The Hanni Badger
Two advanced divisions with 16 riders each followed the CIC3* division at Richland on Saturday afternoon. Compared to the CIC3*, Ian Stark designed the advanced course with different and easier routes in most of the combinations. I, along with the riders I spoke with, expected the advanced to ride really well. Of the 36 starters just one retired, one was eliminated, and one finished with a stop. As always, the longer CIC track gave the riders more space to make up time. Only one advanced pair–Kristen Bond and Are You Ready–finished within the time.
Schoensgreen Hanni, affectionately known as “The Hanni Badger,” continued her dominance of the Advanced-A division with 7.2 time penalties. Hanni Badger takes a 7.6 point lead into the show jumping. Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda made the course look easy in one of their last runs before Boekelo and moved into second. Daniel Clasing and Houston are in third and Buck Davidson is 4th with Titanium. Hannah Burnett and Ms. Mars’ Harbour Pilot are sitting in 5th overnight after a quality ride.
Student and teacher are 8th and 9th respectively in the Advanced-A with Kendyl Tracy putting together a great strong ride on Ever So Lucky and Jan Byyny on Syd Kent. Jan has a nice group of horses here this weekend and her team–including the Tracy sisters–was the loudest and proudest of anyone at the main water complex today. Houdini, Tops, and Sal Dali have stars next to their names on my order-of-go sheet, denoting excellent rides where I saw them. Sal Dali always impresses me with great size and scope.
Kristen and Are You Ready are dominating the Advance-B division
No pair was more dominant today than Kristen Bond and Are You Ready in the Advanced-B. They finished with the only advanced double-clear and left me completely impressed. Kristen produces some really nice horses and it looks like Are You Ready is going to be her next upper level star. Buck is 9.9 points back in second with Mar De Amor, who finished at top speed but picked up 7.2 time penalties. Eliza Farren and Bantry Bays Dublin finished just five seconds over for third. Mara DePuy and Fun Maker looked solid where I saw them, but they slid from 1st to 5th with 15.2 time. How many times do you see an entire advanced division finish clear? Each and every one of the Advanced-B riders should be proud of themselves tonight. At the end of the day, Phillip Tweeted “Thanks to Richland’s organizers who did a great job. The ground was really good thanks to a lot of irrigation.“
Hey, I took a half-decent photo! Jan Byyny and Why Not #HoustonWeHaveLiftoff #LandingGear
Jennie and Cambalda #AirTrafficControl #HoverCraft
Clearly, heat stroke is setting in here in Michigan. Stay tuned for more throughout the evening. Go eventing.
