double clear cross country round.

 Poplar Place Farm CIC and HT, Hamilton, GA (Area III)

[Website] [Results]

Poplar Place Farm hosted Beginner Novice through Advanced as well as a CIC*, CIC2* and CIC3*. Jonathan Holling and Downtown Harrison led the three-star from start to finish with a dressage score of 54.1, a double clear show jumping round and a clear cross country with 12.4 time penalties. Joe Meyer picked up second and third with Clip Clop and South Paw, respectively, adding no jumping penalties between them.

Jonathan picked up yet another win in the CIC2* with Direct Puissance. They crossed the finish line only one second over optimum time on cross country to finish on a 59.0 with room to spare. Laura Welsh had a clear and fast round with only 0.8 time penalties on Galactic to move into second on 67.9, and Laura and Toute Va Bien rounded out the top three with a final score of 69.4.

In the CIC*, Morgan Batton and Toby the Coal Man were one of two combinations to finish on their dressage score (the other was Laura Welsh riding Cape Town) and so moved up from fourth to ultimately win on a 60.3. Joe Meyer and Fashion Forward added two rails  and 1.4 time penalties across both jumping phases for second on 63.5, and Elissa Gibbs and Miss Ruby Cooley were very close behind in third on 63.9 with two clear jumping rounds and 1.2 time penalties to add.

There were only two competitors in the Advanced division and it was Rebecca Hoos and Little Cruz who finished on top, finishing on a final score of 84.5. Lexi Scovil and Charleston VI were second on 86.6.

Daisy Trayford and Normandy Soldier won the Open Intermediate division, edging out Leslie Law with a faster cross country round. Leslie finished had 8.4 time penalties on both Fernhill Whatever and Tre’ du Kernat to finish second and third respectively.

Five Points Horse Trials, Raeford, NC (Area II)

[Website] [Results]

Five Points Horse Trials was plenty busy hosting a Beginner Novice through Advanced Horse Trials and a Beginner Novice through Intermediate Combined Test plus Future Event Horse, Young Event Horse and New Event Horse division plus a Derby Cross.

We are just beaming that EN’s own Kate Samuels and her fancy French fellow Nyls Du Terroir won the Advanced division. They were second after dressage and show jumping, but a clean, quick round on cross country with only 6.8 time penalties to add moved them up to win on a 48.3. Lauren Kieffer and Meadowbrook’s Scarlet finished second on 48.9 having added 16.8 time penalties on cross country.

It came down to a tiebreaker in the Open Intermediate division. Kathy Cain and Legal Limit tied with Caitlin Silliman and Vagabon de Champdoux with dressage scores of 32.1. Both pairs dropped a rail in show jumping and both went double clear on cross country. So who finished closer to the optimum time to win the tie? Kathy and Legal Limit crossed the finish line just one second under optimum while Caitlin came in 7 seconds under optimum, so Kathy took home the blue ribbon and Caitlin the red. In third place was Susan Jellum and Rochambeau, finishing on 47.6 and crossing the finish exactly on the optimum time. Great sense of timing, ladies!

We also extend a heartfelt congrats to McKenzie Dey and her beloved, who got engaged during the event. McKenzie also finished sixth in the Open Novice with Payback, which is icing on the cake, right?