Hannah and Harbour Pilot took the lead with a 44.4
Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot aka William put together the professional, steady, and accurate test that we have come to expect from them over the past two years. One of the true arts of dressage is for the horse to move without it looking like the rider is doing anything. Hannah and William captured that seamless communication today.
As a quick update on the short list, Allie Slusher withdrew Pierre from the short list on Tuesday, which bumped Jennifer Taxay onto the short list. Matt Flynn withdrew Breakthrough, thus leaving just 15 horses on the short list. Boyd received special permission to not attend the mandatory outing since he is in England right now getting ready for Burghley. Thus 14 riders took the field today to pursue their Pan American dreams.
Like Hannah, Kristin Schmolze is shooting for her first team appearance and she took one step closer today with a beautiful test on Ballylaffin Bracken. Shannon Lilley traveled farther than any of the other short listers to compete at Richland but she made the trip well worth it and is 3rd going into the cross-country. Shannon’s west coast compatriots Tamra Smith and Mar De Amor are 4th with a 47.8.
Pan American Games Mandatory Outing Dressage Results:
1. Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot 44.4
2. Kristin Schmolze and Ballylaffin Bracken 46.0
3. Shannon Lilley and Ballingowan Pizazz 46.7
4. Tamra Smith and Mar De Amor 47.8
5. Michael Pollard and Schoensgreen Hanni 48.3
6. Anna Collier and Upper Crust D 48.6
7. Jonathan Holling and Downtown Harrison 49.2
8. Lynn Symansky and Donner 50.5
9. Maxance McManamy and Project Runway 50.6
10. Emily Beshear and Here’s To You 50.8
11. Jolie Wentworth and Good Knight 52.2
12. Buck Davidson and Absolute Liberty 53.6
13. Kevin Keane and Fernhill Flutter 55.8
14. Jennifer Taxay and Taboo 58.9
Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot’s winning dressage ride:
–Fernhill Flutter was having a very nice test until he had a bit of a meltdown in the right turn on the haunches. Kevin told me afterwards that he wasn’t sure if it was a bug or if he caught him with his spur, but Kevin did a good job getting things under control and they had a very steady test everywhere else.
–I felt like Jon Holling and Emily Beshear both had better tests than they scored, but I know both of them quite well so you could call me biased. Downtown Harrison was very impressive at moments throughout his test.
–I have never seen Anna Collier and Upper Crust D compete before but I was impressed with their test for sure. Anna also wins Eventing Nation’s inaugural ‘best salute’ award with Thursday’s best gesture to conclude her test. I’m not necessarily sure what makes a great salute, but Anna had it.
–My feeling is that this selection trials is going to be anything but a dressage test in general although it is going to be very hard for someone to catch Hannah and Harbour Pilot.
–Max McManamy is competing this weekend with a broken foot. We’ll have much more on Max’s journey to Richland in an interview for a later post.
–The Pan American selection trials is being run with the CCI2* B dressage test, and over the advanced cross-country and show jumping. For many of these horses the advanced cross-country will be one of their first advanced runs, so they will see some big steps up from previous competitions.
–I think Absolute Liberty and Schoensgreen Hanni are two horses who left a lot of points on the table today. Libby had bobbles throughout the test, maybe the atmosphere got to her a little bit.
Hannah was kind enough to chat with me briefly after her test:
–The warmup is on grass and the arenas are on sand here at Richland so the smart riders were getting over to the sand right when the rider before them saluted to give their horses a few extra moments to adjust.
–The west coast is very well represented here this weekend. Anna Collier, Max McManamy, Shannon Lilley, Tamra Smith, Jennifer Taxay Kelly, and Jolie Wentworth all hail from the west coast.
–For more info on the short listers, check out this USEF press release. The fun facts include that the average age of the horses on the short list is 9.6 and the average age of the riders is 30, with 19 year old Maxance McManamy being the youngest and veterinarian Kevin Keane being the eldest.
–As a quick note on the rest of the afternoon action here at Richland, Michael Pollard and DV8 took a 5 point lead in a stacked advanced division on a 25.3. Kristi Nunnink and R-Star shipped out to Richland and they are in second. The Canadian WEG duo of Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo is tied for second, and their teammates Steph Rhodes-Bosch and Port Authority are in third. Stephen Bradley is 5th with Leyland. Phillip Dutton and Young Man lead the Intermediate B division.
That’s all for now. The stables are still filling up here at Richland as the novice through preliminary riders are getting ready for dressage tomorrow. The upper level riders have a free day to jump school and stress about the cross-country tomorrow. We’ll have much more from Richland shortly. Go eventing.
