By adding just cross country time penalties to their dressage score Lauren Kieffer and Veronica moved up from fourth place to first during the course of the CIC*** at the inaugural CHC International, taking home the blue ribbon and a wheelbarrow full of other awards, including the Big Green Egg, the Adequan vouchers (this was of course a stop on the USEA Gold Cup Adequan PRO Rider Tour) and valuable points on the PRO leaderboard.  Although it was Lauren’s intention to run her around gently, Veronica was full of run and definitely seemed to have her own ideas about that; her one sticky moment on the cross country came when Veronica made a bid to leave out a stride jumping up the bank out of the water, “I definitely saw another one coming up that bank”, agreed Lauren, “but this mare is so competitive. She took a bit of a long one but she fought for it to get to that skinny, she’s just a genius like that, she’s amazing, she’s very competitive in her own mind. She was wonderful the whole way round – I went out to have a very steady clear, I certainly didn’t intend to be fast but she just gets into such a nice rhythm and she’s just such a quick little horse anyway, plus she’s so balanced that I don’t have to do a ton of work in front of the gallop fences so she just kind of cruised along. She’s little so she stayed a bit above the muddy ground which helped her. I think a lot of people probably went slowly because of the ground but I’m tickled to death to have won. The ground was a bit heavy in the galloping lanes, certainly not mud or anything like that, but you could feel that it was a bit heavier from all the rain and the other horses galloping on it, and the footing in front of the fences was beautiful. I thought the course was fantastic, there were certainly plenty of questions, it was lovely and big and galloping which is Hugh (Lochore’s) type of course, and he really has done an amazing job turning this facility into this type of course, I think adding the loop through the arena changed the whole flow and made a huge difference and it worked really well. It had the technical questions where you needed them but at the same time I think it gave horses a really good, confident feeling to finish on.”  Lauren admitted to being nervous about jumping under the lights on Friday night, although she also said she thought the atmosphere might play to her advantage, “She really did, she came in and jumped amazingly so I was ecstatic with her. I think if they keep doing it here it will be something people probably prepare for more.” Lauren mentioned the Twilight Jumpers in Middleburg which she hasn’t done, but thinks Karen (O’Connor) may have taken Veronica to, as well as the PRO Derbycross that Karen rode her in which was under lights in Wellington, “Karen did all the work on the mare and now I just get to hop on and have fun” she said modestly, forgetting to mention that she started her in the very beginning, “I adore her, we get on really well, she’s always been my favourite of Karen’s.”  Veronica will spend the night Saturday at Chatt Hills so she can have a “big fat nap” before shipping home Sunday, then have a “super easy week”, and as long as she’s sound and happy she’ll head up to Bromont next.  In Lauren’s personal life she had to compete against her facebook  US U25 ‘husband’ Jacob Fletcher this weekend, and I asked how their relationship was going, “I got here, said hello and asked him to help me unload trunks, and then I didn’t see much of him for the rest of the weekend!”

Ellen Doughty and Sir Oberon moved up from ninth place after the dressage all the way to 2nd place in the final standings by adding just one time penalty in the stadium on Friday night, and cross country time. A Holsteiner/TB cross, Ellen has had Sir Oberon since he was a five year old and too much horse to do pure dressage, “The owner thought he was too highly strung to do dressage so I bought him and we went up the levels together; we did a year at training, then I think we did four prelims before we moved up to Intermediate, that was 2010. He had a slight strain in a suspensory at one of the two stars in 2010 so I gave him a year and a half off to make sure he was fully healed. We came back last Fall and did a couple of Intermediates and this Spring we did our first Advanced at Texas Rose, so this was both of our’s first three star, and second Advanced. He’s wonderful!”  Ellen takes clinics, and trains every now and then with Mary Darcy; she walked the course at Chatt Hills with Mike Huber and although she acknowledged that some of the combinations were tough here, she maintains that Texas Rose was a stronger course all the way round.  Sir Oberon’s strengths across country lie in his adjustability and rideability, Ellen explained, “He’s so fast to his fences, I just have to sit up and he does his thing.”  The plan is to go to Rebecca Farm for the three star next in July, then Ellen’s home state Michigan for Richland in the Fall, and hopefully the AECs and Fairhill, “That’s the plan, and I’m going to see how he goes at all the three stars and if Rolex comes up next year…I don’t think he’s the kind of horse that needs to spend a lot of time staying at the levels, I think he could possibly do Rolex next year so that’s the ultimate plan but we’ll see, we’ll see where it takes us!”

Phillip Dutton and Team Rebecca’s Ben also only added time penalties cross country to their two day score to finish third. Phillip said that after a year off due to injury, and then being short a run after missing Fairhill due to wet weather he was thrilled with both Ben and his second ride, Tim and Nina Gardner’s William Penn who ended up in 10th place after a stop at the above corner.  Both Ben and William Penn came here this weekend with only one Intermediate Horse Trial this year under their belts so understandably Phillip was very pleased with their performances (1st and 2nd in the dressage, one rail between them show-jumping, blames himself for being rusty cross country on William Penn) – Look out for them to be  firing on all cylinders in Canada at Bromont!

I lost count of how many horses Caroline Martin rode this weekend, but I do know I didn’t see her give one a bad ride. Quantum Solace moved up to 4th place in the CIC*** with a consistent performance over all three phases.

Jacob Fletcher and The Prof, fifth, looked very smooth through the arena, and then I asked a reliable source who told me he also looked very  good through the water; equally impressive is his attitude throughout the weekend – relaxed and friendly but also professional, and right after his ride he came down to the water to watch and then check up on his Area IX teammate Lizzie Snow who had gone just after him and had a fall; luckily she was absolutely fine.

How wonderful to see all of Kyle and Jen Carter’s work and emotional investment pay off in the manifestation of Madison Park galloping around the CIC*** for fun – that’s why we do it!  Congratulations, and sixth place as a bonus!

Jon Holling, 7th, said he needed a good round here to go to Bromont, not technically as far as qualifications are concerned, but as far as his peace of mind was concerned. DHI Zatopek must want to travel north because he duly obliged with a lovely, polite clear round – I can’t stress enought what a huge corner this is in the arena that he is making look like absolutely nothing!

Becky Roper and Jireh moved up into 8th by virtue of having the fastest clear cross country round of the division.

Allison Springer looked to be giving Copycat Chloe a perfect ride everywhere I saw her, spot on, deadly accurate and absolutely no excuse to deviate from the plan. Hopefully they will build up a wonderful partnership together, I do remember being told when I was young that it takes 18 months to develop a proper relationship with your horse, and at the time I was horrified, but then a year later, and then again 6 months after that I realised how true those words were.

Hopefully  I’ll get around to writing up the CIC** on Sunday, but until then a quick congratulations to  the winner, Buck Davidson on No More Rocks; Buck flies out to France Sunday night to join  Team mates Hannah Sue Burnett (Harbour Pilot), Will Faudree (Andromaque) and Marilyn Little (Smoke on the Water). This time next week they’ll be representing the USA in Saumur  – Good Luck!   I couldn’t finish without thanking our incredibly gracious and generous host, Carl Bouckaert – Chattahoochee Hills is a unique venue, a jewel in US eventing’s crown and with Hugh’s vision it could turn into something incredibly special on the calendar every year that Carl is amazing to let us enjoy. Anyone who might be worried that eventing is being turned into a glorified combined training test could do worse than spend a weekend at the stunning Chatthahoochee Hills venue next May – Hugh Lochore’s cross country certainly exerted an influence on the scoreboard, and despite this being the first year, and despite rather inclement weather the atmosphere on the Friday night for the jumping under the lights was exactly what the sport needs; I spoke to quite a few riders over the weekend and they are all supportive of it. With time and tweaking it will only get better and better, but it needs our support. I also caught up with show-jumping course designer Marc Donovan to ask him if he has to approach things differently when he’s thinking about courses at night, “Well, we did consider it but as it turned out I think the light was pretty sufficient; horses really see remarkably well in that type of dim lighting. We started off the first class (the CIC*) a little bit soft, just with the spreads, so no one would get in trouble, and then we went full speed ahead after that, we were pretty much up to the standard.” Marc also repeated that this had been something of a trial and error mission, and that perhaps next time they would get another bank of lights to illuminate the corners more, as they had been the darkest areas of the rings, but each time he said, they’ll probably learn something new, “I think it was a brilliant idea, it’s so modern, and I think it brings the riders together because it’s something new and they’re all in the same boat, and all at the same time.” The massive main arena comes with it’s own problems at Chatt Hills, it’s very size can sometimes pose a problem, “it can get away from you if you’re not careful” warns Marc, but in this instance with the VIP Tent and roping on one side, and the cross country jumps in the middle it wasn’t a problem. The obstacles gave Marc a starting point from which to design his courses around, “I try to not jump towards them, or to include them in the line in any way. I use them as islands and I loved having them in the ring.” Marc insists that he doesn’t adjust his courses according to format and that he likes technical courses, “I try to stick to the heights and spreads that are in the standard”, but admits that he thinks that probably horses show- jump better before going cross country even though he personally prefers the stadium to be on the last day.

Many thanks again to everyone involved in making the inaugural CHC International such a resounding success – I’m only sorry I missed the party on Saturday night as I hear via various twitter reports that it’s a banging time – EN John, you will pay for this! Thank you to all the grooms, the volunteers, the supporters, families, judges, organisers, riders…of course the horses, the doggies etc etc. You know who you are, we know who you are and we thank you, thank you tonight, and thank you every day. Looking forward to growing the CHC International, but a busy year in between. Thanks for reading EN, and thanks for Going Eventing!

Andrew Palmer and Tatendrang added just the four penalties from a rail in the show-jumping to his winning dressage score to win the inaugural CHC International CIC*. After quite a lot of rain overnight which continued during the morning there were a couple of scratches from this division before the cross country, and some questionable riding, and tired horses but also some sensible riding, some lovely horses and a few really great rounds.

Clayton Fredericks finishes on his dressage score on Catchascatchcan and moves up to second place, and yes, his was one of the great rounds!

Jessica Shull and Calysta MWF in sixth place. The problems seem to be spread around the course although perhaps the first part of the double in the arena claimed more than it’s fair share of victims; not quite a corner but a narrow edge of a brush fence it tempted some riders to come too quickly and too sharply off the turn, or conversely others to come with too little pace. To me the course looked fair; maybe the conditions made it slightly more testing today but I’ve definitely seen far, far worse.

Abby Hamblin and Silver Flash demonstrate how the first part of the double in the arena should be jumped

Bonner Carpenter on another nice young horse, this time Picture This, 9th

Alison Hardaway and Clifton Peekachu, 11th

Kathleen Herbig and Mayhem made up for a forgettable show-jumping round by flying round the cross country easily

Wheee! It was wonderful to see Andrea back out on Mystic My even though it looked as though she was pulling her arms out and she did have a run out or a stop right near the end of the course; the water here was quite near the end and Mystic My looked as if she was on a mission, I doubt these fences were backing her off much!  The preliminary divisions are continuing as I write this with a lovely view of the arena fences and the rolling Georgia hills  (and looming grey clouds!) in the background.  Beautiful rides by Anna Kjellestrom, Sarah Dunkerton and Ellie Macphail on a simply gorgeous grey horse Rendezvous with Charlie, but still lots more problems for others too. The CIC** begins just before 1pm, followed almost immediately by the CIC*** at 2:30pm so it’s going to be a long and busy day here at Eventing Nation. Thanks for sticking with us, Go CHC International and Go Eventing!

The CIC*

In the interest of being able to give his Canadian students the very best advice of course, Clayton had entered Catchascatchcan in the CIC* and jumped a beautiful clear round in the show-jumping to lie in 5th place overnight, before changing back into civilian clothes and resuming coaching duties!  Dressage leaders Andrew Palmer and Tatendrang go into the cross country in the lead despite having a rail, and Andrew also lies in 6th place on Inamorato. You can find all the live scores here.

Andrew Palmer and Inamorato, 6th

It was great to see Andrea Leatherman back out on Mystic My, she jumped clear and they go out on cross country in fourth position while the Bruce Davidson bred Chesterlands Image had one rail down and starts the final phase in 17th place.

Canadian Grayson Wall and Stryker jumped clear to start cross country in 7th place

Anna Sheets and Weatherly jumped clear to start cross country in 8th place

Nick Cwick and Rivertown Lad

Caroline Martin, first to go, and such an impressive rider, this time on Roller Skate

Hilary Irwin and Bit of Irish

Elena Ceballos and Cooley Nothing Better jumped a lovely clear, and Elena then went on to jump another nice clear in the CIC** on her more experienced horse Nounours Du Moulin.

Abby Hamblin and Silver Flash

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The CIC**

Buck Davidson on Tiger Lion, above. Buck currently leads the CIC** on No More Rocks after a fabulous clear round. As the light dimmed and the shadows began to appear problems began to crop up, and clear rounds became more and more scarce. Buck’s big grey horse, Shear Mizou, who is related to Leslie Law’s Olympic Shear horses and has advanced experience, jumped all the way round to the last fence which had a big dark shadow in front of it and refused to go any further resulting in a very disappointing elimination.  Victoria New’s Fleeceworks Mystere Du Val was also very spooky all the way round and no matter how well and strongly Victoria rode, in the end he had a stop in the treble. Poor Christa Gandolfo was eliminated for starting before the bell on Camenicci.  Tessa Beckett’s Sound Prospect had an uncharacteristic couple of stops early but then scraped by but in good news she told me later that her little dog Dobby has been found!

I spoke to Buck briefly afterwards and he thinks the jumping under the lights is a fantastic idea in theory that perhaps just needs a little tweaking. The temporary lights that are running on generators might be permanent and higher up which would mean they would cast less shadows on the actual jumps, and also as Buck said, most horses in the ring that night had never done that in their life; hopefully with practice would come improvement!  Likewise for my photography, I’m afraid I had to give up altogether after Buck’s grey horse as I have no idea how to take pictures of jumping horses in the dark but I too, hopefully, will learn!

Bonner Carpenter and Basco never looked like touching a fence and are currently in second place

Julie Richards and San City had two rails down to drop to third place

Jenny Caras and Fernhill Fortitude jump clear and move up into fifth place

Ariel Grald and LBR Oleagh’s Image sit in 18th place going into cross country

Alexander O Neal and Corinthian Spirit added one rail down to his dressage score

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The CIC***

The rain started falling as the riders were walking the CIC*** course, and at this point, as grateful as we were to Cavalor for the delicious champagne, strawberries and belgian chocolates (I know, it’s a hard life!) we were thinking they should have been serving double espressos! Phillip Dutton came in first on his second placed horse Team Rebeca’s Ben and had the first fence down and two time penalties.  Erin Flynn Tamplin in next had two stops on Threes A Ruckus in the treble and was thus eliminated.

Madison Park jumped well for two down with Kyle Carter but, as with Ben at the first jump, simply seemed to misjudge one fence completely. Christa Gandolfo scratched Governaire, and then Alexandra Green brought Fernhill Cubalawn in and looked to have what seemed like a really nice round but had four rails down – what? Thank goodness for Jon Holling and DHI Zatopek B who were total class and should have been clear, they just breathed on one rail the entire round and it came down, apart from that it was perfection and showed everyone else that it could be done.

Duly noted, Angela Grzywinski came in and jumped a clean, fast round on Novelle, but she was followed by Libby Head who came off Sir Rockstar when he jumped huge over the oxer at Fence 8. Bill Hoos and Carmac posted 8 penalties, and Ellie MacPhail and RF Eloquence had a fast round with just one down. Caroline Martin and Quantum Solace had one of the most stylish rounds of the night along with Jon, just picking up two time faults, while Becky Roper had two fences down on Jireh. Lizzie Snow rode Coal Creek beautifully, she just had the skinny jump down at 6 and also picked up a couple of time penalties. Allison Springer was giving Copycat Chloe a beautiful ride and was clear until the third last when she stopped at the very last minute and Allison did well to stay on – she jumped clear to finish after that but picked up 16 time into the bargain.

Rick Wallace and his faithful campaigner Ultimate Victory had three down, and Erin Flynn Tamplin had trouble again in the treble on her second horse Royal Ruckus, but managed to survive and goes forward to cross country with the 12 jumping faults and six time. Veronica and Lauren Kieffer were a joy to watch, and move up into second place after their flawless clear, putting the pressure on Phillip and William Penn, who delivered, also jumping clear, but adding two time penalties to their dressage score.

Although the CIC*** cross country doesn’t start until later this afternoon, most of the grooms weren’t finished until some time around midnight, and of course will be up at a normal time this morning, or earlier if they have horses running in other divisions. Massive props to them all, and to all the jump crews, volunteers, organisers, supporters, helpers, family and friends – thank you! We have scattered showers and thunderstorms forecast all day today (I knew my luck wouldn’t last!) and cross country starts in just under an hour at 9am. Thanks for visiting EN, Go CHC International and Go Eventing!

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Buck Davidson and No More Rocks in the CIC**, courtesy of thehorsepesterer.

Having led from the start when no one could match his first ride of the day on Team Rebecca’s Ben with a score of 45.6, Phillip Dutton duly came in on his second ride and the very last ride of the day, Tim and Nina Gardner’s William Penn and pulled the best score of the division out of the bag, finishing on 42.4 and going into the show-jumping much later tonight in first and second places. Both these horses missed last year due to injury, but have obviously returned to competition in good form, and we’ll look forward to seeing them back in action in the jumping phases.  [Live Scores]

Ellie McPhail did a lovely test on RF Eloquence which I admit I had to watch from somewhat of a distance, but they move into third place, just ahead of Lauren Kieffer on Veronica, above, who floated through the test with ease, despite Lauren completely forgetting the halt and rein back at A! The judge did remind them, and they move into fourth. This pair look great together; Lauren told us at Jersey how she’d originally ridden Veronica back in the day and then asked Karen to catch ride her due to an injury and it’s lovely to see them reunited and looking like such a fabulous partnership for the future.

How would the world turn without Max in it?

 I also saw lovely tests from Alexandra Green and Fernhill Cubalawn, Lizzie Snow on Coal Creek and Caroline Martin on Quantum Solace (John Kyle and I will have to agree to disagree about whether this is indeed a good film or not – comments below please!).  My sympathies go out to Allison Springer who simply could not get Chloe to settle in the ring, but there were such flashes of brilliance, and then she came back up to the warm-up and worked nicely and calmly. Show-jumping gets under way in just over an hour with the CIC* at 6pm, and then continues up through the levels and finishes with the Advanced.  Go Chatt Hills and Go Eventing!

Ballingowan Pizzazz is back – Michael Pollard did the test ride on Mango!

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Phillip Dutton currently leads the CIC*** on Team Rebecca’s Ben who went first in the division an performed an accurate, smooth test with just one bobble in the canter. Score 45.6.

Likewise a lovely test from Kyle Carter and Madison Park, 2nd at the break on 53.9

Ellen Doughty’s Sir Oberon are tied for third with Jacob Fletcher and The Prof on 56.

Jacob told me he’s really looking forward to the cross country which reminds him a bit of Badminton, especially the Vicarage Vee type fence, and that going through the arena will be good practice for Bromont – Good luck!

Spare a thought for Rowdie Adams whose No Money Down was going really nicely until about halfway when it spat out the proverbial dummy and refused to play anymore, resulting in elimination for prolonged disobedience.  Quite a few horses today have not reacted well to the jumps around the arena, the flapping flags, and the VIP tent close by.

Jon Holling re-routed DHI Zatopek B here after a disappointing stop early on course at Jersey and managed to contain him pretty well.

Erin Flynn Tamplin had an early error on course with Three’s a Ruckus. You can find all the scores [here]. CIC*** dressage continues, and then we move forward to show-jumping under the lights. Thanks for visiting Eventing Nation, and thank you to David O’Connor for babysitting Leo in the shade briefly while I took some photos!

Go Eventing!

Tessa Beckett recently adopted Dobby, below, and she has gone missing from Chattahoochee Hills. Please keep your eyes open for her if you are on site, or nearby, and contact the show office if you have any information. Dobby is micro-chipped, and Tessa is understandably distraught.  Thank you.

Please help re-unite Tessa and Dobby

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Piper, meanwhile, is twelve weeks old and is Jacob Fletcher’s baby! Elizabeth (Crowder) reports that so far she’s been very well-behaved. Jacob is here at Chatt Hills with two horses – The Prof in the CIC*** who has had a fairly quiet Spring since Red Hills, and Fly Away Ferro in Training Horse.  From here they go to Phillip Dutton’s base at True Prospect Farm in Pennsylvania to train with him until Bromont.

Leah Khorsandian is bringing her 15 year old Canadian sport horse Pamiro W back after a colic surgery about a year ago, (excuse the terrible picture), “He’s in the process of coming back and he’s doing really well; actually if anything it’s improved his rideability.  In the beginning of the test he was eyeing up the stadium and cross country fences so it took him a little while to settle today but I was really pleased with his canter work, and so onto stadium tonight, we’ll see how that goes!” Leah actually took Pamiro out for a hand walk around the arena at her appointed time (8:45pm) last night  to get him accustomed to the lights and the sounds of the generators as she told me he’s quite sound sensitive. Leah also said she’s relieved that she’s not slightly earlier so that the setting sun won’t be in her eyes, and yet not so late that it will be dark enough for the lights to throw shadows. As for future plans for Pamiro, Leah who trains for Peter Gray who found the horse for her many years ago said that after the surgery each day is a gift, “Since his colic surgery we have adopted the theory of taking one step at a time with him, we’re just really thankful to have him going again and competing again so we’ll see. Bromont is a possibility if it goes well, and if it doesn’t go well – lots more lessons!”

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Tips from the Top: Dressage experts Allison Springer and Susan Beebee (in the Advanced with Wolf – 3 competitors) discuss tactics.

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Haley Hughes works a Training Horse – Big Time; I’ve seen plenty of nice young horses working already this weekend; apologies for not being able to cover the National Divisions so far, or even the CIC*, but you can keep up with all the live scores here.

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Anna Sheets and Weatherly working in for the CIC*. Mike Huber has been busy all morning coaching, I love that he reminded one nervous girl that she was going to “do lots of smiling today!”  We have seen some beautiful tests, and a few with some added optional piaffes, rein backs, and airs above the ground!  The CIC** dressage has now wrapped up, and Mike Pollard will do the test ride in about half an hour for the CIC*** before Phillip Dutton starts that division on Ben. Much more to come from Chatt Hills, Go Georgia Eventing!

Bonner Carpenter and Basco

 The lead so far goes to local rider Julie Richards on San City.  Julie has been ably deputising on the lovely, 8-year-old Hanoverian stallion this season because owner Katie Bryan has just had a baby two weeks ago and he will return to her in Florida after this event, “I’ve had a great time with him – he won the Red Hills one star, he won the Poplar one star in the Fall, he’s done three intermediates and was first or second in all of them so he’s been a really fun horse to have. He’s very good-natured, especially for a stallion. He’s a little bit slow cross country so I do have to kick him on!”

Bonner Carpenter followed Julie into the ring on Basco and also did a lovely test but for one bobble in the canter, “I was hoping he was going to spice up a bit more when he went in there but he’s pretty mature for being as young as he is, he went in there and stayed very much the same.” Basco is technically seven this year but his actual birthday isn’t until August, “He’s a late baby, he’s big and he’s very mature for his age, I tend to forget that he’s so young because he just takes everything in his stride.” Basco is dutch-bred out of a Good Time mare and came from Ruth Edge in England; Bonner is aiming him for the CCI** at Rebecca Farm.

We saw three lovely rides in a row – next in was young rider Lizzie Snow on Ringfort Tinkaturk, and despite one error of course they also displayed a smooth, forward and flowing test to slip into third place currently, “He was very good and he’s learning how to hold himself a bit better; he’s finally to the point where I can ride him a bit instead of just having to manhandle him, but he put in a great test, he couldn’t have been better. The atmosphere actually helps him a little bit, with my other one (Coal Creek) it might be a little bit of an issue but with this one if he gets in the ring and has a little bit to look at he’s easier to ride forward so it helped me.” Lizzie is looking forward to attacking the cross country, “I think there are definitely some tough questions but I think it’s going to ride well as long as you keep riding forward” Lizzie is aiming Ringfort Tinkaturk for the two star at Young Riders and Coal Creek for the CCI*** at Bromont. The CIC** Dressage continues until almost noon. Go Chatt Hills and Go Eventing!  [Live Scores]

We are on location at Carl Bouckaert’s stunning Chattahoochee Hills venue, the sun is shining and there all sorts of beautiful horses warming up and getting ready to strut their stuff in three FEI divisions (CIC one, two and three star) and multiple national divisions.

Everyone has settled in for a very long day today (Friday) as dressage is about to start – 8am, and the last horse will show-jump tonight at 10:38pm, yes 10:38pm under the lights.  First horse goes out on cross country at 9am Saturday, and that phase will continue, perhaps overnight into Sunday (only joking, but it does seem like a mammoth task!)

I’m looking forward to watching Allison Springer in the CIC*** on Copycat Chloe, but really enjoyed standing next to her as she coached her two CIC** students in the dressage warm-up, I think I would love to take flat lessons with her.

Clayton was also busy coaching from the back of a horse

Buck Davidson and Shear Mizou did their dressage Thursday afternoon, one of three rides in the CIC** for Buck before he jets off to ride at Saumur next weekend.

Caroline Martin and Petite Flower, also in the CIC**. Victoria New and Fleeceworks Mystere Du Val currently lead this division overnight.  [Live Scores]  Much more to come later, much later! Go Chatt Hills and Go Eventing!

Will Faudree and Andromaque, above, who leave for Saumur in France to represent the USA soon, currently lead the CIC*** after cross country, but his team mate Buck Davidson is leading the CCI *** division on D.A Adirmo. Although only 8 years old and still quite green, D.A Adirmo has rarely been out of the ribbons this spring  and Buck said he decided to bring him here to Jersey to see what he was made of, ” He’s a good jumper but he’s not the bravest horse I’ve ever ridden so I really wanted to fill him full of confidence for this, and try to make a big effort here, and he obviously did –  he tried his heart out the whole way round. There was a big question mark hanging over him before him today about whether he’d go the distance etc and he checked every box.  For him to jump to do that course today was a big step in his career, he jumped great the whole way around and he was honest and I couldn’t ask for more.  He certainly won’t go to a four star this year. He’s green in the show-jumping and he’s careful but I haven’t jumped a clear round on him in an Advanced yet. He gave me everything he had today so we’ll worry about tomorrow tomorrow (Sunday). I’ll do the best I possibly can and the horse will do the best he possibly can and we’ll see what happens.”

Buck Davidson on Wiley Post, 3rd in the CCI** — Photo by Jenni Autry

Wiley Post, a former Kim Seversen ride and a relatively new mount for Buck , lies in 3rd place in the CCI**, “We’ve struck up a partnership,and he’s a really nice horse – he’s a thoroughbred horse, he’s very well bred and he’s a good jumper. His weak link would be the show jumping for sure; he jumps with his head a little high which makes him fantastic to ride across country, and he does a nice dressage test. He’s very fast and very easy to ride cross country so I hope that he’ll jump clear show-jumping Sunday but we’ll see. I’m very, very excited about him for the future, so as long as I don’t knock down a hundred rails he’ll step up to the next level, and I think he’ll be a really nice three star horse in the fall, that’s the hope anyway.”

Jessie Phoenix on Erodium (who is indeed related to Tamarillo! Thanks to Rebecca Guiness and Biddesden Stud for the tip!)

Jessie Phoenix sits in second place right behind Buck on her 2010 WEG silver medal winner and Rolex Kentucky and Burghley CCI**** partner winner. Jessie revealed that far from feeling like a demotion to drop down a level, it’s almost the reverse, “Exponential is just so much fun, I just love going out on cross country on that horse. It was actually really fun to bring him back to Jersey and let him cruise around this course, he was really strong, he was definitely loving his job!  I’m just really, really proud of him. I think with these upper level and four star horses it’s really rare that you get to drop them down a level and do a full three star CCI with them, and because of what happened at Rolex with him, not getting the dressage score that we wanted, we decided to regroup here and I think it’s been a really good weekend for him.”  Unlike most of the other horses competing here this weekend ‘Tucker’ is not on a strict schedule and instead, once the competition is over, “He’ll have as much time as he’ll take which is normally about two or three weeks, he doesn’t like to be out of work for very long, and then we’ll just hack him to keep him happy and then I think we might give him a really light Fall and then bring him back into work next year  in Florida and aim him towards the WEG 2014 in Nomandy.”

Lauren Kieffer brought her great form from The Fork  north to Jersey Fresh and leads the CIC** division on Veronica, above, “She was great;  I went out and it’s easier just not to mess with her so I just kind of drop the reins and let her go at her own pace, but becasue she’s obviously been above this level you can just go at this level and cruise around and she knows the questions. She just skipped around and she was great fun. She’s very experienced, she’s obviously been beautifully trained by Karen.”  Did Karen have any advice for her?  “She said to not take a long one to the bounce!”

“I think, as with the US team, just getting used to a new coach, you’re always going to try and make changes for the better and try and get more competitive in the dressage so we switched things up a little bit in the dressage warm up at Rolex just to try and make it more competitive in the ring and it backfired on us, so we took a step back and re-grouped and came back this week and tried a little bit different approach and it really paid off, and I think Clayton learning more about us a team, and more about us as horses and riders, it’s been a really good Spring season for Canada.  I love Clayton – he’s fantastic! He’s got a ton of enthusiasm, he’s super knowledgable and extremely helpful, and I think once we all get to a place where we all get to know each other well and know all the horses and riders well, it’s really going to be exciting.”Almost predictably Caitlin Silliman leads the CCI** on Remington, “Remington was awesome today, he obviously knows his job, he’s an old campaigner, he’s been around the world, he’s done….I think five 4*s so obviously the two star track doesn’t look like much to him but I think it was our smoothest round so far and I think we’re really getting to know each other.”

Caitlin on Remington right before the coffin

 Congratulations to all the riders, grooms, supporters, organisers, connections but especially this weekend to all the volunteers and a big shout out to all the mothers! Happy Mothers Day! Jenni has put together something pretty fantastic for you  -enjoy! Thank you so much for making Eventing Nation and this weekend, Jersey Fresh a part of your day. Stay with us and Go Eventing!

Mackenna and Landioso

I’ve had so much fun talking to Mackenna Shea — one of our West Coast eventers here at Jersey Fresh — this weekend. Mackenna played it safe on cross country today, taking an option at the tricky water complex to pick up some time penalties to drop to third place, but she’s very much still in the hunt going into the show jumping tomorrow. Mackenna is just a gem, and it’s wonderful to watch her this weekend in her debut event here on the East Coast. Go Mackenna, and best of luck in the show jumping tomorrow.

Marilyn Little toughed out a separated shoulder at the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, and is now riding three horses at the Jersey Fresh Horse Trials just a couple of weeks later. I caught up with her as she was searching for some sports tape to strap her shoulder up with before heading out on the cross country.

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Thanks to Marilyn for her time and wishing her the best of luck out on the cross country this afternoon. Go Jersey Fresh, Saumur and Go Eventing!

Fence 11ABC

Having discussed Fence 6 & 7 with Leslie Law, and then the water complex with Hannah Sue Burnett I already had a healthy respect for the jumps on John Williams’ CCI*** cross country at Jersey Fresh, but by the time I’d tried to navigate my way around the twisting, turning course I have to admit I was jolly glad I wouldn’t be attempting to ride around the track on Saturday, that was provided that Jackie (Imholte) and I even made it to the finish that night which at times we doubted as the vultures, sensing our waning will to live circled overhead.  Profuse apologies to Jackie for dragging her with me  – we set off, bright eyed, full of joy and hope and returned, it seemed like days later – parched with thirst, skin like George Hamilton and vowing never to set off again without a compass, flashlight, sleeping bag, rope etc etc

All joking apart the course is long with several pulls up hill and  there are plenty of tough questions. Luckily it is not forecast to be as unseasonally hot  on Saturday as it was Friday but I expect the John Williams’ cross country will be a strong test for all the horses entered. Wising everyone safe and successful rides – Go Jersey Fresh and Go Eventing!

Caitlin Silliman’s dressage score of 41 in the CCI** could not be bettered all weekend, although Veronica came very close in the CIC** with Lauren Kieffer, leading that division on a score of 43.3.  Lauren posted good scores on all her horses – she lies 2nd and 8th in the CCI** with Czech Mate and Lucky Devil respectively, 4th in the CIC*** with RF Cosima and leads the CIC** on Veronica. Both Caitlin and Lauren are bringing Remington and Veronica back to Jersey in order to fulfill FEI qualifications requirements and while Lauren told me she’ll be taking Veronica around fairly conservatively albeit with enough pace to jump around clear and get the job done safely, Caitlin shared that Remi is due for a holiday after this event and she’s out to be competitive. Although Boyd is out of commission he did manage to commandeer a golf cart and has not been short on advice for Caitlin this weekend,

“Boyd tells me to go as fast as I can on Remington, he’s not the fastest horse so you have to keep the pace up, all the normal stuff that he tells me on all the horses but it’s cool on Remington because I feel as if there’s an extra security because he can tell me exactly how it should go.  He was pretty  excited today because it was a good score and he rode the horse all the way up through the levels and the horse is so much more broke now because of all the training he’s done on him so I think it’s a little bit of a walk down memory lane because he thinks back to when he rode him here, and all weekend he’s been telling me, ‘Oh, Remi really likes it here, he show-jumps really well here, he likes the cross country…’ so it’s really fun!”

Lauren can identify because she’s been getting similar advice from Veronica’s former rider Karen O’Connor, although in an ironic twist of events, it was Lauren who rode her first, “I actually had her to sell and broke my wrist and asked Karen to catch ride her for the 2* several years ago and Karen rode her at Red Hills and bought her, so the Broussards have owned her since then, and they’re so kind to let me have a chance on her, there are so many top riders they could choose from and they’re doing a big thing to show their support for the next generation. Veronica’s so lovely and so experienced, she’s so nice. It’s been so long since I’ve ridden an upper level horse, it’s so nice to get on something that’s done it so you just go out and cruise around and have a great time, she’s always been one of my favourites.”

Lauren wasn’t sure of her Fall plans yet with Veronica, she told me just wanted to tick all the boxes first as far as the qualifications went, and then they would see, “Luckily the footing is perfect  here, I’ve run her minimally and I’ve just let her go at an easy pace and she’s not hard on herself. She feels great and her body’s great, and obviously the Broussards are super-supportive too, if she starts feeling sore or something then we’ll just back off but we’re just letting her tick along at her own pace so that we can do what we want later in the year and next year.”

Lauren’s 2nd placed horse in the CCI**, Czech Mate, is a completely different ride; a big, chestnut gelding, he got very nervous before entering the arena but performed a beautiful test and Lauren explained that as the last test before lunch, he got very nervous at being the left alone in the warm-up, “He’s such an amazing horse.  You’ll never meet a horse that tries harder but he needs his people! He definitely needs his people and he needs to know they’re with him. When he got  left behind today he melted down a bit and was quite wound up but he goes in that little  white box and it’s his comfort zone. We went in and in the beginning we were a bit tentative but by the end he was great and it’s nice that on a tough day he can still throw down a 48, he’s a great horse for the future, he’s only 7. We bought him as a just-coming 5 year old and I’ve gone up the levels with him. He belongs to Court and Kylie Ramsey who are huge supporters, their son competes and is aiming for Young Riders.  Kylie is Australian and Czechie is Czecholavakian hence Czech Mate! He’s really fun; I think tomorrow’s going to be a big test for these two star horses, it’s almost ten minutes and that’s if you’re on the time, and the hills here are beautiful but they’re very long, you’re going to have to go out and be steady rather than go out and be fast in the beginning because you’re going to run out of horse to be sure.”

Sharon White on her 3* horse Wundermaske

 Sharon White rode Don Sheffield into 2nd place in the CIC** behind Veronica, “I was very pleased with my horse, he tried really hard. He just bumped up to Intermediate this Spring, he won at The Fork, and the CIC** at Fairhill, he’s just been a good boy. I wasn’t ready to move him but his owner persuaded me, she told me it would always be scary the first time! I think the course looks fabulous, it looks like fun but there’s enough out there that you’ll feel like you’ve done something. I think it’s really clear to the horses, and very forward thinking and going, I think it looks like a lot of fun.”

Jennifer Simmons has nursed GV Tuscany back after injury and returns to competition following a break of  three years. Although she’s thrilled to have him back and counting her blessings, she did admit that it’s much nicer to be lying in third place after the first phase (in the CIC**) than to be eliminated which is what happened to her a couple of weeks prior at Fairhill, “This is his fourth event this year; pretty much everyone said he wouldn’t come back so it’s really special, I just love riding him, he could have been last today and it still would have been awesome! Just being able to ride him every day – even though I did get eliminated in the dressage two weeks ago I couldn’t get super mad because I’m just so happy to ride him but being third is better!”

The courses look fabulous; the CIC*** is already posted on EN and the CCI*** is scheduled for tomorrow morning. The Saturday forecast is for warm weather and scattered showers and thunderstorms.  Will Faudree and Riesling De Buissy are scheduled to be the first combination out on course at 9am in the CCI**, followed by the CCI***, the CIC*** and the final horse of the day will go out in the CIC** at 4:41pm if everything stays on track.  Wishing everyone safe rides – Go Jersey Fresh and Go Eventing!

Will Faudree is continuing his run of good form by leading the CIC*** on his Saumur bound supermare Andromaque, and placing 3rd in the CCI** on Riesling De Buissy after dressage. We chatted briefly about team strategy and outfits, the Jersey course and the new improved team spirit.

Best of luck to Will this weekend, and thank you for chatting, and of course in France; I am already so excited for them Team USA to get there and then again to Aachen, and showcase  the huge improvements already.  Go Team USA and Go Eventing!

Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights

Colleen Rutledge just returned home from Badminton after becoming the first rider to complete five of the world’s six CCI4* star events on the same horse with Shiraz. She been home long enough to unpack and have a birthday dinner with her daughter before coming to Jersey Fresh to compete her homebred Covert Rights in the CCI2*. But she managed to find time to reflect with Eventing Nation on what she’s achieved, although it’s barely had time to sink in. Her future plans for Luke are up in the air — and he’s still in quarantine right now — but we’ll check in with Colleen soon and keep you up to date on what she’s up to.

Hannah Sue Burnett and Harbour Pilot, above, are running in the CIC*** here at Jersey Fresh as a prep run before the Saumur International Three Day Event where they’ll be representing the USA alongside Buck Davidson, Will Faudree and Marilyn Little.  Hannah kindly met us at the first water on the cross country course and talked about how she thinks it will ride, as well as a little bit about her expectations for France.

Thanks so much for chatting Hannah, and wishing you the best of luck this weekend, and in France. Go Team USA, and Go Eventing!

Leslie and Zenith ISF performing their dressage in the rain on Thursday morning

Leslie Law was kind enough to spend some time on his Friday lunch break walking the first serious question on the Jersey Fresh CCI*** cross country course. With years of experience under his belt there’s a reason he’s so popular as a clinician and a trainer as well as of course, an Olympic Gold medalist and upper level rider – he appreciates the difficulty and complexity of what’s being asked and yet has a simple, straight-forward way of explaining things, a lovely, dry sense of humour, and a no-nonsense attitude that inspires confidence.

Thank you so much for chatting, Leslie, and wishing you a fabulous ride this weekend. Go Jersey Fresh and Go Eventing!

Will Coleman on Obos O’Reilly in Aiken earlier this year. They do their dressage at Jersey Fresh at 3:42pm Friday

Will Coleman was kind enough to stop and walk the coffin on the CIC** at Jersey Fresh with us, and also give us his thoughts on the Badminton cross-country course after his first visit there last weekend.

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Thanks for chatting, Will, and best of luck this weekend. Go Supermarket Sweep and Go Eventing!