Boyd and Neville galloping through the woods
It is a beautiful day here at Red Hills, and, all things considered, the cross-country was just as good. The morning CIC* and prelim rides went really well with 55 of 65 starters getting home clear and only two minor rider falls. The CIC3* and advanced courses caused more problems as the Red Hills course lived up to its reputation as one of the hardest in the country.
–Some people might look at the number of issues on the CIC3* and advanced courses as making a bad day, but I look at today as a time when everyone involved rose to the challenges of a tough course, with the caveat that final reports are still coming in about a few of the horses.
–As the first ride of the day, Allison Springer and Arthur scampered around the CIC3* with the third fastest time of the day, and she now sits with a one point lead ahead of Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos going into the show jumping. Allison and Arthur had a great ride in a clutch situation around a very tough course and Arthur got big cheers form the crowd all the way around. The next pair out, Heather Gilette and Our Questionaire picked up 20 penalties, then Peter Barry and Kilrodan Abbott had another great round, and then things started to get interesting.
–Kyle Carter and Madison Park had a very tough fall at the first element of the angled brush combination at #14AB. The fall looked serious and the first thing that ran through my head was ‘not again.’ The tarps went up and at that point the only good news was that Parker and Kyle were surrounded in a matter of moments by David, the great Canadian team vet Dr. Ober, and the rest of the fantastic veterinary and medical team here at Red Hills. Kyle went to the hospital holding his arm and Parker was loaded onto the horse ambulance.
The vets radiographed Parker in the horse ambulance and determined that there was nothing serious enough to warrant taking him directly to the vet hospital in Gainesville. Parker is now resting comfortably in his stall, eating hay, awaiting further examination, and things look a heck of a lot better than they did moments after the fall. I had a chance to visit Parker and feed him a treat, which he ate with relish. Hopefully he just strained a muscle, but there is nothing definitive at this point. I spoke briefly with Jen who told me that Kyle has a broken wrist. So, it was a tough day for Canada’s most reliable international pair over the past 4 years, but it looks like they will hopefully be back soon.
1. Allison Springer and Arthur +8.00 53.3
2. Boyd and Neville Bardos +7.6 54.6
3. Michael Pollard and Icarus +11.6 66.10
4. Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo +16.0 66.2
5. Doug Payne and Running Order +20.4 67.1
6. Leslie Law and Rehy Lux +18.8 69.6
7. Karen O’Connor and Mandiba +27.6 71.7
8. Kendal Lehari and Daily Edition +6 73.8
9. Karen O’Connor and Quintus 54 +26.8 76.1
10. Michael Pollard and Wonderful Will +18.0 76.6
–Before we heard any of the good news about Kyle and Parker, the next rider, David Koss, who had been held on course for about 20 minutes, jumped through #14AB and then promptly fell at #15A, a drop into the water. David and Look Sweet got up and walked away, but it didn’t help the mood at Red Hills at that point. Then Sir Donovan, who was also held, picked up a stop but finished the course. Next up was Santa’s Playboy, who fell at the last waster complex, #20, and walked away from that. So, if you can imagine, 7 pairs into the CIC3* we had two clear rides, two rides with stops, and three rides with falls, one of which looked very serious.
–At this point, the riders certainly realized how tough of a course they were dealing with and the strategy of the rides seemed to change from running clean and fast to making it around safely. Karen and Mandiba were the next out and delivered a really strong veteran ride to get things back on track and the crowd cheering again. Don’t look now, but between the WEGs and this run today Mandiba is looking like he has really clicked with Karen on the cross-country.
–Next out was Buck Davidson with Mandiba’s WEG team mate Ballynoecastle RM and Buck’s ride today ended much the same way as in Kentucky, and he retired after two stops. Buck had a rough day with his advanced horse as well, and finished that course with two stops. He also had a fall in the intermediate.
–Time was a big factor in the results, with only 3 riders having less than double-digit time penalties. A lot of this has to do with the windy and hilly terrain at Red Hills which always makes time tough to make. Boyd said that he, along with a lot of the riders, could have gone faster but wanted to make sure they were safe.
–It seems that practice does make perfect. All three riders who had two horses in the CIC3* (Allison, Karen, Michael) ran clear on all of them and have their 6 horses in the top 11 going into the show jumping.
–Another of the world’s best XC riders had a bad day in the CIC3*. Phillip was leading the division with Isabella but picked up a stop at the final element of the #15 water. Isabella looked like she lost her energy on the bank up and didn’t want to jump the rail out. Phillip nursed her home for education’s sake. Phillip made up for it in the advanced with a good ride aboard William Penn and goes into the show jumping 6th in that division.
–After Buck’s ride, the next 5 riders went out and delivered brilliant rides to get everything back on track. Hannah Burnett took her time with St. Barths but they looked great around their first big course of the year. Michael Pollard and Wonderful Will made the track look easy. Kendal Lehari and Daily Edition announced themselves as one of Canada’s top young pairs with the fastest CIC3* ride of the day. Doug Payne and Running Order looked fabulous around a tough course–Ro might have been the best jumper of the day.
–As the CIC3* started to wrap up, the influential double corners at #18AB caused problems for Mensa and Amazing Grace. Nevada Bay looked wonderful around the entire course and then picked up a surprising stop late on course.
–The CIC3* ended on a very positive tone with 4 of the top 6 pairs coming from the last 9 rides. Boyd did what Boyd does and Neville jumped clean and fast enough to move up 5 places into second. Michael Pollard and Icarus, and Selena O’Hanlon with Comombo moved into third and fourth respectively but they sit nearly 10 points back from Arthur and Neville.
–All in all, just over half of the CIC3* horses got home clear. No one made the time, two riders were eliminated due to stops, one retired, two horses fell, one rider fell, and five riders had stops. In each of the incidents, the officials and medical staff responded instantly and everything went smoothly, which is all we can really ask.
I’ll be back shortly with a full recap from the advanced division. Go eventing.
