Simply completing the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is an accomplishment in and of itself. Forty horses and riders accomplished that this past weekend in Lexington. Here’s a look at what it feels like to complete Rolex. Go Eventing.

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Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST. Photo by Jenni Autry.

A pole-dropping finale at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event significantly shuffled the leaderboard to ultimately give Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST the win on their dressage score of 39.3 after jumping a double clear round early in the order of go. Michael came into the weekend as the anticipated winner, though many people expected he would be sitting on La Biosthetique Sam FBW in the victory lap.

Sam came into show jumping just .4 penalty points behind overnight leaders Tim Price and Wesko, but the Olympic, World and European gold medalist pulled two rails on course as the penultimate horse to jump. While plenty of horses pulled two or more poles today, that’s just not something we see from Sam, who hasn’t had that many rails in an FEI competition since 2008.

It just goes to show that even The Terminator can have a bad day, and you really can’t even consider it a bad day when you factor in that he won a Rolex watch and also finished in third place aboard Sam on 44.7. He’ll take a significant chunk of the $300,000 prize pot back to Germany.

Tim Price and Wesko. Photo by Jenni Autry.

After Michael and Sam pulled their rails, the pressure was on Tim Price and Wesko to deliver a clear round, as they didn’t have a rail in hand. While “Dash” is a former pure show jumper and has a very good record at the FEI level — just three total rails pulled in his entire FEI career — he had one down today to ultimately finish second on 40.3, just 1 penalty point away from the win.

William Fox-Pitt and Bay My Hero jumped double clear to finish in fourth place on 46.9, which is nearly 3 points higher than the score they won on last year. It’s the first time since 2011 — when Mary King pulled her historic one-two finish — that we haven’t had William sitting in the final press conference at Rolex.

Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn are our new USEF National Champions after jumping double clear to finish in fifth place on 54.1. It’s the fourth time Phillip has won the title, and it’s one he absolutely deserves after completing the event without adding any jumping penalties on either of his rides, both of which were contesting their first four-stars this weekend.

Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam FBW. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Four CCI4* first-timers finished in the top 10, including OBOS O’Reilly with Will Coleman in the irons; they pulled one rail to finish in sixth place on 56.6. Will won a two-year lease on a 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport yesterday after coming home closest to the optimum time on cross country.

Master Frisky had two rails down with Boyd Martin to finish in seventh place on 56.6 in the horse’s first four-star. Nicola Wilson had two down on her first ride, Watermill Vision, only to return to deliver a beautiful double clear round aboard Annie Clover, one of eight double clear rounds we saw today.

Phillip Dutton and four-star first-timer Fernhill Fugitive jumped double clear to finish in ninth place on 59.3, and Bill Levett and Improvise round out the top 10 after pulling two rails to drop them five spots down the leaderboard to finish on a score of 60.6.

William Fox-Pitt and Bay My Hero. Photo by Jenni Autry.

In addition to the combinations already named, the following pairs jumped double clear: Buck Davidson and Petite Flower (13th), Austin O’Connor and Balham Houdini (16th), and Lillian Heard and Share Option (23rd). Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch jumped a beautiful clear round with 1 time penalty to finish 29th.

Richard Jeffery’s show jumping course definitely proved to be influential, with rails falling throughout. The triple combination in the middle of the Rolex stadium proved to be the most difficult, with numerous pairs pulling poles there. The second fence in the treble claimed the most victims. Buck Davidson and The Apprentice had a stop there, and Dana Widstrand and Relentless Pursuit sadly had two stops at that fence as well, resulting in elimination.

Elisa Wallace and Simply Priceless pulled five rails to add 20 jumping penalties to their final score, but they still completed their first Rolex as the highest placed rookies, finishing 17th on a score of 78.0 after delivering an impressive clear cross country performance yesterday.

Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Congrats to the other Rolex Rookies who completed the event: Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair (22nd), Bunnie Sexton and Rise Against (24th), and Lizzie Snow and Coal Creek (27th), Cody Sturgess and Imperial Melody (34th), Allie Sacksen and Sparrow’s Nio (36th), Angela Grzywinski and Novelle (38th), Ellen Doughty-Hume and Sir Oberon (39th), and Amanda Wilson and Cool Decision (40th).

Click here to see final scores and here to relive a play-by-play of all the action in John’s open thread at this link. Stay tuned for quotes and videos from the press conference, as well as more photos from the exciting show jumping conclusion at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. You can view all of EN’s #RK3DE coverage here.

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Overnight leaders Tim Price and Wesko. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Forty-one horses will move on to show jumping at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event following a chilly final horse inspection this morning in Lexington. Easy Target and Mighty Nice were both withdrawn before the jog started, and Catch A Star was withdrawn from the holding box.

Easy Target was presumably sore after a run in with the corner at the Land Rover Hollow yesterday, and Phillip Dutton said on his Facebook page that Mighty Nice scraped his stifle yesterday on cross country and is feeling sore this morning. Caitlin Silliman told EN the mare wasn’t quite right this morning, and it was in her best interest to withdraw.

Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights. Photo by Jenni Autry.

To catch you up on the other withdrawals from late in the day yesterday, Will Faudree withdrew Andromaque after she pulled a shoe on cross country and wasn’t feeling her best as a result. Emily Cammock withdrew Dambala after he aggravated an old suspensory injury.

Five horses in total were sent to the holding box, starting with Annie Clover as just the second horse to present. Last year’s winner Bay My Hero was then sent to the holding box shortly thereafter.

Due to U.S. quarantine regulations, all the overseas horses must complete their portion of the horse inspection before the U.S.-based horses can be presented, so we had a tense, lengthy wait while waiting for Annie Clover and Bay My Hero to be re-presented. Both horses passed upon re-inspection.

Jordan Linstedt and Revitavet Capato. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Novelle and Coal Creek were also sent to the holding box; both passed upon re-inspection. As previously stated, Caitlin Silliman withdrew Catch A Star from the holding box.

Show jumping starts at 1 p.m. EST, and you can watch it live on USEF Network in North American and on FEI TV elsewhere in the world. Keep it locked on EN as we bring you every minute of the action from the finale of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.

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It took more than two hours for officials at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event to release the final scores after a dramatic day of cross country in Lexington. We can’t help but wonder if that had something to do with the FEI’s new frangible penalty rule, which in its most current form automatically awards 11 penalties when a frangible pin is broken but gives the ground jury the power to lift them.

That means each incident of a frangible pin breaking must be reviewed to determine if “unexpected activation occurred through a light tap.” Interestingly, one does not need to review Frangible Francis Whittington demolishing the big corner at the Land Rover Hollow to determine that it did not exactly come crashing down due to a “light tap.”

So you’d expect to see 11 penalties awarded under this FEI rule for completely dismantling the fence, right? Wrong. Rolex officials confirmed to EN that because that particular jump was not on the “official list of frangible fences,” the ground jury could not legally award him those penalties.

That has to sting a little for Will Faudree (who has since withdrawn), Allie Sacksen and Ellen Doughty-Hume, who all received 11 jump penalties for breaking a frangible pin despite the fact that the course builders didn’t need to send in the jack for them.

This is all made even more interesting by the fact that Francis actually was initially awarded 11 penalties on the live scores, along with the aforementioned riders, but those penalties were removed before official scores were released — presumably after officials found and reviewed the Official List of Frangible Fences and realized their hands were tied. Sorry to Will, Allie and Ellen — you picked the wrong fence.

With Rolex being the first major event of the year during which this new frangible penalty rule has been in place, it will be interesting to see how the rule evolves given what happened on course today. If riders can dismantle certain fences but not others in order to receive the 11 penalties — and final scores take more than two hours to be finalized at major competitions — we likely need to go back to the drawing board.

(Update: Lillian Heard and Share Option were originally awarded 11 frangible penalties on the official signed scores released after cross country. Those penalties were removed some time after that, and the journalists were informed the next morning that “one change had been made to the official scores.” More fuel for the fire that this rule needs to be re-thought — and quickly.) 

Other XC Day Notes

• Boyd Martin finished clear aboard both Master Frisky and Crackerjack, moving up an average of 13 places.
• Buck Davidson finished clear on two out of his three horses, moving up an average of 18 places aboard Petite Flower. Ballynoe Castle RM retired early on course.
• Colleen Rutledge finished aboard both Shiraz and Covert Rights, moving up an average of 15 places.
• James Alliston experienced the highs and lows of cross country, getting eliminated with a fall on Tivoli, but moving up 42 places with Parker.
• Michael Jung added just 0.4 penalties on his two rides. He moved from equal first and fourth to second and third.
• Nicola Wilson slipped an average of 2.5 places with Annie Clover and Watermill Vision, with whom she picked up 20 jumping faults.
• Phillip Dutton finished all three of his starts without jumping penalties, moving up an average of seven places.
• Werner Geven sadly did not complete with either of his rides.
• 31 of 51 (61%) of U.S. cross country starting pairs completed Derek Di Grazia’s cross country course. 13 of 20 (65%) non-U.S. starting pairs completed.
• With a 62 percent overall completion rate this year, Derek di Grazia’s course rode more challenging than in 2014, where 70 percent of starters crossed the finish line.
• The Head of the Lake caused the most issues (10). The keyhole/corner Mounds at 16ab caused the second most issues (9), although you can’t judge difficulty just based on that, as The Mounds might have caused more issues if more pairs made it through the Head of the Lake!
• Lady riders dominated the starting stats at Rolex, representing 49 of the 75 Rolex starters and 14 of the 15 Rolex rookies.
• 26 of the 45 horses ridden by ladies completed the course, and 20 of the 26 ridden by men completed.
• Completing ladies added an average of 33 penalties to their dressage scores, and completing men added an average of 11 penalties. These stats are obviously heavily influenced by the top of the leaderboard, where the top nine spots are occupied by men, and by the fact that 14 of the 15 rookies starting the event are ladies.
• U.S. pairs who completed added an average of 29 penalties to their dressage scores. Non-U.S. pairs added an average of 10 penalties.   

Click here to see the full fence report from #RK3DE. You can relive all the action in John’s open threads (Part 1, Part 2) and read the afternoon cross country report here. Tim Price and Wesko lead, The Terminator sits in second and third, Boyd Martin is our highest placed American, and Elisa Wallace is the highest placed Rolex Rookie.

Stay tuned for much more from the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Go Eventing.

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Tim Price and Wesko. Photo by Rare Air Photography.

What a cross country day at the  Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event! After Tim Price and Wesko jumped double clear early in the afternoon, Michael Jung had his ride planned down to the very last second in an effort to stay as close to the optimum time as possible with La Biosthetique Sam FBW — or at least he thought he did.

As he cleared the final fence with Sam, Michael sat back and pumped his fist in the air in victory, which slowed him just enough to pick up 1 time penalty. That pesky second over the time gave him .4 time penalties to sit in second place on 36.7, with Tim and Wesko taking the lead on their dressage score of 36.6.

Both Tim and Michael delivered masterful cross country rides today and deserve to be sitting one-two. Tim and Wesko did have the advantage of taking a breather during a lengthy hold on course, whereas Michael and Sam were one of the final pairs to go after the footing had deteriorated.

Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam FBW. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Michael has another horse at the top of the leaderboard in fischerRocana FST, who jumped one of the six double clear rounds early this morning to stay on her dressage score of 39.3, which puts them in third place. Last year’s winner’s William Fox-Pitt and Bay My Hero jumped clear with 8.6 time to drop one spot to fourth place.

Bill Levett and Improvise delivered a scrappy double clear to round out the top five on 48.6, followed by Boyd Martin and Master Frisky. They’re our top placed Americans after cross country in sixth place on a score of 48.6 after jumping clear with 1.6 time penalties in the horse’s first four-star.

The final minutes of cross country proved to be a lesson on cross country riding, with Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton sharing the course as the last riders to go. Phillip delivered his third clear round of the day aboard Mighty Nice, accumulating 3.2 time penalties to move up to seventh place on 50.4.

Will Coleman and OBOS O’Reilly jumped clear and closest to the optimum time in the horse’s first four-star to take home a two-year lease on a 2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport (or rather, his wife, Katie, won the lease). That cracking double clear round moved them all the way from 31st up to eighth place on 52.6.

William Fox-Pitt and Bay My Hero. Photo by Rare Air Photography.

Sitting in ninth are Phillip and Fernhill Cubalawn — one of four first-time CCI4* horses in the top 10 — after jumping clear with 3.2 time penalties, followed by Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights, our highest-placed Americans after dressage. Colleen jumped double clear as the first rider out early in the day aboard Shiraz and then returned for another clear with CR, picking up 12 time penalties to sit in 10th on 54.3.

Elisa Wallace and Simply Priceless are the highest placed Rolex Rookies after cross country, jumping a confident, clear round with 7.2 time penalties to move up to 12th place. Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair, Bunnie Sexton and Rise Against, and Lizzie Snow and Coal Creek also jumped clear in their four-star debut.

In addition to the pairs already named, James Alliston and Parker also jumped clear to win EN’s unofficial Biggest Mover Award. That effort moved them from 59th all the way up to 17th place on their dressage score of 64.6. That should give you an idea of just how influential cross country proved to be on a very wet day.

Boyd Martin and Master Frisky. Photo by Rare Air Photography.

Chinch’s hat is off to course designer Derek di Grazia, who designed a four-star track that proved to be both challenging yet safe for horses and riders. We saw very few accidents, and we have confirmed (thanks to the fabulous Rolex press team!) that all horses and riders are uninjured sans bumps and bruises.

Here’s the breakdown of the field: Six riders jumped double clear, 27 jumped clear with time penalties, 10 picked up at last 20 jumping penalties, 10 retired on course, 15 were eliminated, four picked up 11 penalties for breaking a frangible pin, and two withdrew before cross country.

It was a tough day for North America, as some of our top riders didn’t have they day they hoped for. Lauren Kieffer and Veronica, Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM, and Marilyn Little and RF Demeter all retired on course. Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High signaled she was retiring but later showed up on the scores as eliminated. Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda and Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch both picked up 20. Jessie Phoenix fell from A Little Romance.

Will Coleman and OBOS O’Reilly. Photo by Rare Air Photography.

You can see the fence report at this link. Scores are not yet final, as officials are busy awarding 11 frangible penalties for broken frangible pins — or taking them away in the case of Francis Whittington, who demolished the corner at the Land Rover Hollow and seems to have officials scratching their heads as to how to handle that.

We’ll have more on how the new 11 penalty frangible rule played out today shortly, as well as quotes from the press conference, so check back soon. More than 31,000 people attended cross country day today here in Lexington. Thank you to the volunteers and organizers who made this great day possible.

Click here to see John’s open thread from the first half of cross country and here to see the second open thread of the final half. There are a number of GIFs capturing the action to hold you over until tomorrow, when video on demand will be available courtesy of USEF Network.

Go Eventing.

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Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam FBW. Photo by Jenni Autry.

I think we all expected Michael Jung and La Biosthetique Sam FBW to be sitting in first place at the conclusion of dressage at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, though I’m not sure we expected him to be sharing the top of the leaderboard with anyone.

Michael and Sam couldn’t quite replicate the score of 33.0 they laid down the last time they fancy pranced in the sandbox at Rolex stadium during the 2010 World Equestrian Games, but they came close enough, scoring 36.3 to sit in equal first place with Tim Price and Wesko, who delivered a lovely test this morning.

Last year’s winner’s William Fox-Pitt and Catherine Witt’s Bay My Hero are still firmly in the mix, scoring 38.5 to sit in third place. They were not aided by the stands erupting into large cheers when they trotted into the ring, and “Moonie” looked like he wanted to turn around and go right back out. William got him back well in hand, executing a perfect square halt right in front of the grandstands before going into the ring and getting the job done.

William Fox-Pitt and Bay My Hero. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Weather Woes

Michael’s leading dressage test from yesterday with fischerRocana FST has him in fourth place now on 39.3, one of four tests to ultimately crack the 30s threshold. As to whether he’s planning to run both horses cross country tomorrow amidst rising concern over forecasted thunderstorms, he told USEF Network: “We will see. I will ride the first one. Then we will see. Sam is a tough guy.”

Indeed, things are starting to look dire for cross country day tomorrow, and the organizers have changed the schedule to try to beat the severe weather moving into the Lexington area. Cross country will now start at 9:45 a.m. EST. The first three horses will run at 5-minute intervals, after which the remaining horses will run at 3-minute intervals in the hopes of completing cross country by about 1:30 p.m. EST.

Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Colleen Leads American Charge

In addition to the impending doom of the weather, the big story of the afternoon has to be Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights, who are leading the American charge in fifth place on a score of 42.3 after delivering a truly impressive performance. Colleen bred “CR,” who is out of her very first Advanced horse, and has ridden him for every single one of his competitions, which makes this all the more special. We’ll have much more on Colleen shortly, so check back soon.

In continuing to run down the top 10, Mackenna Shea and her own Landioso, the Rolex Rookie stars from the morning session, are sitting in sixth place on 43.7, followed by Laine Ashker and her own Anthony Patch on 44.2, who went yesterday morning to sit inside the top three after Day 1. Lauren Kieffer and Team Rebecca’s Veronica are well within striking distance in seventh place after scoring 44.3, which bests their score from last year by 2 points.

Marilyn Little and Team Demeter’s RF Demeter scored 44.3 for eighth place, which is their best dressage score at a four-star since they competed at Rolex in 2013. Jessie Phoenix and Don Good’s Pavarotti round out the top 10 on a score of 45.0; she has said she only plans to do the dressage with “Rotti,” so we expect to see her withdrawn soon, which would move Nicola Wilson and Mary and Barry Tweddle’s Annie Clover into the top 10 on 45.6.

Numbers of Note

• The top three riders all wore top hats.
• Bay My Hero’s score of 38.5 is 5.5 points lower than the dressage score that he finished on to win Rolex 2014.
• 13 more pairs move on to the cross country in 2015 versus 2014.
• The average dressage score in 2014 was 58.6, with a low score of 39.5. In 2015, the average is three points lower, 55.4, and the minimum is three points lower as well, at 36.3.
• The top of the leaderboard is more tightly packed after dressage this year, with 10 pairs within 10 points of the lead. In 2014, just 5 pairs were within 10 points of Allison Springer and Arthur’s considerable dressage lead.
• Five of the top 10 pairs after dressage are from the USA, with Germany (2), New Zealand, Great Britain and Canada all having top 10 pairs as well.
• On Friday, the judges disagreed the most on Liz Halliday-Sharp’s test with Fernhill By Night, with 6.67% difference on the percentages. The judges agreed the most on Andromaque’s test, with just 0.33% separating the marks.
• 52 U.S. pairs averaged 56.4 penalty points in dressage. Non-US pairs averaged 53.0. Averages by nations: Michael Jung (2), 37.8; New Zealand (2), 46.5; Great Britain (6), 50.15; Australia (2), 58.0; USA (52), 56.4; Canada (5), 56.5; Netherlands (2), 59.8; and Ireland (2) 63.2.

We’ll have a full report coming your way next on the rest of the Americans sitting inside the top 20, so keep checking back to EN. Relive all the afternoon action in EN’s open thread at this link, see the full live scores here, watch video playback of all the tests courtesy of USEF Network here, and read all our #RK3DE coverage to date here.

Go Eventing.

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Your Rolex top three: Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST, Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch, and Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Fugitive. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The internet had some fun with the scores on the USEF Network live stream this afternoon when an American flag kept appearing next to Michael Jung’s name at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Considering he’s still leading at the conclusion of the first day of dressage on 39.3 with fischerRocana FST, I’m not sure any of us would be too disappointed about that nationality switcheroo.

So… @USEFNetwork thinks Michael Jung rides for the USA. I’m not even mad #RK3DE @eventingnation pic.twitter.com/zRqhUD3J31

— Courtney (@clownaround922) April 23, 2015

The top three from the lunch break remain unchanged at the end of the day. Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch are in second place on a score of 44.3, followed by Phillip Dutton and four-star first-timer Fernhill Fugitive in third on a score of 47.6. Though we didn’t see a mix up at the top of the leaderboard, several different themes took hold during this afternoon’s tests.

Francis Whittington and Easy Target. Photo by Jenni Autry.

What Might Have Been

Francis Whittington and Easy Target scored 36.2 at Badminton last year and won Blenheim on a score of 38.8. They are more than capable of brilliance in the sandbox and came into Rolex as a pair with plenty of potential to play spoiler. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be today, and they scored 47.6 to sit it fourth place.

He said following the test that they peaked too soon in warm up, and “Smokes” just couldn’t replicate that energy under the judges’ scrutiny. It’s a shame to have that happen on the world stage, but if Saturday’s current forecast for a 90 percent chance of rain holds true, this weekend certainly won’t be a dressage show.

Barb Crabo and Eveready. Photo by Jenni Autry.

West Coast, Best Coast

Jolie Wentworth came out swinging as the final test of the day aboard Good Knight, scoring 50.6 to round out the top five and make the West Coast proud. Jolie last competed in a CCI4* at Luhmühlen in 2013, as she took time off last year to welcome her first child with her husband, so it’s a welcome sight to see her name back at this level.

Barb Crabo and Eveready have tried twice to complete Rolex, and they’re back for a third try this year after the horse won the Galway Downs CCI3* last fall. After being spun at the second horse inspection here at 2012, Barb said she didn’t think CCIs were in the cards anymore for “Ready.” But the Galway win made her decide to try one more time; they scored 53.7 today to sit in 10th.

Elisa Wallace and Simply Priceless. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Reign of the Rookies

We have 16 Rolex Rookies competing here this weekend, and we saw very nice tests from the first-timers today, with Elisa Wallace and Simply Priceless leading the way on a score of 50.6 to sit in sixth place. Karen O’Connor, who helped Elisa warm up before the test, gave her a big high five leaving the chute and tweeted “nailed it” — high praise coming from a former Rolex winner!

Many of the rookies took a big sigh of relief after leaving the ring, happy to have that part of the debut behind them. It’s tough to gauge how a horse that has never seen this type of atmosphere will react when they experience it for the first time, and all the rookies did a great job of keeping the lid on their horses and keeping their own cool in the sandbox.

Sharon White and Wundermaske. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Things of Note

Sharon White was definitely breathing a sigh of relief after her test with Wundermaske, which improved 14 points from last year, when “Patch” decided he wanted nothing to do with the flapping flags and buzzing crowds in the stadium. She has been diligently working on exposing him to bigger atmospheres, and it’s absolutely paying off; their score of 57.2 ties them for 14th.

On the flip side, the atmosphere proved to be too much for Cape Town today. After Jennie Jarnstrom tried to salvage the test several times in the first two minutes, the bell rang to excuse her from the ring. You hate to see that happen to someone after the riders work so hard to get here; better luck next time, Jennie.

Angela Gryzwinski and Novelle. Photo by Jenni Autry.

What’s Next?

It’s difficult to imagine that Michael Jung won’t be sitting at the top of the leaderboard again tomorrow; the question remains whether it will be aboard fischerRocana FST or La Biosthetique Sam FBW. He’ll have to go through last year’s winners William Fox-Pitt and Bay My Hero first, not to mention numerous strong American dressage combinations.

The press conference is underway now, and we’ll have a full report on that for you next, with comments from Michael Jung, Laine Ashker and Phillip Dutton. Stay tuned for much more from Rolex, and click here to catch up on all our coverage from the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Go Eventing.

Numbers to Take Away

• Michael Jung was the only rider who scored over 70% for all three judges.
• Laine Ashker was the only other rider to average over 70%.
• Only four riders sit within 10 points of Michael Jung and FischerRocana FST.
• Werner Geven and Vandiver had the largest spread of judges’ marks on Thursday, scoring 62.17%, 61.83%, and 54.17%.
• The judges agreed the most on Leah Lang-Gluscic and AP Prime, with only 0.34% separating all three judges percentage marks.

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If you can’t be in Kentucky this week to watch all the Rolex action in person, don’t despair! You can watch the entire event for free thanks to the live stream on USEF Network if you live in the U.S., Canada or Mexico.

USEF Network Live Broadcast Schedule:
• April 23: Dressage from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST
• April 24: Dressage from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST
• April 25: Cross country from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST
• April 26: Show jumping from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST
Awards ceremony at 3 p.m. EST

FEI TV: For those who live outside of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, FEI TV will air each day of the competition. Check out the FEI TV schedule to see broadcast times in your area. FEI TV does require a subscription.

Please note that FEI TV’s broadcast of the event cannot be viewed in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, so USEF Network is the way to go if you live in one of those countries.

NBC: The NBC broadcast of Rolex is scheduled for 12:30-2 p.m. EST on Sunday, May 3. Go set your DVR!

Karen O’Connor will be providing color commentary for both NBC’s broadcast and USEF Network. EN’s good friend John Kyle is here in the States to offer his expert commentary on FEI TV and USEF Network, and we’ve been told that a number of riders will be chatting on the USEF Network live stream too.

Watching the live coverage on USEF Network is much more fun if you join in on the EN live blogs presented by SmartPak. John, Maggie, Kate and special guests will be offering analysis and commentary each day. We’ll be posting links to the live blogs each morning, so check in when the action starts.

If you can’t watch the USEF Network’s live stream, you can follow all the action on Twitter @eventingnation, where we’ll be live tweeting each day, and, of course, keep check back this week for all our coverage of Rolex.

[USEF Network]