Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights. Photo by RedBayStock.com

It’s a good feeling to know your horse loves his job, and there is no doubt in Colleen Rutledge’s mind that her homebred Covert Rights does. After injuries sidelined the 11-year-old Thoroughbred/Clydesdale for parts of the last two seasons, he returned to the three-star level with enthusiasm at Richland Park Horse Trials and produced a brilliant win, leading from start to finish and ending on his record dressage score of 33.3.

“He was fantastic. He was full of himself and ready to roll. He was so happy to be doing this again and it was evident how much fun he was having,” Colleen said. “All I can hope is he stays feeling this good and fit and elastic and happy doing his job (in the lead up to Fair Hill).”

Having a draft cross competing at the top level of the sport may seem unusual, but Colleen feels that his breeding (BFF Incognito X Let’s Get It Right, by Covert Operation) has benefited him greatly.

“I’ve ridden a number of Clydesdale crosses and they were all athletic horses. For whatever reason as yearling I said CR would be four-star horse. Everyone said I should sell him as show hunter because he’s a good mover and too laid back. I said I think there’s more in here than most people realize. I love that he proved me right,” Colleen said.

“It’s the Clydesdale part that makes him really rideable, given him a little bit more suspension in his trot and it’s given him that little bit of character. His mother is incredibly smart and his dad smart but laid back. He’s a brilliant mix of the two of them. He’s laid back but fairly confident in himself and that has let us go as far as we have as fast as we have. (His breeding) actually has added what he does rather than subtract.”

CR burst onto the four-star playing field in 2015 and instantly made a name for himself with an 11th place finish at Rolex and later earning 22nd at Burghley. Despite the inconsistencies in his competition schedule due to the down time that followed, he just keeps improving, with three top six three-star finishes in 2016 and a 13th place result at Carolina International this March.

“He’s finally coming into his own. He’s finally starting to get strong and understanding his job better and better. As he gets stronger in dressage he’ll get better there and then stronger and better in show jumping. On cross country, he’s already a blast. I’m excited to see where he will go.”

Will Coleman and Tight Lines. Photo by RedBackStock.com.

Will Coleman was aiming for three solid phases with Tight Lines, a 10-year-old French Thoroughbred gelding owned by the Conair Syndicate, and it doesn’t get much better than finishing on your dressage score. After a foot-perfect cross country round yesterday, “Phish” delivered a double clear show jumping round to move up into second place on 40.2.

“He was great all weekend. I came here wanting to put in three good phases and I think we did that. Colleen did as well and she edged me out by a few points but she deserved it,” Will said. “I couldn’t be happier with my horse. I thought he was really solid and I think on a good track right now.”

With Fair Hill CCI3* on the books for October, Will plans to run Plantation Field CIC3* as a final prep. Right now though we know Will is looking forward to completing the long drive home to Virginia and celebrating with his wife Katie and their new daughter, Charlotte. “We hit the road as soon as we could after we took care of the horses. We’ll get home early tomorrow morning and I’ll get to spend some time with my family.”

Emily Beshear and Silver Night Lady. Photo by RedBayStock.com.

Katie Ruppel and her own 13-year-old Thoroughbred Houdini were second after dressage on 39.8. After falling off during her first CIC3* round she pushed through the pain and, with a little help from her longtime equine partner, produced a fault-free round to hold their position on the scoreboard. A single-rail round today dropped them barely outside the top three to finish fourth on 43.8.

A Michigan native and having grown up in Area 8, Katie decided, along with her parents Chris and Patty, to pay forward the support she received from the community as an up-and-coming Young Rider and sponsor the new Richland Leg Up Award, given to the lowest scoring Area 8 Young Rider in any Preliminary division at Richland Park.

The winner of the inaugural Richland Leg Up Award is 15-year-old Bailey Hennings of Valley City, Ohio. Bailey has been riding since she was a child and eventing for six years. Competing in Preliminary Rider at Richland, she finished in the ribbons with her horse Miss Demeanour, a 7-year-old OTTB with AP Indy breeding that she’s had since last October.

Bailey and Miss Demeanour just moved up to Preliminary with the help of coach Waylon Roberts. Bailey’s immediate goal is to move up to the one-star level and this award will help her to achieve this goal with a plan to enter at the Ocala Jockey Club in November and work with Katie to prepare.

As the winner of the Richland Leg Up Award, Bailey will receive $1,000 and one free week of training and accommodation with Katie at her base in Anthony, Florida. Katie and her parents want to thank Richland Park organizers Bob and Kay Willmarth for a spectacular event and being the platform for this award.

Bailey Hennings and Miss Demeanour. Photo by Dean Hennings.

Emily Beshear and Deep Purple Eventing’s Silver Night Lady, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare, hovered outside the top three of the CIC3* all weekend. A double clear round today boosted them to third place, with only 2.4 time penalties from cross country to add to their initial score of 41.0.

Buck Davidson occupies two placings in the top ten. Carlevo, a 10-year-old Holsteiner owned by Carlevo LLC, finished bang on the optimum time yesterday and added a couple rails today for fifth place on 51.1. He also finished eight with a clear show jumping round and 2.8 time penalties across the country riding Carl and Cassandra Segal’s 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse Park Trader.

Boyd Martin and Christine Turner’s 10-year-old Trakehner Tsetserleg also finished on the optimum time on cross country. They added no penalties in stadium today to finish on their dressage score for sixth. Joe Meyer and Clip Clop, a 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse owned by Joe and Madison and Theresa Foote, were double clear today for a seventh place finish on 53.9, which is the exact same score they earned at this event last year.

Alexandra Knowles and the 15-year-old Thoroughbred Sound Prospect, owned by Sound Prospect LLC, were ninth with a 55.8 final score. Jenny Caras and her 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse Fernhill Fortitude round out the top ten on 61.0, dropping from sixth with an unfortunate 12-fault round today.

Cornelia Dorr and Louis M. Photo by RedBayStock.com.

Buck and Copper Beach, Sherrie Martin and Carl Segal’s 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse, won the second annual Phillipa Humphreys Advanced division, leading from the start and adding only one rail to their score today to finish on 32.2.

NAJYRC CICOY2* silver medalist Cornelia Dorr made the big move up to Advanced at Richland this weekend with Louis M. The 12-year-old Rheinlander gelding was previously campaigned at the three-star level in Europe by German rider Pia Münker, and Cornelia has never understated what a great teacher Louis is for her. They finished second in their first Advanced with a 38.4 final score. Well done!

Boyd Martin and Long Island T remained in third place after show jumping to finish on 43.6. Erin Sylvester and Mettraise moved up from eighth after dressage for eventual fourth on 51.1. Lindsay Beer and El Paso round out the top five on the same score.

That’s a wrap on another wonderful edition of Richland Park Horse Trials. Thanks for reading! We’ll be back shortly with reports from Millstreet and Blair Castle.

Richland Park: Website, Schedule, Ride Times, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage

Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Colleen Rutledge said she wasn’t going to push for time on the CIC3* cross country course at Richland Park, but her Clydesdale/Thoroughbred cross Covert Rights took matters into his own hands.

“He was hysterical this morning. He came in the warm-up and essentially ran away with me for the first 10 to 15 minutes,” Colleen said of her 11-year-old homebred. “That actually makes me really happy because that meant he knew what we were here to do and he was going to do it. He went out on course and was fabulous. He felt fantastic and made it feel so easy. I could not be happier.”

In the beginning, Colleen attempted to control “CR” a little more to make sure they “stayed true to the fences,” but as our growing four-legged children sometimes prefer, CR didn’t want any help from Mom, so Colleen gave up and let him do his thing. They finished clear and inside the time to hold the lead in the CIC3* on 33.3.

“He’s got such a big stride he can leave out strides and be on a bigger step and everything is so easy. He doesn’t make a massive effort over fences, so he’s in the air for less time. He’s super efficient across the ground, in turns and over fences, and he’s really quite fast. I went out to establish a rhythm and spent a lot of time towards the back half bringing him back to me.”

The course has been changed this year to include a new loop around a corn field which Colleen said opened up some gallops and course designer Ian Stark “took advantage of every piece of terrain he possibly could.”

Colleen’s plan tomorrow is to take Marc Donovan’s show jumping course one fence at a time. “We’re still knocking the rust off because he’s been on the shelf for a year. But I’m so happy he came out of the box today and said, “We are going NOW!”

Katie Ruppel and Houdini. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Michigan native Katie Ruppel had an eventful day starting when her first CIC3* horse Foreign Affair hung a leg at a log and “just shot me right off. I was a missile,” she said. “He just made a little mistake. He was trying his guts out.”

The horse is fine and even went on to jump the next fence without his rider, but Katie is feeling awfully sore. She rallied to ride Houdini, her own 13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, who was sitting in second after dressage and finished double clear, one second under the optimum time of seven minutes.

“Adrenaline is a great thing, but Houdini did pack me around today,” Katie said. “Nothing is obviously broken” but she can’t walk and is in significant pain. She’s showing no signs of bailing out on show jumping, however, stating she will “make it happen.”

That’s what you call eventer tough, folks.

Will Coleman and Off the Record. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Will Coleman held on to third place with last year’s CIC3* winner Tight Lines, a 10-year-old French Thoroughbred gelding owned by the Conair Syndicate. They went clear and fast to sit on 40.1.

“I was thrilled with his round. It was about foot perfect, honestly. I can’t think of a jump I’d want to have gone better,” Will said. Following “Phish’s” first four-star at Rolex this spring, Will and his team reevaluated the horse’s training and now they are starting to see real results.

“We’ve figured a few things out and I’m pleased with the whole program. My plan is to keep at it. We’re not finished by any stretch, but I’m pleased with the weekend so far. It’s a step in right direction.”

Will won the CIC2* with Off the Record, an 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse owned by the Off the Record Syndicate. They were fourth after dressage on 43.9 and added no additional jumping penalties to their initial score to take the win.

“I always thought he was horse that could win a lot of competitions. He’s very capable on flat, a good jumper, and his cross country is getting better and better. He’s showing me more of a gallop and I feel like he has a bright future,” Will said.

“He’s eight this year so I decided it was time to put more pressure on him competitively and see how he measured up. So far he’s answered the bell. He was second at Bromont CCI2* and now he’s won this.”

Elisa Wallace and Riot Gear. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Like many others, Will is aiming to run a CCI at Fair Hill in October. He applauded the efforts by Richland Park organizers Bob and Kay Willmarth to prepare good going as well as the course changes implemented by Ian Stark and his team.

“The new loop adds another element of galloping and real cross country questions. It’s more of what we need to see in this country, and it will improve people’s riding and show them what they need to do to develop horses,” Will said.

“Bob, Kay and their crew did incredible job developing the ground. In time that loop will be as well as the rest of course. We were all happy though and they did wonderful job. Bob has been watering every week since May and they’re in a huge drought here, so hats off to them.”

Eventing 25 Emerging Athlete Jenny Caras had a good day with two second place finishes in the CIC2* and CIC* and a double clear round on cross country in the CIC3*. Fernhill Full Throttle and Trendy Fernhill both finished on their dressage scores of 45.0 and 45.7 while her longtime partner Fernhill Fortitude is tied for sixth after the first two phases in the three-star with a 49.0.

Buck Davidson and Copper Beach. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

You couldn’t ask for a better performance in a horse’s first FEI event than to finish on your dressage score and win the whole shebang. Elisa Wallace piloted Riot Gear, an 8-year-old Oldenburg owned by Steve and Vicki Sukup, to a win in the CIC* after a fast and clear cross country round today. “Ryebread” will run a couple more events before a season finale in November at the Ocala Jockey Club CCI*.

“He was very good. A little green in some spots, which is to be expected. This was his second Preliminary and he was so rideable and adjustable and so much fun!” Elisa said. “It was a great course for him to gain confidence and experience with the atmosphere. He has an amazing gallop and he gave me a great feeling and was very proud of himself when he was in the vet box.”

Looking to the Advanced division, Buck Davidson and Carl Segal and Sherrie Martin’s Copper Beach lead with a 28.2 after a clear and fast cross country round. NAJYRC individual silver medalist Cornelia Dorr is sitting second in her first Advanced with Louis M. Boyd Martin and Long Island T added 10.8 time on cross country but are still third with a 39.6.

It’s been quite the whirlwind weekend with Richland Park, Millstreet and Blair Castle running and we thank you for sticking with us and being patient with reports. Stay tuned, we’re doing it all again tomorrow !

Richland Park: Website, Schedule, Ride Times, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage

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