Jennie Brannigan and FE Lifestyle. Photo by Sally Spickard.

It proved to be a quintessential cross country day today at the Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International (Raeford, NC), with immaculate conditions providing the perfect canvas on which to roll out the stories of the day. We were all keen to see how Derek di Grazia’s refreshed track would fare after he took over the reins from the legend himself, Ian Stark, who had been the designer in residence for the top levels at Carolina for the better part of a decade.

What we heard from the riders over the weekend was that Derek had laid out “plenty to do”, but in a way that they believed the horses would read and respond well to each question asked. As a general rule, Derek has the trust of the riders who take on his designs, and he’s widely respected for the subtle nuance and insistence that riders ride well and accurately that permeates his style.

And what a treat it was to watch the course debut in full. While it caused its fair share of influence, the cross country today was overall a display of strong riding and horses finishing confidently, leaving the riders feeling good about the next step on their spring calendars, wherever that may be.

It would not be a day for a third consecutive wire-to-wire victory in the Sandy River Equestrian Center CCI4*-S. Overnight leader, New Zealand’s Monica Spencer, ran into early trouble on course with Artist at fence 9C, a tricky corner on a tough line from a brush arrowhead at 9B. Monica and Artist unfortunately knocked the MIM-pinned rail at this question, resulting in 11 costly penalties. From there, Monica opted to cruise around to tick off her primary goal of boosting Artist’s confidence in his final major prep before Kentucky, and she finished clear from that point on.

Photo by Sally Spickard.

This opened the door for a rider who had already turned in a fast clear round to step up onto the top spot on the podium, and that rider was Jennie Brannigan, who piloted Tim and Nina Gardner’s FE Lifestyle (Leo von Faelz – Berina A, by Brandenburger) to the win on a final score of 40.3. Jennie had been in second behind Monica going into cross country today, and earns her first 4* win here at Carolina and her 12th win at the level in her career. They finish the weekend on a score of 40.3.

“It means a lot,” Jennie reflected. “I think it’s really easy to just move on to the next thing when you do well, always looking ahead. And while it’s important to keep the big picture in mind, it’s just as important to celebrate the moments when things go right. Finding that balance is hard.”

It wasn’t so long ago that Jennie experienced a big down weekend at this event. In 2019, Jennie brought FE Lifestyle to Carolina to contest his first 4*. Midway through the cross country, at the coffin complex, Jennie fell from “Foxy”, causing her to break several bones in her face and lose a few teeth.

“It’s been such a journey with this horse,” she said. “I broke my face at this venue riding him, and now, to be here, with Annie Eldrige’s support [Jennie has been basing at Annie’s farm leading up to this event] — it’s a full-circle moment. To be honest, I’ve been working so much and I’m so exhausted that it’ll probably take a few days for it all to sink in. But this horse deserves it. He’s phenomenal. He’s just pure joy to ride, and I’m so happy that the flatwork is coming along.”

“We’ve had him since he was a baby,” FE Lifestyle’s owner, Nina Gardner, said. “And he’s been a real project in terms of his development. I feel so invested in him because I’ve always seen this incredible potential, but he has a way of reminding you of his quirks when you least need them. So, it’s really nice to see it all come together today. Hopefully, he’s growing out of some of those adolescent moments!”

For Jennie though, the win is, yes, worth celebrating — but she’s the most proud of her riding this weekend.

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“I really believe that being a good horseman and being a strong competitor should go hand in hand,” she told us. “My goal with all of my horses was just to ride well, and so I tried to not get just caught up in [being a] champion. I wanted to be a good horseman, and that means the world to me. Winning used to mean the world to me, and I think being a horseman means a ton, so obviously it’s pleasing when you can ride well, be a good horseman, and be competitive. In the past, I would have just gone flat out and not ridden well, and now that doesn’t mean as much to me as winning because you’re riding well, not just because you’re willing to go the fastest.”

Jennie now looks ahead to Badminton, which is her top choice on where to take the 15-year-old DSP gelding. This would be his eighth 5* start; he’s completed Burghley twice, finishing as high as 12th, and placed as high as fifth at Maryland 5 Star.

Waylon Roberts and OKE Ruby R. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Second-placed Waylon Roberts (CAN) has had a circuitous path to this point in the season with the astonishing mare OKE Ruby R (Namelus R – B. Termie R 6, by Germus R), who is owned by John and Michelle Koppin. Waylon and “Ruby” finished on the podium in the MARS Bromont 4*-L last year, but shortly after, Waylon and his team made the decision to pull the mare from competition for a few months to give them time to build her body condition and fitness up.

“It was mostly about her body condition,” he explained. “I just felt like she didn’t have enough flesh on her—she looked too lean. And if I kept running her at this level and pushing her without addressing that, it wasn’t going to be sustainable. She’s an internal worrier, one of those horses who probably burns calories just standing still. She’s super intelligent, always thinking. She knows where every other horse on the property is at all times -— she’s like a mama bear, always watching over everyone else but not necessarily thinking about eating when she should. So, we pulled her out of competition, took the pressure off, and let her reset. And this year, she’s come back more confident in herself.”

In addition, Ruby was diagnosed with EPM over the winter, and thanks to the dedicated efforts of Waylon’s vet in Aiken, SC, Dr. Tom Wendel, Ruby eventually was back to feeling herself again.

This season, she’s come out right where she left off, earning one of two clears inside the time on cross country at the Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase in Bruce’s Field earlier this month and then finishing nearly on her dressage score this weekend at Carolina, moving all the way up from 23rd after dressage on a final mark of 42.1.

“For me, this was a bit of a fact-finding mission,” Waylon said of this weekend. “So this was really our first test of her fitness and conditioning since last August. I always have to set a good pace with her because that’s just what she and I like. And she answered everything I asked of her today. There were a few moments of seat-of-the-pants riding, which, honestly, is just a bit of our style.”

For Waylon — and for all of us — the big takeaway from this process is the importance of trusting your gut and listening to your horse. “That’s where experience comes in. You have to trust your gut. Even though everything seemed to be going well, I knew we weren’t at 100%. She finished second in the Bromont 4*-L, which was my personal best performance ever, but results don’t always tell the whole story.”

Allison Springer and No May Moon. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Also earning a spot on the podium are Allison Springer with Nancy Winter’s No May Moon (Catherston Dazzler – Ebony Moon, by Mystic Replica), the feisty MARS Bromont CCI4*-L winner from 2024. This diminutive Connemara/Thoroughbred mare, called “Mayzie” in the barn, is anything but in personality and athleticism, and she too enjoyed a steady climb up the board after starting the weekend in 12th.

“I just feel incredibly blessed to have such an amazing mare and to have Nancy Winter in my life,” Allison said. “She’s believed in me since I was a kid, and now this little mare is making dreams come true for both of us. She was just massive — so, so good.”

“I thought it was a great course,” Allison said of Derek di Grazia’s design today. “There were certainly a few things I wondered about, but I have so much confidence, not just in my mare, but also in Derek as a course designer. He’s such a gifted designer, and I’m incredibly grateful to this entire organizing committee for putting on such a class event. For a horse like Maizie, who’s only been at this level for about a year, the thing that makes her such a great cross country horse is getting to run great courses at top competitions like this.”

It’s a special story for Allison and Nancy, who have been partnered together over horses for many years. Nancy herself is a big fan of the Connemara breed. “We wanted to try a Connemara sport horse type, but I don’t know much about breeding,” Allison elaborated. “I happened to see on Facebook that someone in the U.S. had some semen from Catherston Dazzler, and I thought, ‘That stallion has produced a lot of top horses.’ Of course, Nancy knows everyone, and she had a connection to the breeder. So we gave it a shot, and that’s how we got Maisie. Her full brother, Crystal Crescent Moon, is now going Intermediate — he’ll go cross country in the morning tomorrow, and he’s just fabulous.”

Ema Klugman and Bronte Beach Z. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Ema Klugman and the Bronte Beach Syndicate’s Bronte Beach Z (Verdi TN – Dalphine, by Chopin) stamped their ticket to Kentucky with a strong prep and a fourth place finish today on a score of 45.1. For Ema, who’s a full-time attorney in Washington D.C., the process of laying out her season necessitates a different strategy from other pro riders — there’s only so much PTO to go around for a season.

“So we really needed this weekend to go well!” Ema laughed. “I work full-time, so I can’t just take another week off to go and do another FEI event.

“She’s a warmblood, so she’s not the fastest horse in the world, but we wanted to give her a good fitness run while staying competitive without taking unnecessary risks,” Ema continued. “It would be silly to have something go wrong here just because I was pushing for speed. I think we struck the balance well—she cooled out in five minutes, so it didn’t take much out of her. She loves her job. I’ve had her since she was five, so it’s really fun to see her at this stage.”

Lindsay Traisnel and Bacyrouge. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Fifth on the weekend were Canada’s Lindsay Traisnel and her own Bacyrouge (Mylord Carthago – Lelia, by Clyde de la Combe), who also made some major moves in the standings, jumping up from 24th after dressage into 16th after show jumping en route to this top-five finish. Lindsay is aiming for the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event next month with the 14-year-old Selle Francais gelding.

“He’s just such a fantastic cross country horse,” Lindsay said. “I’m so lucky to ride him. I just have complete faith in him. And he was exactly as I thought he would be.”

It’s a big balancing act for Lindsay and her husband, Xavier, who have two kids and spend the majority of their time at their home base in Canada. “We spend most of the time at home,” she explained. “We do a few weeks to start the season in Aiken, and then we sort of just compete, traveling back and forth from Canada. I’ve got two kids in school and lots of horses at home, so we sort of go back and forth a lot, but it works for us.”

Will Faudree and Pfun. Photo by Sally Spickard.

And one last shout to sixth-placed Will Faudree and Jennifer Mosing/Sterling Silver Stables’ Pfun (Tadmus – Celerina, by Cento), who notched yet another top-10 finish here at Carolina (that’s a total of 7, plus one time competing at the then-CIC2* level, for those keeping track). This is to be Pfun’s last competition at the 4* or above level, as at the age of 18 Will feels this special Irish gelding owes him absolutely nothing. Will was quite emotional as he finished cross country on Pfun, something he admits doesn’t usually happen. But when the curtain closes on a storied career, it’s natural to feel that wave of emotion that comes with knowing it was the last time. We’ll have a full retirement tribute to Pfun, aka “Ted”, coming on EN later this week.

Colin Gaffney and Baymax. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Looking to the numbers, we didn’t see any clear rounds inside the time today. This isn’t all that surprising — 4*-S events tend to be more difficult in terms of time in some ways due to the short, technical nature of the track. Couple that with the fact that not every rider would have been planning to press for the time — many riders choose to save this for Long-format events — and this is fairly standard, especially at this point in the season. Brooke Burchianti and Cooley Space Gray were the quickest home, accumulating two seconds of time en route to a 10th place finish. Colin Gaffney and Baymax showed marked improvement as they gain more experience at this level, earning the second-quickest time of the day with 2.0 time penalties and a seventh place finish in just their second run at 4*.

And with that, we wrap up another year at the Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International, and what a great weekend it was for our sport. Let’s all take away a few lessons from the weekend, which above all include listening to our horses and making them our priority, always. Thanks for following along with us, and Go Eventing.

Setters Run Farm Carolina International (NC): [Website] [Schedule] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Orders of Go] [H&C+ Live Stream] [Scoring] [Volunteer]

Monica Spencer and Artist. Photo by Sally Spickard.

For anyone who says Thoroughbreds can’t dance, they may want to tune in next time Artist (Guillotine – Maxamore, by Satin Blush) goes down centerline. This elegant Thoroughbred gelding was a purchase made when Monica Spencer was still based in the southern hemisphere who went on to stamp her firmly on the world scene with a standout performance at the 2022 FEI World Championships for Eventing. There, the pair finished 21st individually and earned a team silver medal for the Kiwis.

Now, Monica is basing herself here in the U.S. for the foreseeable future in Virginia, and en route back north from basing at Buck Davidson’s Ocala farm she’s made her first trip to Carolina International. Her efforts in the 4*-S today with Artist resulted in the sole sub-30 score of the day and sends her into tomorrow’s show jumping with 1.7 penalty points in hand over second-placed Jennie Brannigan and FE Lifestyle (30.3).

While Monica didn’t quite replicate the 22.4 earned earned at the Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase earlier this month, she earned a healthy number of 8s from the judging panel of Sandy Phillips (GBR) and Bea di Grazia (USA). The 4* riders today used FEI 4* Test C, which has had a few updates for the new year and can be viewed here if you want to study up.

Monica Spencer and Artist. Photo by Sally Spickard.

“I just feel really privileged to have a horse like him,” Monica said. “One that I can go out and compete with at these great events. He’s such a professional. He actually felt a bit nervous out there today, which surprised me given the atmosphere in that ring. But he did his job, and, like I said, I really appreciate having him. He’s a joy to ride.”

Monica is prepping to go to Kentucky next month with “Max”, and she’s brought all of her up and coming horses also to compete here this weekend. “Everyone has spoken so highly of this event,” she said. “We didn’t compete here last year; instead, we stayed in Ocala and did Terranova, which was a lovely event in its own right. But this year, we felt ready to leave Florida, and we thought, ‘Hey, let’s do Carolina on the way [back up north] and then head back to Virginia next week.’”

Jennie Brannigan and FE Lifestyle. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Sitting second overnight are Jennie Brannigan and the Gardners’ FE Lifestyle (Leo von Faelz – Berina A, by Brandenburger), who earned a 30.3 from Sandy and Bea and ticked another box as they inch towards their 5* goal in May. Jennie made the decision to save her dollars and brave the Pennsylvania winter this year in lieu of going to Florida, and while she admits it’s been challenging she also feels like the dedicated work she’s put in is paying off in these early days of the season.

“It was interesting being by myself this winter,” Jennie said. “With Eric [Duvander] deciding to stay on the West Coast— which we’re all happy for him but also a little sad — I rode with Bettina Hoy when she came to teach Philip. I rode with her once this winter and again at the showcase. It’s been really good for me to be locked in the indoor and forced to focus. I was kind of nervous about the Showcase because I had just come down and had only been jumping in an indoor. It was great to have Bettina’s help and Peter’s support there. I was really excited that it went well, and since then, I’ve just been trying to build on that.”

Jennie enjoyed a solid day of dressage across the board today — she’s also leading the 1*-S aboard Royal Scandic — and was also pleased with her efforts on a test that she had not ridden before this morning.

Jennie waves to her longtime supporters, Tim and Nina Gardner, after her test on their FE Lifestyle. Photo by Sally Spickard.

“This was my first time ever riding this test, and historically, it would have been extremely hard for me — especially the left lead canter work,” she said. “So I’m pretty thrilled with him. I don’t want to speak too soon, but it’s starting to feel like we’re establishing a clear pattern of consistency. We’ve had one-off good tests before, but this feels like something to really be excited about. Knock on wood!”

Right now, Jennie has entered both Kentucky and Badminton, and this weekend will be his sole 4* prep run ahead of whichever 5* she opts for in the end. “I also think that, as Americans, we often tend to overrun our horses,” she said. “I was already planning not to event my upper-level horses until this event anyway. Doing the Showcase was way earlier than I’d normally start, but I’m lucky that these horses have been produced at the top level for a while. It goes against my nature — I like to give my horses a long winter break. So if I’m not running them anyway, why am I spending the money? Everything has just gotten more and more expensive. I’m really grateful to Annie [Eldridge] and Ariel [Grald] for letting me stay at their place [in Southern Pines leading up to the Showcase and Carolina], and we’ll see how the rest of the weekend goes. So far, knock on wood, it’s all good.”

Allie Knowles and Morswood. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Allie Knowles and the 17-years-young Morswood (Ricardo Z – Princess in Arms, by Present Arms xx) will take third place into show jumping tomorrow on a score 31.7, and Allie’s theme for the weekend so far can be summed up with one word.

“Gratitude. That’s the word for today,” she said. With multiple 5*s under his belt at this stage in his career, Allie’s made the decision not to run any more events at the level with “Ginge”, instead focusing on letting him do what feels the most comfortable for him as he nears full retirement.

“I can’t believe he’s 17 this year—that’s crazy!” she said. “And he looks amazing. Honestly, he’s only gotten better every year. Or maybe I’ve just gotten better at riding him! Either way, he’s been my little warhorse. We’ve done a whole lot of growing up together. This is going to be a fun weekend. I walked the course and thought, ‘Alright, let’s do another four-star. Let’s do this.’ I’ll go as fast as I can and do my best in show jumping — our weakest phase, for sure. I’ll be more nervous tomorrow, but I’m going to try to take the pressure off both of us. We’ve got nothing to prove. We’re doing this for fun. He’s keeping me at the advanced level until my next younger group is ready.”

Allie Knowles and Morswood. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Allie plans to take Morswood to the Cosequin Lexington 4*-S next month, and potentially maybe the 4*-L at MARS Bromont in June after that. ” I’ve retired him from the five-star level,” she elaborated. “He’s done eleven of them for me. He always tried his heart out, and we had medium success — maybe made it around half the times we tried. But I realized it was just a little outside of his ability. At Maryland [last October], I could feel how hard he was trying, and I thought, ‘I don’t want to feel this again -— where he’s giving everything but can’t quite make the distance or width.’ So I decided to keep him where he’s comfortable. We’ll do the four-star at Kentucky, and Bromont sounds really fun too. I haven’t done the four-star at Bromont in a long time, and it has a similar feel to Bramham, where I had a great run last year. I told the O’Briens [owners of Morswood and several other horses for Allie], ‘Who knows, this might actually be our best year.’ He’s jumping amazing, stronger than ever -— knock on wood, the soundest horse I’ve ever had. He’s just rock solid. I’ve said this so many times, but we’re just going to enjoy our career together.”

Tomorrow, we’ll move on to show jumping starting at 9 a.m. with the 2*-S division. The 4*-S will jump starting at 1:40 p.m. In addition to a new cross country designer in Derek di Grazia, we’ll also see a new show jumping designer in the USA’s Brody Robertson, who takes over from former designer Marc Donovan this year.

As always, you can catch the live feed (where all FEI show jumping tomorrow and all cross country on Saturday available) on Horse & Country here.

Setters Run Farm Carolina International (NC): [Website] [Schedule] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Orders of Go] [H&C+ Live Stream] [Scoring] [Volunteer]