Selena and Colombo

Team Canada proved that their best can compete with anyone’s best by winning the CIC3* and one advanced division at Richland.  Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo moved up from 3rd after the CIC3* dressage with the only double-double-clear in the CIC3*.  In the Advanced-B division, Canadian EN guest blogger Steph Bosch also finished on her dressage score and moved up from 5th to win.  The question for the fighting Canucks now is who wants to step up as their 3rd and 4th riders?  The next highest placing Canadians were Jessica Phoenix and Expoloring (9th CIC3*), Ian Roberts and Napalm (7th Adv-A), and Diana Burnett and Manny (9th Adv-B).  Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master withdrew from the Advanced B division after the XC but from what I hear, it’s not an issue that will sideline their season.

Link: Richland Results 

The Americans only won one division but the US short listers had very consistent performances this weekend and the US fans should be happy with the weekend.   5 US short listers finished in the top 7 of the CIC3*, 3 in the top 3 of the Advanced-A, and 4 in the top 6 of the Advanced-B.  For those of you keeping score home, that’s 12 potential US team horses that finished in the top 16 of their divisions.  The US has the best depth of talent right now that I can remember in recent history.

CIC3* – Selena moves up two places FTW

1. Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo +0  50.8
2. Boyd Martin and Remington XXV +4  51.6
3. Karen O’Connor and Mandiba +0  53.2
4. Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos +0  53.9

Karen O’Connor and Mandiba backed up their win at Rebecca Farm with a superb weekend in the Richland CIC3*.  One notable moment occurred when Buck had a stop in the show jumping with Ballynoecastle.  Buck had a tough warmup with “Reggie” that included several stops at an oxer and it carried into his round.  Buck and Reggie are normally an excellent show jumping pair and they will get things back on track, but I feel like today might have made My Boy Bobby the front-runner to carry Buck at the WEGs.  Buck had a fabulous Sunday on his other advanced rides with 4 double clears.   
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US eventing team SJ coach Katie Prudent says “higher”

Advanced A – Arthur won by leading wire to wire

1. Allison Springer and Arthur +0  29.1
2. Phillip and The Foreman +0  30.6
3. Phillip and Woodburn +0  32.8

Arthur obviously had a great weekend and he beat an excellent field in the A division.  True Prospect Farm had an excellent weekend in the Advanced-A with Phillip’s two and Jennie Brannigan’s fourth on Cambalda.  Will Coleman and Nevada Bay had a super weekend to finish in 5th and they will now get ready to fly over for Blenheim.
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Advanced B – Steph Bosch wins, Kim has a solid round 

1. Steph Bosch and Port Authority +0 31.7
2. Kim and Tipperary Liadhnan +4  33.3
3. Buck and Titanium +0  35.0

Other than Steph’s win, which she will tell us about in her EN blog entry this week, the story in the Advanced-B division is that Tipperary Liadhnan only had one rail.  For the first time in a long time it looked like Paddy was finally working with Kim again.  I have been writing that Kim and Paddy have been training well with Katie Prudent, and we saw the results of that training at Richland.  I never like to make too much out of just one round, but another one rail performance at the AECs is going to make it hard to leave Paddy off the WEG squad.

Looking at the overall Richland Results, only 8 horses finished on their dressage score–Colombo, Arthur, Cambalda, Napalm, Subway, Port Authority, Titanium, and My Boy Bobby.  There were 20 double-clears in the show jumping.    

Katie Prudent’s coursealk with Holly Hudspeth ended with a run out of the arena as the first advanced horse started.  The coursewalk must have worked though, because Last Monarch continued his trend of looking more mature in the show jumping at each event.  Now it’s time for me to run away from Richland. 

Go eventing.

Link: Live Richland Scores

***All horses passed the CIC3* jog, including Colombo.  Running Order and Under the influence were held but passed on reinspection.  Good luck to all the show jumpers today.

Leslie Mintz took some great photos of the XC for the USEA, and here are rider quotes from Saturday.

I have gotten a couple of calls about a medical airlift helicopter landing and taking off at the Loudoun horse trials in Virginia during the intermediate cross-country this morning. Loudoun scores are here, and we will have more information about the situation as we get it.

Boyd and Remington

The CIC3* and advanced divisions ran smoothly at Richland this afternoon.  Just 7 out of 63 advanced riders had issues, which I attribute to both a high quality of riding and not terribly technical courses.  The time proved pretty easy to make as well, with only 10 advanced finishers having double digit time penalties.  Lisa Barry fell at the bounce into the second water and Kenzo de la Roque was momentarily stuck on the log in, but that was the only really tense moment for the advanced divisions.  The online scoring says “MR” but from what I hear, the horse didn’t fall. 

Link: Richland XC results

Both the Canadian and US teams set out with every intention of making the time, and it showed in the scores.  With the course riding so straightforward, the Canadians didn’t have much of an opportunity to move up significantly but they rode around that course with purpose.  The top two placings remained the same for all three divisions. 

CIC3* – Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone double clear to hold the lead 

1. Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone II +0  45.9
2. Boyd Martin and Remington XXV +0  47.6
3. Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo +0  50.8
4. Will Faudree and Pawlow +0  51.6
5. Doug Payne and Running Order +0  52.2

In the CIC3*, Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone smoked around the XC course to hold onto their dressage lead.  Colombo is a cross-country machine and he delivered a routine double-clear.  I still feel like Will Faudree and Pawlow are on the outside looking in for the WEGs just because Pawlow only has one 4* on record, but Pawlow is practically pounding the door down by beating all but one of the other short listed horses in the CIC3*.  Mandiba and Neville picked up 2 time penalties each to drop them slightly in the placings, but they have already proven that they can make 4* time.

My videoing was particularly awful today because I kept getting distracted talking with people, such as helping to design the new Team Canada hats.  I tried to keep the jumps in order for the CIC3*, but I missed a few rides.  Buzzterbrown was out filming today so we will have his much higher quality videos posted tomorrow.     

Advanced A – Nothing changed

1. Allison Springer and Arthur +0  29.1
2. Phillip and The Foreman +0.8  30.6
3. Phillip and Woodburn +2.8  32.8
4. Amy and Leyland +4.40  33.1

The US short list continued their domination of the Advanced A division with all four horses at the top looking really polished.  Woodburn cantered around with his enormous stride and made everything look really easy.  The element in the middle of the advanced water had a mound with a downhill landing and a lot of the horses were sticking on the stride back into water.  Jannie Brannigan and Cambala jumped five spots to 5th with a double clear.  Will Coleman and Nevada bay looked really polished around the course, and it is unfortunate that the WEGs are coming one three-day too early for that pair.

Here is a montage of a few advanced rides.  I tried to get all of the short listers.

 

Advanced B – Comet and Paddy still tied

1. Becky Holder and Courageous Comet +0  29.3
1. Kim and Tipperary Liadhnan +0  29.3
3. Steph Bosch and Port Authority +0 31.7
4. Buck and Titanium +0 35.0

Kim and Becky enter Sunday tied on their two phenomenal gray horses, which makes for some interesting show jumping story lines.  Stephen and Joshua had 9.2 time penalties, which is the most of any short lister, but I wouldn’t worry about it because this is their first event since this spring.  If you told me at the beginning of the weekend that Ty would have been Buck’s highest placed advanced or CIC3* horse after Saturday, I wouldn’t have believed it.  Buck rode three short listed horses today and added a grand total of 0 penalties to their dressage scores.

 Nigel Casserly did a great job as always announcing the XC.

Overall, from talking to the riders, the general mood is that it feels like a long time to the WEGs.  Every moment is a chance for something to go right and a chance for something to go wrong, and everyone will be nervously icing the hell out of their horses tonight and jogging them in front of the vets.  Go eventing.  

Links: Live Scores, Ride Times

Hey Eventing Nation! I get the privilege of going through the CIC 3-star course with you tonight as I hammer it into my memory. The grounds here at Richland Park are absolutely lovely, with excellent watering systems on the entire course so the footing is spectacular.

The course starts out slightly downhill to #1 and #2 and doesn’t waste any time getting to a big-enough height and width for early on the course. #3 is a log on top of a steep hill and a quick gallop to the first of many ditch and walls at #4.

The first water is right handed to a brush drop in, six strides to 5b an open roll top.

#6 is another ditch and wall but this one is skinny and hanging (kind of like the one at Burghley into the Troutery but obviously not as terrifying 🙂

It’s downhill to a nice big left handed brush corner at #7, a table and then a bit of a gallop to the 2nd water: bounce rails at the edge of water, 5 forward strides to the famous Richland Frog, and a slightly bending 4 strides to an angled brush out.

A galloping fence comes before the sunken road at 12abcd: a bounce rail down, one stride, up and one stride out over a skinny all in the woods so it’s shady. Next is a gallop downhill & dodging trees to a table and then you guessed it, another ditch and wall at #14–this one is quite skinny.

Then it’s a long gallop and a table along the way to the hardest part of the course, the coffin #16. A tall rail in with a pretty severe downhill slope on the back side, tight one stride, ditch, up hill one stride to a big skinny brush out.

A few more galloping jumps and then a large and wide table at #20a, forward 5 strides to a left handed corner #20b and forward 6 strides bending left to a right handed corner #21. A trakener and 3 more galloping table/roll tops round out the course. Overall, it’s very inviting (unless your horse is ditchy) and encourages forward riding (especially if your horse is ditchy). Apparently the AEC’s advanced course is very similar so it will be good practice for everyone going there.
 
Thanks for reading & come on out if you’re close by! There will be great horses and riders to watch on Saturday!! -HSB

OCET says “Hi Eventing Nation!“

Friday was a gap day for the CIC3*, advanced, and CIC2* horses.  Most of them spent the day grazing with probably a light stretchy flatwork and a couple of the horses had a short jump school.  As always, it’s about knowing what preparation is best for your horse.

Our world famous Worst Videos Ever series continues at Richland:

One story that I absolutely have to mention is that one rider told me they completely forgot to do the turn-on-the-haunches in their dressage test and not only did they not get whistled, but they received 7’s and comments on both of the movements.  Remember that the next time you get a questionable score on a movement.

Check out our interviews with Peter Atkins, Steph Bosch, and Doug Payne:

We will have a full preview of the XC from Hannah Burnett later, but the Ian Stark designed course is big and gallopy, which is what I would expect from an Ian Stark course.  Go eventing.
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In some bad news on a Friday night, the Horse and Hound is reporting that a parade in Germany turned into a stampede of more than 100 horses, injuring up to 44 children.

The World Equestrian Games are less than a month away and it’s crunch time for the US and Canadian team hopefuls at Richland.  Between Richland and the AECs, short listers have less than 30 minutes of competition time left to impress the selectors and one momentary bad decision will leave them waiting till next year.  We got a feel on Thursday for which riders have developed the most over the past few months.  We’ll examine the advanced dressage results from Thursday division by division.

Link: Richland Scores

CIC3*: Nate Chambers leads after the dressage–again

1. Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone II  45.9
2. Boyd Martin and Remington XXV  47.6
3. Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo  50.8
4. Karen O’Connor and Mandiba  50.8
5. Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos  51.1

Nate and “Roly” took on 7 short listers in their division and numerous other excellent dressage horses and still took the lead by nearly two points–not a bad day of work.  Nate has been working with David recently and the improvement in the dressage shows.  A few weeks ago, Nate also led his Millbrook advanced division after the dressage and held onto the lead up until the show jumping.

The word on Boyd is that he has really bought into the USET’s coaching staff and philosophy this year.  I know Boyd has been working really hard and the results show it.  2nd on Remington and 5th on Neville is absurdly good riding.  It’s time to stop thinking about Boyd as just a XC specialist–he’s bringing it in all three phases these days.  Neville has to feel Remi breathing down his neck.  It’s no surprise to see Selena and Karen round out the top 5.  Mandiba won the CIC3* at Rebecca Farms and I don’t really see a reason why he won’t win this one.

Link: Leslie Mintz Photos

Advanced-A: Short listers galore

1. Allison Springer and Arthur  29.1
2. Phillip and The Foreman  30.6
3. Phillip and Woodburn  32.8
4. Amy and Leyland  33.1

When the Richland entries first came out, Woodburn was in the CIC3* and “Chip” was in the OI, but Phillip moved both of them into the advanced.  In my mind, it’s Woodburn all the way for Phillip unless something crazy happens.  The one other US short listed pair in this division aside from the top 4, Holly Hudspeth and Last Monarch, are looking to move up over the weekend.  Amy’s other ride, Coal Creek, is in fifth place after the dressage. 

While the two advance divisions were doing dressage, two horses reportedly got loose and galloped around the dressage area and apparently even into the specator area.  The two horses conveniently got their pre-XC wind sprints and Point Two Airjackets will be dispensed to spectators for the rest of the weekend.

Advanced-B: Comet, Joshua, and Tipperary tie for the lead

1. Becky Holder and Courageous Comet  29.3
1. Stephen Bradley and Brandenburg’s Joshua  29.3
1. Kim and Tipperary Liadhnan  29.3
4. Diana Burnett and Manny  31.0

Whoever the organizer is who decided to put those three horses in the same division has a twisted sense of humor.  And the good news is that I can finally spell “Tipperary Liadhnan” without looking it up.

Stephen and Joshua are one of the most interesting pairs this weekend. Joshua’s record looks like Stephen has been saving the horse over the past two years for this coming month. Is Joshua good enough to do a couple of events a year and then show up at Richland looking WEG ready? I’d bet yes.

Buck placed 11th in the advanced on Bobby on 37.7 and 6th with Titanium.  With an 8th in the CIC3* on Ballynoecastle, Buck has some ground to make up on his short list counterparts over the weekend. 

I haven’t mentioned the Canadians much in this recap because I wasn’t blown away with their placings.  Colombo, Port Authority, and Manny were the only three Canadian horses to finish in the top halves of their divisions on Thursday.  That said, the weekend is young.  After being originally entered in the CIC3* a few weeks ago, Amistand and Gin & Juice did not start the event.
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Other random news and notes from Thursday:

Jane Forbes Clark is the first owner to have horses in 3 different sports qualify for the WEGs

This weekend is the last chance for Kiwi WEG selection

The CIC3* and advanced divisions do dressage at Richland Park today.  Midway through the CIC3*, Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone II lead with a 45.9, Karen is tied with Selena for 2nd on 50.8, and Bruce Davidson is back in the saddle with a 53.1 on Cruise Lion.  Most of the short listers are in the advanced divisions and they start this afternoon.  I’m on the road today headed for Richland, so prepare yourselves for much ridiculousness starting soon.

Link: Richland Live Scores

Even though I received a lifelong ban from Pony Club for dirty boots and braids that were “just that bad,” we still love Pony Club here at Eventing Nation.  The USPC’s Western Championships took place at the Horse Park at Woodside, California last week. The event ran approximately 10 days. It started with three days of Quiz, then moved on to Show Jumping, Dressage, Tetrathlon and Games for the next three days. The final round took place at the Woodside’s “Summer Event HT”.  Nancy Pittman, who is the VP of activities for the USPC was kind enough to send us some info about the West Coast Championships.  Thanks for writing this Nancy, and thank you for reading.