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Which Rolex 2013 entry, above, loves rolling?
I have heard rumours at EN headquarters that a) EN John may actually attend Rolex, an event – gasp! and b) that we may have a special EN prize to give away to the fastest correct answers to these quizzes. Guesses in the comments section please, and we’ll give you the right answer tomorrow! Good Luck and Go Eventing!
Three past winners of the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** – Mary King (on Fernhill Urco) Phillip Dutton (on Fernhill Eagle) and William Fox-Pitt on Seacookie.
There was a sea change at the Kentucky Horse Park today as a large chunk of the CCI**** competitors arrived; as James Alliston and his brother Mike remarked, it went from being quiet and serene in the morning to a bustling hive of activity by late afternoon.
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William Fox-Pitt (above on Chilli Morning) and Mary King got to the Horse Park at about 4pm, and were loving the weather – sunny and warm, I think I may even have heard Mary mentioning shorts!
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Mary told me Fernhill Urco is feeling very fresh, and she definitely thinks he remembers the Horse Park from his second place finish here two years ago, “He’s thinking about the cross country!”
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Parklane Hawk (OTTB) winning the 2012 Rolex Kentucky CCI****.
(All pictures kindly supplied by Allie Conrad and used with her permission with thanks)
Like me you may recognize Allie Conrad’s name as the author of some great articles in the the Chronicle of the Horse, documenting the OTTB at Rolex for instance, or her struggle to retrain a particular horse. Since reading them, I’ve been lucky enough to meet Allie at several events (we’re usually admiring the same horses too!) and this week I spoke to her about her love for the OTTB and her mission at CANTER Mid-Atlantic for the Eventing Radio Show. Dedicated and driven, passionate and smart but still down to earth and a pleasure to talk to, you can hear our entire conversation on the podcast this week.
It all started when Allie was in her early 20s and her current horse had gone lame. After a little research on the internet where she learned about the New Holland Sales, she saved up a whopping $500, borrowed a trailer and set out, determined to make a difference. “I bought this mess of an animal, but I wanted to bring him home and save his life. The horse I picked up at New Holland is my lifeblood; I still own him. He’s 22 now and shuffling around a bit. I built my barn for him, I built my farm for him, and he’s the love of my life. He changed my life. He’s a bit of an ass, but he can do no wrong. I let him get away with just about everything. His racing name was Clever Ma, so all the horses here that I’ve bred have been named after him. My farm (Clever Covert Farm) is named after him … he’s like my legacy!”
In the beginning though, Clever Ma’s future was still uncertain. Allie detailed her doubts that he might not even be sound — “He had lymphangitis in all four legs and a huge knee!” — but to her surprise and joy, she discovered he had the most beautiful, swinging and sound trot on turning him out in a round pen on arrival at her farm. “He and I did just about everything together. He stayed very sound until just about a year ago, and then his hard life began to catch up with him. But he evented, we did the jumpers, we hunted all over the place, he did hunters, we did hunter paces, we did everything. He was my everything horse and just the absolute horsey love of my life. He’s why CANTER Mid-Atlantic exists, and he’s saved a lot of horses. I tell him all the time; his ego is huge!”
Clever Ma had come with his papers, so Allie was able to find out a little bit about his background. “I ended up tracking down his old owners, and they were trainers at Charles Town; they had bred and raised this horse, held him in their laps when he was born and when I told them what had happened I just heard silence and then bawling crying. They were so upset.”
Unintentionally, Clever Ma’s breeders had sent all their horses to the killer buyer having been promised that he would find them a good home. “This guy had them completely fooled, and so all 10 of the horses that they had sent him had been slaughtered and they were dealing with the realization of that. Thank God this one was saved, but it was at that moment that I decided to help both the Thoroughbreds coming off the track, but also people like them who wanted to do the right thing.” Thus CANTER Mid Atlantic was born about a dozen years ago, the second CANTER program in the U.S.
“The more I got into it, the more I just realized they’re just the coolest animals. They’re thankful; they try hard. The only thing that stands in their way is soundness when they’re not cared for on the track, and that’s another battle I’ve been fighting: to try and get them cared for better, to change the drug rules and to change their future so they aren’t raced past their ability to have a second career.”
Doug Payne and Running Order at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** last year
Allie is approaching her fourth decade, which means she has volumes of experience and can speak with some authority on how things are different and how much they have improved for the better since those early days. “Being involved in this for so long has given me a certain perspective, and what’s really cool is the change in attitude at the tracks. When I first started and went into Charles Town or other tracks, nobody would talk to us, or they would actually kick us out of the barns. I just kept going back and the more I went back, eventually they began to give me the time of day.”
The first time Allie took a horse for a trainer and sold it via CANTER Mid-Atlantic within a day, “It spread like wildfire. The biggest change was that instead of running their horse in those last few races knowing they didn’t have a chance but might bring home a little bit of a check, even $100 or $200, those people don’t do that anymore. They list them on CANTER where they might sell them for $1,000 instead of risking one last run and possibly their horse breaking down completely. That’s been the biggest change, and I think that is influencing the track in a very big way.”
Unbelievably, Allie combines her work at CANTER Mid-Atlantic with a career in project management for a software development firm that essentially manages contracts for the government. “The technical term for that is NERD! The CANTER stuff is all just a labour of love. We all do it as volunteers. On a slow week, it’s about 30 hours a week. On other weeks, it can be upwards of 50 or 60, depending on how many abcesses we have — literally!”
Will Faudree and Andromaque at the 2012 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials CCI****
In any given week, there will be three or four CANTER Mid-Atlantic volunteers visiting the half a dozen or so tracks in the area that weekend. “We’ve been very lucky that we’ve been able to grow an awesome group of volunteers.” Depending on the funding level at the time, if people are in a situation where they need to get rid of a horse immediately, then CANTER Mid-Atlantic will take them as donations. Once again, depending on funds, CANTER Mid-Atlantic takes in anywhere from 60 to a 100 horses a year; those horses will be turned out for three to six months depending on what they need, then re-trained and re-homed.
The extensive retraining is what probably stands CANTER Mid-Atlantic apart from a lot of other OTTB programs. “You can’t truly evaluate a horse in one or two rides; you can only evaluate those two rides. We started insisting on 30 to 60 days of re-training so that we could really go about re-training and evaluating them in a very thorough, systematic way. Our success rate in placing them in new homes is at about 99 percent. I think we’ve had two horses come back ever that were not the right match.”
Obviously this makes the process extremely costly. “It’s much more expensive, but our service has to be to the horses and not the bank account, and we’re not doing the horses the right service if we’re placing them in a home that has unrealistic expectations of them, both mentally or soundness wise. We are extremely transparent in our re-training process. We write extensive blogs about each horse, and we document everything. I call it ‘The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Really Ugly!'”
Funded by donations and grants — a very generous grant from ASPCA enabled them to double their efforts — most of their funding comes from donations and the sale price of the nicer horses, although “for every horse we sell for $3,000 or $4,000 or sometimes even $5,000 if it’s been to a few shows, we’ll probably give 10 away for a dollar or a couple hundred.”
At Southern Pines, CANTER gave an award for the highest placed Jockey Club registered TB, and for the last three years they’ve also highlighted and rewarded the best placed OTTB at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Allie started that award after being told by someone at Rolex who should have known better that she might be disappointed to find that there just weren’t any OTTBs at the the top of the sport, and oh, has Allie proved her wrong!
Michael Pollard and Wonderful Will
Allie also enjoys going to events as much as time allows to take pictures of the OTTBs competing and to highlight how prolific they are at every level. “The thing that they have at the end of the day that other horses don’t is more heart than anything. In my opinion, that’s what wins in eventing. You can have a 10 trot all day long, but the fact is you have to go cross country and you have to be sound on the third day, and I think that’s what they’re good for.”
You can hear Allie’s entire conversation on the Eventing Radio Show this week, and please be sure to check out the CANTER Mid-Atlantic website. Thank you for reading, and thank you to Allie for chatting but especially for all her great work to help the OTTB. Go CANTER Mid-Atlantic and Go OTTBs Eventing!
Andrew Nicholson riding Quimbo earlier today at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Rolex 2013 is upon us – the horses and riders are beginning to trickle into the Horse Park, the banners and signs are being put into place, security is guarding the European barn…and so it begins! Andrew is here with both his horses Quimbo and Calico Joe, and I watched him work them on the flat earlier on Sunday.
Andrew and Calico Joe
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It’s such a treat when some of the world’s best horses and riders converge in your own backyard, and I could have watched for hours…but I have two children so sadly we only stayed for the rest of the morning!
Andrew and Quimbo again – should he win this weekend, then both he and William Fox-Pitt will by vying for the Triple Crown of Eventing, the Rolex Grand Slam, at Badminton next week, completely unprecedented due to the cancellation of Badminton last year. Remember, Pippa Funnell remains the only rider ever to complete the trifecta…until now?
Lauren and Fernhill Urco also arrived Saturday night and we chatted briefly while Fernhill Urco grazed. While Alex was going to turn her horses out individually in the round pen paddocks this afternoon, Lauren told me she’d probably just hand-graze Urco again, and not turn him out until Mary arrives on site as he tends to use his outdoor time as ‘playtime.’
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Lauren told me she does have her own horse, but barely has the time to ride him anymore! Mary is due to pick up William on Monday to take him to the airport, and they should both be here in time to ride tomorrow evening. Wishing them both the best of luck this weekend!
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Kristin, Rosie (aka R-Star) and Stanley (below) were all looking remarkably bright considering they arrived last night after a 40 hour non-stop drive from California, including a 5 hour detour almost to Canada Kristi told me, due to a road closure in Wyoming. After a long, gentle hack Rosie relaxed all afternoon, but Kristi rallied and joined an international group of early arrivals at the races at Keeneland, kindly organised by Event Director Christina Gray.
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Stanley!
Kristi added that Rosie is on great form at the moment, and that at the Galway Downs CIC*** recently they were the only pair to take the inside line on one of Ian Stark’s testing combinations. She also shared that Rosie has not been cross country schooling since her last competition as the more she does, the more aggressive she gets, and right now, fingers crossed, she seems to be spot on. Many thanks to Kristi and Randy for chatting, and wishing them the best of luck this weekend also. We popped our heads in to see James Alliston’s three horses, all resting quietly but didn’t see James, and are disappointed to hear that fellow West Coasters Jolie Wentworth and Jordan Lindstedt will not be making the journey this year after all.
Lauren and Fernhill Urco grazing
I had a brief chat with Team GB vet Liz Brown who told me the horses were all feeling very fresh and lively this morning after being cooped up in Chicago, but they look fabulous, and were making the most of the facilities – hacking, hand-grazing and schooling, and also some of them had a little ‘free time’ in the round pen paddocks under close supervision by their grooms. I saw Fernhill Urco coming back from a hack around the pack with Alex Van Tuyll on Seacookie – talk about a power pair, how many points do those two horses have between them? Also coming back from a hack, Jonelle Richards and Austin O’Connor; you can hear Jonelle on this weeks Eventing Radio Show. I haven’t seen either of these horses go before but of course, just standing looking at them walk by, and then in the isolation barn, they look gorgeous! I was longing to see Chilli Morning as I don’t think I’ve seen him go since winning Bramham last June, but being a stallion makes life slightly more complicated for Alex as she has to have one of the CEM Quarantine people follow him at all times to ensure he doesn’t cover a mare by accident! Thus, she had scheduled her ride on him, a hack in the park followed by said official in a car, for long after my kids’ patience had worn thin, and so sadly we missed him.
Tomorrow we expect a lot more of the US riders to arrive in the afternoon and the Park will very soon be bustling. Safe travels for all those making their way to Kentucky, thanks for visiting Eventing Nation, and Go Rolex!
I first admired Jake, above, and his brother Jester at the Alltech FEI 2010 World Equestrian Games where they were on duty at the Kentucky Horse Park, unflustered by the hordes of crowds and unsurprisingly attracting lots of attention! I then bumped into them at my local park and harassed them to stop and talk to me, and as luck would have it Harry and I saw a familiar grey bottom ahead of us as we were leaving the Horse Park this afternoon. Lisa Rakes timed her retirement from the Lexington Police perfectly to coincide with Jake and Jester’s, but she told me that at age 13, doing nothing didn’t suit Jake or Jester at all, and in fact Jake’s health started to decline, so they arrived at the Horse Park where they act as ambassadors and hopefully a very beautiful deterrent to any petty criminals during horse shows.
Jester was out in the field relaxing when we spoke, but I’m hoping (forgot to ask, duh!) that they will both once again be flag bearers for the opening ceremony at the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event — goosebumps. Also, Jake’s left front foot is completely healed, no more ‘wedding band’, but I didn’t dare ask about that either! Looking forward to seeing both Jester and Jake out and about at the Horse Park next week; Lisa told me he’s usually pretty happy to stop and chat because he knows he gets a break, but sometimes by the end of a long event like WEG, Rolex or parades downtown, he does get tired of people constantly trying to touch and pet him. It was such a treat to see Jake again and especially looking so well and obviously enjoying his semi-retirement. Go Jake and Jester, and go the Kentucky Horse Park Mounted Police!
Here at Eventing Nation we always try and thank the volunteers at every event and that is not nearly enough, but we hope we can convey the depth of our gratitude in some small way. Without the help of so many making real sacrifices and commitments to our sport, no matter what the weather, we wouldn’t have any events to go to. When the event is the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, North America’s only CCI****, then the number of volunteers needed and the workload exponentially increases. Harry, Leo and I caught up with Jessica and Carla, who have been helping to enhance Mick Costello’s gorgeous jumps even more with an abundance of flowers.
A further team of volunteers came out last weekend to “bark mulch” (hope I got the right lingo, gardening is not my forte sadly) around all the fences, and as Jessica mentioned, another team will be out on course all this week to water and cover the plants as needed. Brian O’Connor has been here all week getting the sound system ready and dealing with proper Kentucky weather. I think since he’s been here we’ve gone from mid-80s, to torrential rain, to freezing at night, back to sunny … and so it goes on! The flags are flying at half mast currently in respect to the Boston Marathon bombing and West Texas explosion victims. The horses from GB were due to arrive early this evening, and I think Kristi Nunnink will be here tonight too — fingers crossed. We’ll be back out at the Kentucky Horse Park tomorrow to see who we can find to talk to, but in the meantime, thank you and go all volunteers, and go Rolex Kentucky Three Day Eventing!
Meg, Holden, Will, Ryan, Boyd and our own Jenni after a successful yoga session at The Fork
Thanks to the colossal organisation and brainpower of Meg Kepferle and Dana Romano, who collectively make up Howdaa, the generosity and foresight of Theault to get involved in something fun and exciting at the ground level by being the presenting sponsor, and to Will Coleman and Boyd Martin who gave of their time for free, the inaugural Yoga Session at The Fork was a roaring success and raised $1,000 for Area II Young Riders.
Even though the weather didn’t cooperate for the scheduled date and so it was postponed by a day, there was a good turnout of about a dozen or more people ranging from complete beginners to more advanced yogis.
Ryan Stone, the instructor ,managed to teach a class that catered to and challenged all levels, but also found a way to make it fun, and frequently enlisted Boyd and Will’s help to interact with the class. Ryan started yoga about seven years ago whilst teaching English in Japan. “Just being around the Buddhism and the Shintoism made me decide to try yoga when I came back, mostly for the spiritual aspect.” On his return to the States, Ryan spent five years in Charleston, S.C., where he did his teacher training, and he’s now in Chapel Hill.
Jenni, “I was expecting it to be more beginner level, but they definitely pushed us, which is good. It was good to give people an idea of what it’s actually about. There were definitely some poses that I haven’t done before, and I’ve taken yoga for about six months. Some of it was tough, but at the same time I feel so much better. I was super sore and tense coming into this from standing watching dressage in the rain and cold for two days, and I’m so much more relaxed in my shoulders and back and my neck — especially a lot better in my shoulders.”
Amber was doing massage therapy for people in a booth at the event, “I’ve just done a little bit of yoga before, but this was really fun and really enjoyable, and it was actually probably one of the best yoga classes I’ve ever done. I haven’t done very many, and I’ve certainly never done one outside on the grass with a bunch of jokey people before! I’d probably do yoga again now.”
Alissa also gave it a glowing report
All in a day’s work for USEA’s Frankie Theriot
Ryan’s partner, Jes is also an Area II rider and is aiming her horse for the one star at Virginia, “I have a bad shoulder and yoga has been really helpful in strengthening that and for flexiblity.”
Amazing props to Meg, who manages to keep Sinead’s horses looking and feeling fantastic, run a business, (actually, it may be several!) stay smiling, be the life and soul of all the parties, the brains behind creepy videos and God knows what other innovations, Area II’s shining star, a fitness freak, a dancing queen, a hip-hop gangsta … basically the best friend you dream of having but never imagined existed: Meg’s that girl!
Speaking of Sinead…
Chris, “My daughter is in the Young Riders Advancement programme, so of course we want to support that. I thought the class was terrific; I’ve never done yoga before and I might do it again if I had enough time — right?! Too many ponies to ride, but it was fun.”
“Riders can be quite stiff and my goal is to develop an actual sequence specifically for riders, so I’m learning more from Jes and other riders that I talk to all the time,” Ryan said. “I just met Boyd and Will for the first time at Southern Pines a couple of weeks ago, and they’re great guys; I’ve enjoyed working with them. I would love to do more of these, it just depends on how many shows Jes goes to and how many I go along to with her.”
I’m not going to lie, there was definitely a certain amount of competition between Will and Boyd.
But I couldn’t possibly tell you if one was better than the other. You can, however, order a video, beautifully shot, edited and produced by Josh Walker and including interviews with Boyd, Will and Ryan by going to the Howdaa website and practice in the comfort of your own home amongst the company of the stars! It will be available shortly, and we’ll let you know as soon as it is. Howdaa would like to make yoga a staple at events and will also have a presence at Rolex — more news soon.
Many thanks again to Meg, Ryan, Will, Boyd, Theault-America and everyone who showed up. Thank you for reading, and thank you if you donated to Area II Young Riders. Go Downward Dog and Go Eventing!
If you could accuse Ronald Zabala-Goetschel of being two things you’d have to say he was crazy about his horses, and also one of the most innovative, creative minds in the business. What he doesn’t do is anything in a small way! Once again, inspired by Wiseguy, he’s come up with something pretty amazing and I caught up with him at The Fork, where he was having his last run on Wise Equestrian Master Rose before Rolex, to find out more.
The official opening of the two farms is on May 1st, and you can see pictures of the walkers under construction on Ronald’s facebook page here. If anyone knows of a quiet horse who might be suitable for use as a therapy horse please get in touch with Ronald via his facebook page (above) or website, or even leave a comment below – it sounds like it would have a pretty idyllic home!
Wishing Ronald and Master Rose aka Big Boy, the best of luck at Rolex, and looking forward to hearing much more about the Wiseguys’ Farm and Shangri-La which sounds absolutely heavenly – they say it’s a dog’s life but it might be a wiseguy’s! Thanks to Ronald for chatting, thank you for reading, go book a massage and go eventing!
Jon Holling and Sarah Kelley’s DHI Zapotek B on the CIC*** course
Donner and Lynn Symansky – the CIC*** winners: you can hear all about her ride and her Rolex prep from hereon in on this week’s Eventing Radio Show, as well as insights from Allie Knowles, 6th in the Advanced on her mare Last Call, (“I trust her more than most humans, we have such an incredible bond”) as she prepares for her first Rolex.
Pirate and Megan O’Donoghue had a great prep run for Rolex, but more importantly, who is that creeping in her picture?
Becky Holder and Rolex-bound Can’t Fire Me (21st) looked foot perfect
Kaitlin Spurlock, a member of the Dutton Eventing Team rode beautifully on her mare Expedience for a nice clear and moved up to 22nd with just 2.8 time faults
Shiraz (27th) leaping over the fences like cavaletti!
Lisa Barry and F.I.S Prince Charming (17th) who just continues to improve – what a superhorse he’s going to be!
Michael Pollard and Mensa (13th) making the troublesome coffin look easy.
Phillip Dutton and Atlas, 11th.
Lizzie Snow and Coal Creek, 15th in the Advanced division.
Allison Springer still getting to know Copycat Chloe but I think they will be formidable once they click
Marilyn Little and RF Demeter finished fourth in the CIC*** division
Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM flying round for third place in the CIC***
Leslie Law and Zenith ISF finished fifth in the CIC*** and I think they head to Jersey Fresh next
The incomparable Exponential (Canadian OTTB) and Jessie Phoenix in sixth place in the CIC***; again, I can’t wait to watch them at Rolex.
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Jennie has had a great Spring season on Cambalda and after two flawless jumping performances at The Fork a 2nd place in the CIC*** must have been icing on the cake as she completes her competition build-up to a tilt at Rolex in a couple of weeks. I caught up with her just before she started her long drive home to Pennsylvania to discuss her and Ping’s show this past weekend, and to find out what she’ll be doing in the next fortnight to keep herself busy.
Many thanks to Jennie for chatting and wishing her the very best of luck and a fantastic go in Kentucky. Thank you for visiting Eventing Nation, and Go Rolex Kentucky!
Leslie Chelstrom and Cecilia capitalised on their good dressage score and clear show-jumping round by going clear and fast cross country Sunday at The Fork to clinch the win in the Advanced division. After a good result at Fairhill last year Leslie told me that although there were some murmurings about how she should aim for Rolex this Spring, she and her trainer Jimmy Wofford both agreed that another year at the three star level will benefit the ten year old Cecilia much more, that she needs to learn to be tired at the end of a long course and deal with that. Leslie also told me that she struggled a bit with her show-jumping last year and they’ve been really working hard on that which showed in a beautiful clear round at The Fork on Saturday, and just a rail in the deluge at Southern Pines a couple of weeks ago. Leslie is also pleased with her improving dressage thanks to Linda Zang’s help, and thanks to the mare’s ‘worker bee’ mentality, and I’m looking forward to watching her progress this year at Bromont, Blenheim, and then fingers crossed for Rolex 2014.
Many thanks to Leslie for stopping to chat, and congratulations again. Thanks as always for visiting, and Go Eventing!
Selena O’Hanlon and A First Romance had one rail down
Will Faudree and his lovely Andromaque jumped clear and go into the cross country in 8th place
Phillip Dutton and Atlas jumped clear – Phillip also jumped clear on Fernhill Fugitive, and on Fernhill Eagle in the Advanced Division but unfortunately dropped from the lead to 19th after having two rails down on Mighty Nice
Becky Holder and Can’t Fire Me also plummeted down the leaderboard going into the cross country from 8th after dressage to 32nd with two rails down.
Buck Davidson and D.A Adirmo
Marilyn Little and RF Demeter jumped clean
Lovely Donner and Lynn Symansky jump clear to take the lead in this division going into the cross country
Kaitlin Spurlock and Expedience also jumped a very nice clear round
No problems for the Red Hills Advanced winner Lisa Barry and her NZ OTTB FIS Prince Charming
Sara Kozumplik and Flagmount’s Sterling Prince
Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High
Bruce Duchossois’ Mighty Nice – a disappointing two rails, but as someone commented on Phillip’s facebook page, ‘rather here than at Rolex!’
Hannah Sue Burnett and a very fit and keen looking Harbour Pilot
Caitlin Silliman rode beautifully to recover her and Catch A Star’s composure after two early rails and then regain their confidence and jump clean.
Daniel Clasing and Houston, who we talked to on Friday
Cody Sturgess and Imperial Melody
Phillip Dutton jumps clear on Fernhill Fugitive
Caitlin Calder and Jolliyat had one rail down
Everyone’s favourite – Peter Barry and Kilrodan Abbot jumped a very workmanlike clear – no biggie!
Another lovely Canadian couple – Nicole Parkin and her great mare Lexus also jumped clear and start cross country in 12th place
Mensa just had the first fence down but otherwise jumped a lovely round – I love this horse, can’t disguise my OTTB bias!
Buck Davidson on one of his multiple rides – No More Rocks
Will Faudree and Pawlow had one down
Megan O’Donoghue rode a flawless round on her OTTB Pirate to jump clear. Between her, Donner, Mensa, Exponential, Expedience, Lisa Barry’s horse and Emily Beshear’s stunning Here’s to You who recovered after slipping on a turn to also jump a beautiful clear round I couldn’t be prouder of the OTTB, and we still have the cross country to come, and I’m probably missing half of them. I’m looking forward to speaking to Allie Conrad this week who’s much more of an expert on the subject and we’ll be able to bring you a review of Southern Pines, and look ahead to OTTBs at Rolex. Go OTTBs!
Shandiss McDonald and the gorgeous Rockfield Grant Juan who has simply blossomed this year!
Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz
Katie Ruppel and Sir Donovan – one rail down.
Boyd Martin and Trading Aces jumped probably the best round I’ve seen them do to add to what was probably the best dressage test they’ve done – a good prep for Rolex so far this week.
Wonderful Exponential and Jessie Phoenix just pinging around the course for fun – what it must be like to have that kind of a partnership with that talented a horse; I’m so excited to watch them fly around Rolex, it is a treat to get to see combinations like this compete together.
Ronald Zabala-Goetschel and Wise Equestrian Master Rose
A lovely clear round from Jon Holling and DHI Zatopek B
Leslie Law and Zenith ISF also jumped a well-judged clear round. I’m looking forward to watching this horse, and indeed the whole division go cross country. The Advanced starts at 9am, and the CIC *** gets underway at 10:30am. Jenni is brilliant with quick updates and I’ll try and keep tweeting as much as possible. Thanks as always for being a part of Eventing Nation, wishing everybody safe and successful rides today, and we’ll try and keep you updated as quickly and accurately as we can. Go The Fork and Go Eventing!
Photo with kind permission by the wonderful Jenni Autry
Lillian Heard and Share Option capitalised on a nice dressage test with a clear show-jumping to take the overnight lead in the Advanced Division Saturday ahead of the cross country on Sunday. This is Share Option’s first competition back at this level after a layoff following an injury, “I’m really excited, this is my horses’ first advanced back in a couple of years so I’m really happy about how it’s going so far. He injured his tendon two years ago and I just took a really long to rehab him. I also went abroad for a year traveling and working and riding, so now that I’ve come back I’m bringing him back. I worked for Carol Gee of Fernhill Sporthorses in Ireland and then a couple of people in England, namely Tim Russbridge, a New Zealand guy living over there. I learned a ton, it was like a crash course in everything you don’t know in horses. It was a lot to learn over here in the US, but they do everything differently over there in England so it was intensive and amazing. They do everything a little bit differently. It wasn’t that I saw that I saw the way they did everything a little bit better, but more that I realised that there are a lot of different ways to do this, and there’s a best way for each one of us specifically as riders.” The weekend started well for Lillian and Whitey, so nicknamed due to his four white socks and white eye, with a good test on Thursday, “His dressage was really good, that’s normally a weak point and he was really good and I’ve been working really hard on seeing what works and what doesn’t work, playing around with the warm up, riding him twice, and it came together yesterday, I was really really excited. My plan for the cross country is to go out and to have a really positive ride for him, I probably won’t be chasing the time since it’s my first one back so I’m not going to be grasping on to the lead because I don’t want this to be the last event we ever have, I just want him to jump nicely, take it easy around the turns and be really positive, that’s my plan. I like the course, it’s really nice, I think it’s a good first advanced back for me, I’ve been here before with him, the last time I was here I thought it was a little bit tougher so I when I walked around I was worried thinking it might be a really big Advanced to come back but it looked like it should ride pretty well. My plan is to do the CCI*** at Bromont and then probably the CCI*** at Fairhill but we take it day by day, I don’t like to make too many plans too far in advance! ” Lillian imported Whitey from England as a four year old with the help of Jan Byyny; he’ s now eleven and has brought him up through the levels herself, “he’s sort of like my pet, he’s probably my last one that’s like my young rider pet type horse; when he broke down and I thought I’d maybe never event him again, I wasn’t ever going to get rid of him – this is my horse. I brought him up and he has never done me wrong. He’s a really really good boy. He’s not the fanciest nor the best, he doesn’t look like much but he takes care of me so I love him.” Is it the wine talking or don’t we all wish we had horses like that, or could find horses like that for our daughters? Lillian on the show-jumping, “He show-jumped really well, he felt really great. I thought the course was pretty hard, it came up fast and you had to be really calm in order to execute it well, and I think there are a lot of horses that probably do a bit better show-jumping after they’ve gone cross country when they’re more relaxed, but Whitey is always relaxed, and so we actually benefitted, this format is very well-suited to him because he’s a quiet horse so if I can do the show-jumping before I go out and exhaust him on the cross country then he jumps way better so I was really really happy with him.” Lillian brought two Irish horses back with her after her trip, “they’re great too, all Irish too, not intentional but I fell in love with Irish – they just find me!”. Lillian worked with Boyd Martin for a few years before her trip abroad but says Jan is always with her, “She was outside the dressage ring to tell me how I did, they’re all there, even when they’re not there, they’re all there!” Lillian taps her head and laughs!
Best of luck to Lillian this weekend and we’re happy to see Share Option back in action. Thanks for chatting to us, thanks for reading Eventing Nation, and Go The Fork Eventing!
Marilyn Little and Mr. Medicott are tied for sixth in the CIC2*.
Mr. Medicott jumped a beautiful clear round in the CIC** this afternoon at The Fork with Marilyn Little at his first event back since the London Olympics last summer. At the press conference, where Marilyn was chatting about her 2nd placed 3* horse RF Smoke On The Water, she also addressed this popular horse’s future. “The plan is to do the Ocala CCI** very slowly. It’s great that the FEI has the qualification system that they do because it really does force you to have that getting to know you period, but it is unfortunate for a horse that’s at his stage in his career that he has to have those extra runs. But it is what it is, so I’m happy to have this time. We’ll go to Ocala and we’ll go very slow. If that goes well, we’ll go to Jersey Fresh and do the CIC*** and then maybe to the CCI*** at Strezegom in Poland. That would be his spring CCI, and then we’ll see where we are for the Fall. We need to get a spring CCI*** so he can go to a four star in the fall, and you get to June and you’re pretty limited, so it’s a pretty big push to do it. So that’s the reason we’ll go slow next week (at Ocala) and slow at Jersey.”
As for long term plans: “He’s owned by the Mr. Medicott Syndicate, and Karen is the manager for the syndicate, and as long as I’m asked to ride him … Karen is riding again; she’s jumping. She’s doing really really well but whether she wants to come back to eventing? She’s gone to a lot of Olympics; she’s got a lot of accolades. If she wants to start doing the Grand Prix show jumping, I think she has a lot of people who would really support that — and what a neat thing to see an eventer go into the show jumping world. She’s got a great eye and a great feel and horses really jump well for her, so there’s no reason she couldn’t be a Grand Prix rider next year. It’s just a matter of having the horse.
Speaking of horses, Marilyn said that Mr. Medicott “was really excited to back at the party today! I knew I was in trouble when I saw him dragging two people, one on either side of him. He looked larger than life out there, and he’s definitely feeling larger than life. Tomorrow cross country will be about letting him gallop on between the jumps but really he’s got to give it up and come back a little because the cross country in London was just go go go, and I know he’s going to be thinking about that — plus the added adrenalin of being back in the game, and I’d like it to be a really positive experience. Basically, it’s just a pleasure to ride him and to be asked to do it, but there’s a lot of responsibility that comes along with it. I’m plenty nervous about it. I think I get along pretty well with him, or rather I would know if I didn’t! He’s different right now because he’s had a long time off, so I’m not getting to know him as a horse who’s been in the sport a long time. He’s been on break now since August, and that’s a long time. I got to get him fit in Wellington and got to know him in ‘my arena’ — the show-jumping field — and the results down there were not great; but to be fair, it was 1 meter 30. They were flat cups; it’s just a totally different atmosphere, so it doesn’t necessarily match. I came here and I was pleased with his round. He was careful; he was sharp. He was thinking and, even as fresh as he was, that’s not the right bit for me in the show jumping. That’s just a personal preference, so I’ll go back to the drawing board, and tomorrow I’ll ride him in a snaffle with a crescent noseband, which I jumped him in at Wellington. We know each other in that; it’s relatively innocuous.”
Smoke on the Water jumped a lovely clear in the CIC*** to move up to 2nd place overnight, and Marilyn talked about the new format and how it might affect the horses and their training. “Smoke is only 8 years old, and he’s changing so fast, so it’s hard to say what suits him. Every event I get to know him a little bit more. I’ve been learning over the past year how to ride a jumper on the third day, so I’m a lot more at home with that format. Being young and having jumped a lot of strong cross-country courses where you do get to the bottom of them more when they’re younger than when they’re older, it’s definitely an advantage to be in this format, but I’m a little bit concerned about then going into a three day and having to go back to the old format. I hope we don’t get caught.”
RF Demeter, who’s headed to Rolex, jumped a lovely clear. “I think if they’re going to have it in this format, it’s very important that the cups be quite flat because if the horses are rattling the rails on a Saturday show jumping and they’re not falling, on Sunday you have to figure they’re not going to jump quite as well. So if they’re rattling them today (Saturday) and they’re staying up … I think they should be a little bit more technical and flatter cups if it’s this format. Otherwise, we could really get caught when we go over to Europe or go to Rolex. It happened to me last year at Rolex. But I think it’s easier on the horses long term. You’re darned if you do and darned if you don’t! I think we’ll have a better idea long term how it works.”
Advanced cross country starts at 9am Sunday morning, and Eventing Nation will be bringing you much more from The Fork during the rest of the weekend. Go North Carolina state troopers! Thank you for not catching me speeding on the way back and forth to my hotel after I forgot my camera this morning. It was a wild ride, and Go Eventing!
Steph working Port Authority with David O’Connor on Thursday morning
I was delighted to catch up briefly with Steph Rhodes-Bosch who has kindly agreed to blog for EN again this year, and Ellie Macphail, who we would love to blog for EN this year (hint hint!) as they were hacking around the beautiful countryside of The Fork. It’s wonderful to see Ollie aka Port Authority back in action, and equally exciting to watch Ellie and RF Eloquence aka Bobby embark on the beginning of what I’m sure will be an exciting Advanced career.
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Thanks for chatting and best of luck this weekend! Go Eventing!
Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice
Lynn Symansky and Donner came in to the three star arena after the lunch break and did a beautiful test, holding on the lead until the very end of the day but Phillip Dutton and Bruce Duchossois’ Mighty Nice turned in a stunning mistake-free performance to ultimately win the dressage, which Phillip said later, was more about staying calm and focused than going all out, “Obviously I’m very pleased; I rode him reasonably conservatively and erred on the side of softness and relaxation rather than going for more movement. The three star test has become pretty standard and easy for him whereas a year ago it was not, and we’ve been working pretty hard so that’s a good sign but of course he’s going to have to do a four star test next time out (Rolex) so that’s going to be a little harder! It’s great to have a horse like this because I know he’s going to be good, I just have to train him well and ride him well.” US Dressage Olympian Michael Barisone was on hand here in North Carolina cementing the training he’s been giving Phillip and Boyd Martin over the winter, “Michael has been coming to Aiken and he’s stood here for the last two and a half days in the cold and the rain and supervised everything; David (O’Connor) has overseen it all so I’m excited, they’re both great guys and they work well together, they’ve both contributed and nobody’s worried about who’s getting the limelight, they’ve both helped to get the best out of the horse and I’m really pleased.”
Caitlin on her CIC*** ride, Catch A Star
Caitlin Silliman once again finds herself leading the dressage phase on Remington in the CIC**, just as she did two weeks ago in the Intermediate Division at Southern Pines, a lead that she held onto throughout for the win and explained that she’s on completely the opposite end of the spectrum to Phillip and Mighty Nice, “I’m very, very lucky to have him, he’s obviously a very experienced horse, he’s been all over the world. It’s different to be able to go into the ring and be able to really ride the test out of the horse, he knows what he’s doing so you can go in there and go for it a little bit. It’s definitely training me to go in there and ride for every point.”
The common demoninator: Michael Barisone has been helping Boyd, Phillip and Caitlin
Phillip promised that he would also ride fairly conservatively across country on Sunday on Mighty Nice, despite being in the lead in the PRO Tour Series after a win at the Red Hills CIC***, and says the CIC format will suit all his horses, “Mighty Nice will definitely get time faults on Sunday – he can be a little bit arrogant on the cross country and thinks he knows it all and he can get strong, so after we did have a little bit of a go at Red Hills the best thing for the horse for Kentucky will be to go around quietly and slowly and to respect the jumps and not get too aggressive. The course has changed considerably since last year, it looks nice. I don’t particularly like show-jumping the horses after they’ve run cross country because to me it’s a better show-jumping experience for them if they haven’t galloped, and they’re not stiff and sore. I like this way, I think it’s a good way to train the horses and obviously the ultimate test is the CCI and they have to jump after the cross country and as riders and trainers we have to learn how to ride a tired horse in the show-jumping phase, but from a training point of view I like jumping the day before. Some horses are different and are actually a bit better after the cross country and some not as good, but overall I would say I like this way.”
Phillip also has Atlas handily placed in 14th and Fernhill Fugitive in 17th place, while Fernhill Eagle is in 14th place in the Advanced Division, “Atlas went during the pouring rain on Thursday afternoon and he’s getting there; he’s not quite as established as Mighty Nice but next year I think he’s going to be a super horse. Eagle…we’re starting to get the dressage! Hopefully in a couple of weeks he’ll be even better again.”
Caitlin agreed with Phillip about preferring to show-jump her horses before the cross-country, “I like show-jumping before the cross-country; my horses are a little bit tricky and definitely will be easier to show-jump when they’re a bit fresher and they’re the kind of horses that jump better when they’re more confident so I think training wise at a CIC I think it’s better to show-jump first for a good experience.”
Lynn Symansky and Donner
However Lynn Symansky shared that Donner would prefer the original format, “For my horse he’s better if he does cross country first – he can be a tight horse and a bit spooky and the show-jumping first can back him off a bit more on the cross country so it’s better to get him out. I’ll go out in the morning on Saturday before the show-jumping and have a bit of a gallop and pop him over something.”
Marilyn Little lies third in both the CIC** with RF Black Pearl, and in the CIC*** with RF Smoke on the Water. While Black Pearl is a new ride this spring, Smoke campaigned with Marilyn in Europe last year and finished the year with a top placing at Fairhill last autumn, “Smoke was quite fresh, the freshest I’ve ever felt him but he still put in a nice performance. Whereas a year ago he might not have been able to cope with that, now he handles it pretty well and turns it into power in the ring instead of a loss of attention, so I’m really happy with that.” Although Marilyn has entered Smoke on the Water for Rolex she would really like to take him to France, “I’ve entered Rolex as a back-up; I’m hoping to taking him to Saumur. I’ve applied for the grant there but there’s plenty of good horses out here right now and in the event that I wasn’t given the grant then I would take him to Rolex.” A decision will be made after this weekend, “The fact is that this is still the last prep before Rolex and for fitness purposes this is still only his second event out so he needs to have a plenty aggressive enough, fast run in case he does go to Rolex, and if he goes to Saumur I want to know what I have right now so I expect him to gallop for the time. The same thing for RF Demeter – she’s going for the time; the footing is great, the course is beautifully designed, it’s a great springboard for wherever you want to go for the summer, it’s a great time to know what you have. “
Marilyn Little and Smoke on the Water
Many thanks to Jenni for doing such a wonderful job with all the updates today which means that I can now go ahead and just post some of my favourite photos for no other reason than I want to! Thanks as always for reading, and thanks especially to everyone who came out to do howdaa yoga, it was such fun – we’ll have a full report on that plus information on how to buy the video just in case you couldn’t come but would still like to be a part of it and donate, probably early next week.
I thought Becky’s test on Can’t Fire Me was lovely and actually deserved to be better placed than equal 12th. The good news is that she’s right on track for Rolex, it was a far more polished and smooth test than the one she did a couple of weeks ago at Southern Pines, and if she puts in the same adjustments in the next two weeks you know she’ll be very close to unbeatable.
Equally I thought Here’s To You was one of the best tests in the division, although Emily was one of several riders to forget to halt/rein back at A. Here’s To You looks so light in the contact and yet so correct and consistent, very soft, very forward, very fluid and with great rhythm – and they make it look easy, sigh!
Shandiss McDonald’s Rockfield Grant Juan was reserve for the Canadian Olympic team last year and now seems to be growing into that huge frame and movement of his, and really coming into his own; he looked so impressive covering the ground with his enormous stride and Shandiss has done so well to get the hang of him. I can’t wait to see them go at Rolex.
It may have been the elusive thumbs up from David O’Connor that once signaled a good ride but in true Aussie style Clayton gave Shandiss a wolf whistle as she came out the ring to take the morning lead.
The volunteers have been amazing all week in the very worst of the weather, but Nicole Parkin and Shandiss both went straight after the short mid-morning break and the ring crew hadn’t returned yet – never fear, fellow countryman Peter Barry to the rescue who opened and then secured the arena at A for both ladies – what a gentleman!
Nyls Du Terroir basking in the sunshine and Kate’s adoration at Southern Pines
Anyone who reads Eventing Nation regularly or follows Kate on facebook may have an inkling of how besotted she is with her big, beautiful bay horse Nyls Du Terroir, and if you follow her on twitter it’s a dead giveaway! With Jenni running a tight ship as far as the updates were going, and with Kate having a free day today having done a nice dressage yesterday, it seemed like a no-brainer to stop and chat!
Nyls and Kate giving it loads at Red Hills earlier this spring!
Best of luck Kate and Nyls, and thanks for talking to Eventing Nation!
Lynn rode an absolutely beautiful test on Donner to take the lead in the CIC*** at The Fork until the very last ride of the day when Phillip Dutton overtook her on Bruce Duchossois’ Mighty Nice. However, having only been back in the saddle for a week or so since breaking her hand on a young horse, she joked that the cast on her finger obviously isn’t hindering her, and that might even be doing some good and she may have to break her other hand before the cross country, “Apparently it makes me a better rider! I don’t think the horse even noticed it, but he’ll probably be more aware of it on Sunday because I have a hard time holding on to the reins.” Lynn was pleased with her test but didn’t expect to be in this position after the dressage, “He’s getting better, he’s gotten a lot better this year; he’s getting a lot stronger and he’s more mature. He’s just a tight horse and he’s very sound sensitive and he can be a bit spooky but he’s been very consistent this year but it’s not usual to be in second after dressage, ever, so I guess I’d better just keep this cast on my hand!”
Lynn’s “claw”
Best of luck to Lynn and Donner this weekend and I’ll be crossing all my fingers and toes that we get to see them run around Rolex in a couple of weeks time. Go Eventing!
Daniel Clasing and Houston had a good run at Fairhill last year, and more recently a top 6 finish in the competitive advanced division at Southern Pines which puts them in good shape heading to their first Rolex this Spring. I caught up with them after their CIC*** dressage at The Fork to find out a little bit more about them.
Wishing Daniel and Houston a great prep run here at The Fork, and the best of luck at Rolex in a couple of weeks time – Go Eventing!
After a great run round the Burghley CCI**** last autumn Erin is once again preparing No Boundaries for Rolex in a couple of weeks, and I caught up with her after her CIC*** dressage test at The Fork to find out how they’re both doing. I was hoping to chat for a bit longer and also ask Erin about her nice string of promising young horses that I’ve been admiring this Spring at the early events but unfortunately No Boundaries’ mind was on the cross country so we’ll try and catch up again soon.
Best of luck this weekend, Erin and we look forward to welcoming you back to Kentucky. Go Eventing!
Colleen and Shiraz were first to go Friday morning in the CIC***, and joked to Brian O’Connor that they would like some more water in their dressage arena; yes, there is some standing water, and the stabling area is a mess of mud, but I have seen, gasp, a glimpse of the sun, so everything is going to be alright. Shiraz actually did quite a nice test but for anticipating the canter depart and jogging in the walk, and then switching leads once across the diagonal but Colleen was disappointed with his test, as she explained, as is so often the case, the work in the warm-up was so much better than what he showed inside the ring.
Despite the crap weather there was quite a turnout to watch Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville perform the test ride for the CIC*** at The Fork on Thursday afternoon, and now Eventing Nation, you can enjoy it in the warmth and comfort of your own home/office, sans rain, wind and cold.
I know I speak for everyone when I say how happy we all were to see them strut their stuff again in the ring and as you can see, through the foggy lens, they looked just as awesome as ever, if not even more so. Here’s to a speedy full recovery so we can see them galloping across country again soon, and here’s to the genius who came up with idea of installing a wine bar in the barn at The Fork – thank you! Lots more dressage tomorrow, and hopefully a lot less rain. Thanks to Jenni who was amazing today, and thanks for reading. Go The Fork and Go Eventing!
Roxy show-jumping the Paul Frazier Memorial Combined Training Show at the Kentucky Horse Park a week after being eliminated cross-country at Southern Pines.
There are so many sayings that try and make sense of, or make it easier to deal with the inevitable disappointment that goes hand -in- hand with trying to compete horses professionally – “Horses are great levelers” springs to mind, “Pride comes before a fall”, and my mother’s favourite, – “it’s character building, Darling!” (never made me feel better at all!) I must admit to being a tiny bit nervous when I called Allie to ask if we might do an update as she had just returned from a very wet, and ultimately unsuccessful trip all the way to Southern Pines with her two 6 year old mares that we’ve been following, Komik and Roxy. Having set off on her journey on the back of a fantastic two weeks training with Buck Davidson in Florida, and a couple of weeks consolidation at home in Kentucky, to get all the way to North Carolina and be eliminated on both of them cross country might have been crushing but we horsey gals….! Tough stuff. I’m incredibly grateful, as always, to Allie for being so generous with her time as we chronicle her horses’ journeys up the ranks, but especially for being so frank and open too, in both good times and bad. I caught up with Allie in person at the Paul Frazier Memorial combined training show at the Horse Park and we talked about what went wrong, what happens next, and on a happier note, a very important entry that she just made that begins with R and ends in X!
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Allie and Last Call warming up for a run-through their Advanced test in preparation for The Fork, and then Rolex
Many, many thanks to Allie and her team, and wishing her the very best preparation for Rolex. Thank you for reading, and Go AK Eventing!
The new and improved Komik – listening to Allie in the dressage!
