Peter and Henny earlier this spring at Red Hills CIC***, where they were the only pair to ever achieve the time cross country, and where they broke the news to Eventing Nation of their intention to compete at the historic Badminton CCI**** Three Day Event.

Sadly, Peter had terrible news for Eventing Nation this morning, just the day before he was due to leave for England; in one of those silly accidents that can happen all too often and in the blink of an eye, Peter broke his leg  which means obviously he will not be able to ride at Badminton after all.

Peter wanted to be sure I noticed the homemade splint of tree branches and vetwrap, he said the ER doc loved it! When I asked him if he was in pain, he answered “emotional pain.” At this point he thinks he’ll be out of commission for about 4-6 weeks, and has yet to make final plans as to what he’ll do next as he was currently currently being admitted but we hope to see them out next at Luhmuhlen! Wishing you speedy healing, and we’ll bring you more news from the Run Henny Run camp as soon as we get it. Go Henny, and Go Eventing!

I thought I’d ease you back into it with a fairly easy one – which four star rider is this, Eventing Nation? Enjoy your sunday, and just two short weeks until show-jumping day at Rolex. Go Eventing!

The Thoroughbred Horse Show Association held it’s inaugural horse show Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park, and declared itself pleased with 105 entries. With a range of divisions from in-hand and dressage  to hunter classes there was definitely enough variety to keep everyone happy.

In a nod to their former lives, all the entrants in the show wore hip numbers, not competitor or bridle numbers.

With such a full schedule there was a lot of waiting around, and the horses and their connections all seemed to be enjoying the day out, most of them standing calmly and socialising, or just snoozing.

Many thanks to local Grand Prix dressage rider Susan Posner for judging dressage all day, Shelley Mann in the hunter ring, and to several of the OTTB adoption organisations who were well represented not only in the flesh, but with tradestands.  It made a nice change to see all all the different disciplines come together in one horse show – eventers, dressage riders, hunters and fox-hunters all showing off their TBs, what a diversely talented breed this is.

Also, many thanks of course to the tireless volunteers and organisers who helped make the show, and the gala evening the night before such a success.

Red Zipper, winner of the War Horse Class. I caught up with Michelle, his trainer, and Ellen his owner, after their big win for a brief chat.

Ellen had to take her horse into the ring for the next in-hand class, and Red Zipper was contesting some hunter classes after we spoke so many thanks to all three of them for their time, and many congratulations!

Red Zipper

TBs come in all shapes and sizes. There was no programme so it was impossible to identify horses or riders by hip number unless you heard them being announced going into the ring.  However, I was delighted to bump into familiar face, Lisa Molloy, who  is an absolute dynamo at West Wind Farm, just down the road from the Kentucky Horse Park, where she works miracles for the Lexington division of New Vocations

Pentagon and Lisa

Learning a dressage test last minute!

Waiting for a jumper class. There will be another all thoroughbred horse show here at the Kentucky Horse Park in the autumn on the first weekend of October so mark your calendars for that. As well as nice rosettes and goody bags, they were also giving away lovely saddle pads, and   there are year end awards that you can read how to qualify for here. All in all it was a lovely way to while away a few hours and a wonderful celebration of the breed. Go the Thoroughbred,  and Go Eventing!

What will be about the fourth fence

With just less than a fortnight until cross country day of the 2012 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, the official order of go has been posted, and work continues on the grounds almost around the clock.  I can’t resist walking around the course whenever I’m at the Park, which recently has been quite often, and I’m always surprised by how much it changes, even in 24 hours, at this time of year.

Just the day before – no mulch, no squirrel! The mulch crew were hard at work on Saturday, and I don’t think Course Builder Mick Costello or Commentator Nigel Casserley and his lovely wife Allie will stop now until it’s all over. Nigel and his team are also responsible for wiring the park for sound so their job is enormous, and well under way.

Where it all begins – the first fence.

The 2nd and 3rd fences, old friends, albeit in slightly different places!

The fences all look very different without flags, brush, or water.

The second water, in the infield, followed immediately by

The coffin, which last year was overflowing with water, even on the very morning of cross country! This year, the footing is super – even, with  a great cover, perhaps verging on the firm side, and  Mick Costello confirmed he’s irrigating as you read this to make sure it will be perfect.

Crossing the road and out into the back field

The double of corner, in the same place as last year but going in the opposite direction and moved slightly – four strides, with a very long long route.  Then up the hill to the farthest reaches of the course up by the polo fields, the Hollow

You gallop around and approach the log coming back down towards the Horse Park, down into the Hollow, and up over the seat. You can just barely see the alternative if you need it on the left.

The mandolin – built for 2010 WEG when it was jumped the other way round, making a welcome return to the 2012 Rolex course

The Sunken Road, one stride directly across the road “slanted” to the corner, or two strides on the right hand side with a “straighter” route across the road.

Reverse Frangible Pins on the Sunken Road Rails. The timber here is slighter than the usual timber so discs had to be inserted to make up the distance on the pins.

The Head of the Lake is substantially different this year – in over this, or the alternative

then out, and back in again

but before bouncing out over the angled step and rail there will be rainbow trout – direct route, or mallard, alternative in the water, to negotiate

There are also plenty of long gallops in between fences, and several massive, plain, ‘let-up’ fences on the course.

But there are still a few questions on the course after the Head of the Lake that need to be tackled on the way home. The Bank is still on the course crossing back into the infield

On to the bank

and down to the corner.

Heading for home, the last question in the infield, the angled Kentucky Horse Park Tables

These look so different without the brush. The narrow angled double of brushes, with a long route, has been jumped in both directions over the years, but comes near the end again this time.

The Last Fence! What a welcome sight. Of course nothing is set in stone at this point, this was just Leo and I walking around the park and taking some pictures, but it always fascinates me how different the course looks ‘undressed’ – no crowds, flags, flowers, and of course at this point no brush or water even. Also, it’s never more obvious than now just how hard everyone works to put on an event of this magnitude so a million Eventing Nation thanks in advance!  We can’t wait to join you and all the competitors soon. Don’t forget we’ll also be bringing you full coverage of  professional course walks to benefit Just World International with Boyd Martin, Buck Davidson, Doug Payne and Sharon White. Details of times coming this week. Thank you for reading, Roll on Rolex, and Go Eventing!

I thought I’d ease you back into it with a fairly easy one – which four star rider is this, Eventing Nation? Enjoy your sunday, and just two short weeks until show-jumping day at Rolex. Go Eventing!

The Thoroughbred Horse Show Association held it’s inaugural horse show Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park, and declared itself pleased with 105 entries. With a range of divisions from in-hand and dressage  to hunter classes there was definitely enough variety to keep everyone happy.

In a nod to their former lives, all the entrants in the show wore hip numbers, not competitor or bridle numbers.

With such a full schedule there was a lot of waiting around, and the horses and their connections all seemed to be enjoying the day out, most of them standing calmly and socialising, or just snoozing.

Many thanks to local Grand Prix dressage rider Susan Posner for judging dressage all day, Shelley Mann in the hunter ring, and to several of the OTTB adoption organisations who were well represented not only in the flesh, but with tradestands.  It made a nice change to see all all the different disciplines come together in one horse show – eventers, dressage riders, hunters and fox-hunters all showing off their TBs, what a diversely talented breed this is.

Also, many thanks of course to the tireless volunteers and organisers who helped make the show today, and the gala evening the night before such a success.

Red Zipper, winner of the War Horse Class. I caught up with Michelle, his trainer, and Ellen his owner, after their big win for a brief chat.

Ellen had to take her horse into the ring for the next in-hand class, and Red Zipper was contesting some hunter classes after we spoke so many thanks to all three of them for their time, and many congratulations!

Red Zipper

TBs come in all shapes and sizes. There was no programme so it was impossible to identify horses or riders by hip number unless you heard them being announced going into the ring.  However, I was delighted to bump into familiar face, Lisa Molloy, who  is an absolute dynamo at West Wind Farm, just down the road from the Kentucky Horse Park, where she works miracles for the Lexington division of New Vocations

Pentagon and Lisa

Learning a dressage test last minute!

Waiting for a jumper class. There will be another all thoroughbred horse show here at the Kentucky Horse Park in the autumn on the first weekend of October so mark your calendars for that. As well as nice rosettes and goody bags, they were also giving away lovely saddle pads, and   there are year end awards that you can read how to qualify for here. All in all it was a lovely way to while away a few hours and a wonderful celebration of the breed. Go the Thoroughbred,  and Go Eventing!

Phillip Dutton jumped three flawless rounds in the CIC*** at The Fork this afternoon but the one that really mattered was on Mystery Whisper for the win, with less than a rail separating the top 3.  ( he also jumped clear on Atlas and Mighty Nice) Just one sticky moment at the second fence  which was very brightly coloured, when he came in “slightly underpowered and  the horse exploded and I nearly fell off, it was a bit embarrassing!” He exaggerates slightly, but  for the spectators it was an Oooh-aah moment to see Mystery Whisper really open up and almost hit Phillip in the back of the head with his hind end!  Anyway, Mystery Whisper and Phillip have now won their second CIC*** in a month, and his plan this weekend was just to give the horse a nice schooling run – the man can’t help but win! In what we all agreed was a stupid question I asked Phillip if this would be his preferred ride for London…not my finest moment, yes, he most definitely is!

Rebecca Howard jumped clear on Riddle Master to move up a place and take 2nd. Rebecca said she was so pleased Rupert all weekend, that he’s a stronger horse than last year, and also more adaptable. She’s been working on his dressage a lot, and was happy with her test but said in the stadium she just didn’t ride according to her plan and was really pleased with how well Rupert handled switching to Plan B, adding strides and staying soft whereas last year he might have become a bit strong or rigid. From here, like Mystery Whisper, they head to Jersey but Riddle Master will contest the CIC***, and may do some schooling jumper and dressage shows locally and in Southern Pines in the meantime.

You had to feel for Marilyn Little-Meredith, the show-jumper turned eventer who was the exception rather than the norm to have aa fence down in the top 20 this afternoon and drop down a place to 3rd. Nonetheless she said she was pleased with her round, and felt as if she rode better, and the horse was straighter than at Red Hills despite the four faults.  Like Phillip and Mystery Whisper,  Marilyn reminded us, Demeter is a new ride for her and they’re still getting to know each other, as are Karen and Mr Medicott, below, who jumped clean to finish fourth.

I still have lots of pictures to go up and some rider reports, but a long drive ahead of me first so they will have to wait. The Fork has been fantastic – a whirlwind of top class action and I can’t wait to process it all in my head during the journey home. Thanks for keeping me company, Eventing Nation; thanks for continuing to visit as always, and for the lovely remarks, and Go Eventing!

In something of a fairytale ending Mandiba led from start to finish here in the CIC** at the Fork, and clinched the win with a lovely clear in the show-jumping.

 Karen has yet to put a foot wrong today and also jumped clean on RF Amber Eyes, an exciting prospect, to finish second, and goes on Mr Medicott in the CIC*** shortly, currently lying fourth.

Marilyn Little-Meredith jumped clear on RF Smoke on the Water to keep 3rd place.

Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High had one down but still finished in 4th

Kelli Temple and Veelion, 6th

Holly Payne had one rail down on Santino and finished 7th

Hannah Sue Burnett rode Danio beautifully for a clear round and 8th place

Rowdie Adams had two parts of the treble down to drop to 12th place on No Money Down

Jon Holling,( I’d have him on my team too!) rode a class round, an unlucky rail down, and they finished 9th. This horse still has so much maturing to do physically; the two star had a lot of talent in it.

RF Eloquence and Ellie McPhail, 11th.

Off to watch the CIC***. It’s a busy day for everyone here at the Fork, riders are going to and fro cross country, show-jumping, trying to pack up, eat lunch, walk courses. Congratulations the the two star horses and riders and especially the comeback story that is Mandiba –  Go Eventing!

Arthur pulled it off for Allison Springer and delivered a clear round earlier this morning to take home the Gold Cup and the competitive Advanced B division which was full of riders heading for Rolex, and even Badminton.  Despite a few rubs, more importantly he looked completely on the job and ready to go to work, and wasn’t distracted by anything, which was a relief for everyone, not just Allison I think!

All that time in Wellington and we thought Sinead was just blinging out her helmet and hanging with the rich and famous, but it seems she’s been perfecting her dressage and show-jumping too! Look at her jump off style! Manoir de Carneville, Taterball, the French Princess, call him whatever you like, but you’v e got to respect his mad skillz in all three phases – look out London! A beautiful double clear just cemented a solid weekend, and as usual the SHE team partied as hard as they rocked the results – nice work, girls!

Courageous Comet jumped clear for 3rd place, but to be honest it was his stablemate Can’t Fire Me  who was also clear for 5th, who looked the better horse today. Comet looked tired, and a little bit old, as much as I hate to write it. He rattled every single jump but knows his job so well that he managed to leave them all up, and Becky also knows him well enough to realise what to do on him to get the job done.

Lovely lovely Icarus came through and jumped a beautiful clear for fourth place for Michael Pollard. Wonderful Will apparently banged himself on cross country and sustained some bruising so didn’t jump today.

Cool under pressure, Clark Montgomery also rode a beautiful double clear on Loughan Glen to finish in 6th place on his dressage score.

Although this should be the easy phase for Marilyn Little Meredith I saw this horse stop with her at Rocking Horse, so she must have been happy to jump a double clear and finish 7th.  Sharon White rounded out the top 8 with a lovely double clear, also jumping well was Anthony Patch for Laine Ashker. The Foreman kicked out the first two jumps before he seemed to realise what was going on and then was copybook for the rest of the round, and Fernhill Eagle was slightly inconsistent still to have a couple down. Congratulations to everyone in this tough division, and thank you to the riders who supported the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series.  More reports to come from the trot up , very brief, they all passed, (!) but I did get a couple of pictures, and the CIC**, hopefully all before we start the CIC*** show-jumping shortly! Go git ‘r done, and Go Eventing!

Arthur pulled it off for Allison Springer and delivered a clear round earlier this morning to take home the Gold Cup and the competitive Advanced B division which was full of riders heading for Rolex, and even Badminton.  Despite a few rubs, more importantly he looked completely on the job and ready to go to work, and wasn’t distracted by anything, which was a relief for everyone, not just Allison I think!

All that time in Wellington and we thought Sinead was just blinging out her helmet and hanging with the rich and famous, but it seems she’s been perfecting her dressage and show-jumping too! Look at her jump off style! Manoir de Carneville, Taterball, the French Princess, call him whatever you like, but you’v e got to respect his mad skillz in all three phases – look out London! A beautiful double clear just cemented a solid weekend, and as usual the SHE team partied as hard as they rocked the results – nice work, girls!

Courageous Comet jumped clear for 3rd place, but to be honest it was his stablemate Can’t Fire Me  who was also clear for 5th, who looked the better horse today. Comet looked tired, and a little bit old, as much as I hate to write it. He rattled every single jump but knows his job so well that he managed to leave them all up, and Becky also knows him well enough to realise what to do on him to get the job done.

Lovely lovely Icarus came through and jumped a beautiful clear for fourth place for Michael Pollard. Wonderful Will apparently banged himself on cross country and sustained some bruising so didn’t jump today.  Cool under pressure, Clark Montgomery also rode a beautiful double clear on Loughan Glen to finish in 6th place on his dressage score.

Although this should be the easy phase for Marilyn Little Meredith I saw this horse stop with her at Rocking Horse, so she must have been happy to jump a double clear and finish 7th.  Sharon White rounded out the top 8 with a lovely double clear, also jumping well was Anthony Patch for Laine Ashker. The Foreman kicked out the first two jumps before he seemed to realise what was going on and then was copybook for the rest of the round, and Fernhill Eagle was slightly inconsistent still to have a couple down. Congratulations to everyone in this tough division, and thank you to the riders who supported the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series.  More reports to come from the trot up , very brief, they all passed, (!) but I did get a couple of pictures, and the CIC**, hopefully all before we start the CIC*** show-jumping shortly! Go git ‘r done, and Go Eventing!

Happy Easter Eventing Nation!  

Michael Pollard and Schoensgreen Hanni jumped a lovely clear over the London themed jumps, with an Irish, (Bernadette Cogdell) Canadian and a Fork Jump for good measure, to take Advanced A .

Dani Dichting and her lovely grey Irish Sport Horse Tops also jumped clear within the time this morning, which was proving quite hard to get, to take second place, and also the only rider to finish on her dressage score. Congrats to everyone. More pictures and a report later, but we roll straight on to Advanced B, and then the CIC divisions. Every horse presented at the trot-up passed, and the horses all looked terrific. Thanks for being a part of Eventing Nation as always, and Go Eventing!

Although Phillip had said on Friday night that he intended to take it fairly easy on Mystery Whisper cross country at The Fork following a hard run at Red Hills, the man can’t help it – he finds himself in the pole position going into the show-jumping having jumped clear with just a handful of time penalties while others fell by the wayside.  When asked to elaborate why on earth he wouldn’t take him to Kentucky, Phillip hesitated then answered, “The horse just arrived from Australia and he’s already done a four star, and if I had to pick the best way to prepare him for London it would be to do a three star. When you bring a horse from the Southern Hemisphere, there’s a lot of changes go on and it’s not easy for them to adapt – their coat changes, they have to get used to different feeds and a lot of times they lose a lot of weight. It was actually a pretty big decision between myself and the Wildasins because I think he’d have a great shot at winning Kentucky which obviously everyone wants to do, but I wouldn’t want him to come out of that and to be flat for a couple of months later. It’s a very unselfish decision!” It was Karen O’Connor who actually asked the question, so perhaps she’s relieved at the answer!

Marilyn Little-Meredith wanted to push RF Demeter for time today to see how she’d react over a longer, more galloping course; she must be pleased with the result as she finished close to the optimum and moved up into second place.

Riddle Master looked foot perfect for Rebecca Howard, and made it look like child’s play. Rebecca told us that since he’s done the event at The Fork ever since he was a prelim level horse it doesn’t seem to bother him too much competing on home turf, but she had to make a conscious effort to stop being “an organiser” and start getting competitive, she said she only got the chance to walk her course properly for the first time at 5pm the night before.  Rebecca added that she was thrilled with Rupert, that he’s only done the one intermediate this spring at Pine Top, so it was nice to get this good run under their belt. As he’s traditionally such a reliable cross country horses, and because she’s not doing a CCI this spring, her plan is to do one CIC a month leading up to Bromont CIC***, the Canadian Selection Trial, and that should have him peaking perfectly this summer.

Mr Medicott looked full of run for Karen O’Connor and moved up two places. They are still working out the kinks, especially in front of the fences where it takes her a long time to set him up, but the will is there, and he definitely has all the talent in the world. As Karen put it, “I’m happy with my horse, hopefully we’ll be able to go faster at Rolex, we’re still working out some of the issues, every course I’m learning more and more about him,  and every course is getting smoother and faster. The partnership is forming.”

Otis Barbotierre was the trailblazer in the CIC*** with Boyd Martin, and made everything look deceptively easy, taking all the direct routes on economical lines, and never looked to have a sticky moment.

They moved up to 5th place with a few time penalties.

Gin’n’Juice is having a terrific spring, and continued her run of good form here at The Fork, pulling Hawley Bennet-Awad around with springs on her feet, and she looked as if she could go straight from here to Churchill Downs, she is such a quick and competitive little mare!  They currently lie in 6th place overnight.

Clark Montgomery lies in 7th place on Universe, and I didn’t get a good picture of him but forgot to post this one of Loughan Glen in the Advanced recap. With just a few time penalties on Jess’ horse in the CIC***, and Glen was even faster, only one second over the time, Clark seemed to be proving a point – Glen is looking more and more like the total package, and the pair of them have yet to put a foot wrong. The sub-par dressage I suspect will just galvanise the ultra-competitive Clark to make sure that doesn’t happen at Rolex.  They’ve come up with the goods over and over again, and having admired Clark, and his wife Jess and their programme for some time, I can safely say I’d love to have him on my team.  I’d say exactly the same for Boyd Martin, as would most of Eventing Nation I’m sure, but after two stops at the first of the double of corners in front of a packed crowd, with Remington, a horse that ‘never’ stops, he dug deep, kept his head, and rode calmly, strongly and positively and got the job done and brought him home.

Shigatzi looked fantastic everywhere I saw him with Diana Burnett, and was clear and fast, they’re in 9th place. Erin Sylvester was fast and clear to move up into 8th place but I didn’t get a picture, nor did I get one of Jude’s Law, who had a run out with Michael Pollard at the sunken road but still managed to come home for only two time penalties – I did write in my notes, “very fast, too fast?” Both Katie Ruppel with Sir Donovan and Kendal Lehari with Daily Edition looked fabulous. Katie was heading to the corners as Natalia Gurmankin was galloping alongside her to the water, and I wondered if either horse was distracted. This also happened a couple of times in the CIC** when the horses would actually go through the water at the same time but in different directions.

Jessie Phoenix rode Exponential brilliantly – yes, of course we all know how spectacular he is, but she was smart enough to keep him in check, especially at the beginning and dropping down into the water, memories of WEG perhaps. By the end of the course she’d let the handbrake off and they were a pure joy to watch, like dogs running circles for fun, they skipped home.

After a disappointing dressage, Zenith ISF once again rose to the occasion, answering all the questions for Leslie Law, while meanwhile Lesley’s wife was “about to puke” at home, and as a last resort even joined twitter so she could keep up with the action! Both her boys did her proud, and Zenith finished looking more confident than when he started, what a run this horse has had, and the off dressage is nothing more than a blip that will be easily fixed.

Phillip Dutton and Atlas.

It’s hard to ever know how good a horse he’s riding really is – of course he looked but Phillip makes most of them look straigthtforward – “he just sits there!” Atlas did look pretty nice though, albeit quite strong coming down the hill to the double of corners at the end.

Pawlow looked terrific but had a disappointing run out at the Sunken Road. It was not to be Will’s weekend after all, and I hope that he’s not too sore and that his horses are ok too.  Eventing is a tough game, I wonder why we any of us do it sometimes, and yet, here we are…!

I didn’t get a picture of Amy Ruth Borun on Santa’s Playboy but I did admire them, they went the direct route over the corner in the water and from Left to Right over the double of corners. Sara Kozumplik was clear inside the time, but I noted that she was “living dangerously”, and got away with a couple of lucky escapes!

I am loving 5 O Clock Somewhere more and more each time I see him, and I think I’ve written that exact same sentence the last three or four times, but look at him! Plus, having met him in the flesh at Poplar he really is chunky! He doesn’t look it when he’s flying cross country as above, or doing a nice dressage, but in the stall, as his owner Sue Church said herself, “he looks like a a little quarter horse”, and he has a very pronounced dish in his face, which she calls a dent, I just want to squeeze him!

Running Order looked great everywhere I saw him but was marked down for 20 penalties at the Sunken Road. I spoke to Doug who told me  he was going to appeal but it looks like it sticked. Regardless he said he was looking forward to Rolex, and that R.O had given him a super ride.

Brittany Kart and Llewellyn looked great, another horse I rather like!

Last Monarch and Holly Hudspeth: my notes – “fab”!

Stephen Bradley and Leyland were another combination to fall victim to the Sunken Road, and parted company there.

Jolie Wentworth and Goodknight picked up 20 penalties

One of my favourite combinations, Tessa Beckett from the West Coast who’s a working pupil with Hawley, and the OTTB she’s had since he was a 2 year old, Sound Prospect.

Colleen will no doubt be kicking herself for a run-out at the Sunken Road on Shiraz, especially as they made everything else I saw look like a walk in the park, but this may just sharpen them up for Badminton.

Rockfield Grant Juan, the lovely big Irish horse of Shandiss Wewiora jumped clear and gained in confidence the whole way round. A bit of a sticky start, they both kept their heads, kept coming forward and finished with a lovely clear under their belts – congratulations!

Emily Renfroe looked to having a really good round and was desperately unlucky when Walk the Line slipped in between the double of corners, leaving her no option but to pull out and take 20  penalties.

Harbour Pilot, another exciting young combination to have an annoying mistake at the Sunken Road. As Phillip and Karen pointed out on saturday night, these silly little mistakes may actually stand them in good stead when it comes to Rolex because they’ll serve as a wake-up call during the next couple of weeks. There is no way Doug, Hannah or Colleen are going to make that mistake again, and I feel positive Clark will be fine-tuning his dressage warm-up and running through his test, in fact Jess told me they’re headed to the Combined Training at the Ocala International Three Day Event next weekend.

All in all saturday was a spectacular day, but sunday brings with it a trot-up for the FEI classes and a full day of show-jumping, so that’s all from me until then. Happy Easter, and Go Eventing!

Although Phillip had said on Friday night that he intended to take it fairly easy on Mystery Whisper cross country at The Fork following a hard run at Red Hills, the man can’t help it – he finds himself in the pole position going into the show-jumping having jumped clear with just a handful of time penalties while others fell by the wayside.  When asked to elaborate why on earth he wouldn’t take him to Kentucky, Phillip hesitated then answered, “The horse just arrived from Australia and he’s already done a four star, and if I had to pick the best way to prepare him for London it would be to do a three star. When you bring a horse from the Southern Hemisphere, there’s a lot of changes go on and it’s not easy for them to adapt – their coat changes, they have to get used to different feeds and a lot of times they lose a lot of weight. It was actually a pretty big decision between myself and the Wildasins because I think he’d have a great shot at winning Kentucky which obviously everyone wants to do, but I wouldn’t want him to come out of that and to be flat for a couple of months later. It’s a very unselfish decision!” It was Karen O’Connor who actually asked the question, so perhaps she’s relieved at the answer!

Marilyn Little-Meredith wanted to push RF Demeter for time today to see how she’d react over a longer, more galloping course; she must be pleased with the result as she finished close to the optimum and moved up into second place.

Riddle Master looked foot perfect for Rebecca Howard, and made it look like child’s play. Rebecca told us that since he’s done the event at The Fork ever since he was a prelim level horse it doesn’t seem to bother him too much competing on home turf, but she had to make a conscious effort to stop being “an organiser” and start getting competitive, she said she only got the chance to walk her course properly for the first time at 5pm the night before.  Rebecca added that she was thrilled with Rupert, that he’s only done the one intermediate this spring at Pine Top, so it was nice to get this good run under their belt. As he’s traditionally such a reliable cross country horses, and because she’s not doing a CCI this spring, her plan is to do one CIC a month leading up to Bromont CIC***, the Canadian Selection Trial, and that should have him peaking perfectly this summer.

Mr Medicott looked full of run for Karen O’Connor and moved up two places. They are still working out the kinks, especially in front of the fences where it takes her a long time to set him up, but the will is there, and he definitely has all the talent in the world. As Karen put it, “I’m happy with my horse, hopefully we’ll be able to go faster at Rolex, we’re still working out some of the issues, every course I’m learning more and more about him,  and every course is getting smoother and faster. The partnership is forming.”

Otis Barbotierre was the trailblazer in the CIC*** with Boyd Martin, and made everything look deceptively easy, taking all the direct routes on economical lines, and never looked to have a sticky moment.

They moved up to 5th place with a few time penalties.

Gin’n’Juice is having a terrific spring, and continued her run of good form here at The Fork, pulling Hawley Bennet-Awad around with springs on her feet, and she looked as if she could go straight from here to Churchill Downs, she is such a quick and competitive little mare!  They currently lie in 6th place overnight.

Clark Montgomery lies in 7th place on Universe, and I didn’t get a good picture of him but forgot to post this one of Loughan Glen in the Advanced recap. With just a few time penalties on Jess’ horse in the CIC***, and Glen was even faster, only one second over the time, Clark seemed to be proving a point – Glen is looking more and more like the total package, and the pair of them have yet to put a foot wrong. The sub-par dressage I suspect will just galvanise the ultra-competitive Clark to make sure that doesn’t happen at Rolex.  They’ve come up with the goods over and over again, and having admired Clark, and his wife Jess and their programme for some time, I can safely say I’d love to have him on my team.  I’d say exactly the same for Boyd Martin, as would most of Eventing Nation I’m sure, but after two stops at the first of the double of corners in front of a packed crowd, with Remington, a horse that ‘never’ stops, he dug deep, kept his head, and rode calmly, strongly and positively and got the job done and brought him home.

Shigatzi looked fantastic everywhere I saw him with Diana Burnett, and was clear and fast, they’re in 9th place. Erin Sylvester was fast and clear to move up into 8th place but I didn’t get a picture, nor did I get one of Jude’s Law, who had a run out with Michael Pollard at the sunken road but still managed to come home for only two time penalties – I did write in my notes, “very fast, too fast?” Both Katie Ruppel with Sir Donovan and Kendal Lehari with Daily Edition looked fabulous. Katie was heading to the corners as Natalia Gurmankin was galloping alongside her to the water, and I wondered if either horse was distracted. This also happened a couple of times in the CIC** when the horses would actually go through the water at the same time but in different directions.

Jessie Phoenix rode Exponential brilliantly – yes, of course we all know how spectacular he is, but she was smart enough to keep him in check, especially at the beginning and dropping down into the water, memories of WEG perhaps. By the end of the course she’d let the handbrake off and they were a pure joy to watch, like dogs running circles for fun, they skipped home.

After a disappointing dressage, Zenith ISF once again rose to the occasion, answering all the questions for Leslie Law, while meanwhile Lesley’s wife was “about to puke” at home, and as a last resort even joined twitter so she could keep up with the action! Both her boys did her proud, and Zenith finished looking more confident than when he started, what a run this horse has had, and the off dressage is nothing more than a blip that will be easily fixed.

Phillip Dutton and Atlas.

It’s hard to ever know how good a horse he’s riding really is – of course he looked but Phillip makes most of them look straigthtforward – “he just sits there!” Atlas did look pretty nice though, albeit quite strong coming down the hill to the double of corners at the end.

Pawlow looked terrific but had a disappointing run out at the Sunken Road. It was not to be Will’s weekend after all, and I hope that he’s not too sore and that his horses are ok too.  Eventing is a tough game, I wonder why we any of us do it sometimes, and yet, here we are…!

I didn’t get a picture of Amy Ruth Borun on Santa’s Playboy but I did admire them, they went the direct route over the corner in the water and from Left to Right over the double of corners. Sara Kozumplik was clear inside the time, but I noted that she was “living dangerously”, and got away with a couple of lucky escapes!

I am loving 5 O Clock Somewhere more and more each time I see him, and I think I’ve written that exact same sentence the last three or four times, but look at him! Plus, having met him in the flesh at Poplar he really is chunky! He doesn’t look it when he’s flying cross country as above, or doing a nice dressage, but in the stall, as his owner Sue Church said herself, “he looks like a a little quarter horse”, and he has a very pronounced dish in his face, which she calls a dent, I just want to squeeze him!

Running Order looked great everywhere I saw him but was marked down for 20 penalties at the Sunken Road. I spoke to Doug who told me  he was going to appeal but it looks like it sticked. Regardless he said he was looking forward to Rolex, and that R.O had given him a super ride.

Brittany Kart and Llewellyn looked great, another horse I rather like!

Last Monarch and Holly Hudspeth: my notes – “fab”!

Stephen Bradley and Leyland were another combination to fall victim to the Sunken Road, and parted company there.

Jolie Wentworth and Goodknight picked up 20 penalties

One of my favourite combinations, Tessa Beckett from the West Coast who’s a working pupil with Hawley, and the OTTB she’s had since he was a 2 year old, Sound Prospect.

Colleen will no doubt be kicking herself for a run-out at the Sunken Road on Shiraz, especially as they made everything else I saw look like a walk in the park, but this may just sharpen them up for Badminton.

Rockfield Grant Juan, the lovely big Irish horse of Shandiss Wewiora jumped clear and gained in confidence the whole way round. A bit of a sticky start, they both kept their heads, kept coming forward and finished with a lovely clear under their belts – congratulations!

Emily Renfroe looked to having a really good round and was desperately unlucky when Walk the Line slipped in between the double of corners, leaving her no option but to pull out and take 20  penalties.

Harbour Pilot, another exciting young combination to have an annoying mistake at the Sunken Road. As Phillip and Karen pointed out on saturday night, these silly little mistakes may actually stand them in good stead when it comes to Rolex because they’ll serve as a wake-up call during the next couple of weeks. There is no way Doug, Hannah or Colleen are going to make that mistake again, and I feel positive Clark will be fine-tuning his dressage warm-up and running through his test, in fact Jess told me they’re headed to the Combined Training at the Ocala International Three Day Event next weekend.

All in all saturday was a spectacular day, but sunday brings with it a trot-up for the FEI classes and a full day of show-jumping, so that’s all from me until then. Happy Easter, and Go Eventing!

Karen O’Connor refused to relinquish control of the CIC** at the Fork. After cross country she still holds first and second places. Mandiba got better and better as he went, and by the time he finished he was taking the initiative and pulling Karen home. After his round, Karen said that at one point  she never knew what to expect with the horse, but with the owner’s patience, generosity and willingness to give him every chance to come back, including the very best rehab available, both she and Mandiba are happy, “All I want is for the horse to have a life and a purpose, and I don’t have any designs on what he wants to do, but yesterday he was stunning and today I was so proud of him. He stepped up to be a really good guy and he’s very happy in his stable tonight.”

RF Amber Eyes, lying second: “she’s a horse that Marilyn found for me in Belgium, she’s stunning; she’s not v experienced at this level, but she shows up for work every day, she loves this sport and she’s a really wonderful horse, I’m very excited about her.”

 Marilyn Little-Meredith lies in third place on RF Smoke on the Water

Selena O’Hanlon is in fourth place overnight after a clear round inside the time – Foxwood High has an enormous stride, and at first I thought she would be slow because turning might be a problem, but his gallop just eats up the ground, and of course he can jump too, and looks like he does it all for fun. What an exciting prospect for her.

Kelli Temple picked up a handful of time to sit in 5th place overnight with Veelion

Matapeake and Sarah Dunkerton are in 6th place after cross country; they were actually quite fast but looked as if they has all the time in the world going round, it was foot-perfect and a lovely demonstration of how to ride the course.

Holly Payne had a good day, Santino jumped clear with 2.8 time to lie 7th

Rowdie Adams looked to be going very quickly on No Money Down, and was indeed inside the time to move up 8 places to 8th place going forward to the show-jumping.

Danio is a big, strong but scopey and excitinig young horse for Hannah Sue Burnett. They jumped clear with time to lie 10th.

Ellie McPhail and RF Eloquence, despite a very successful spring campaign, still look like they’re getting to know each other, but I think they’ll be a formidable combination once they bond and form a partnership. They jumped clear with time to occupy 11th place.

Jamie Doolittle and A Dream Come True jumped clear inside the time but their dressage deficit was too large to make up and despite moving up 5 places they still languish in 12th.

Likewise for Rachel McDonough and Irish Rhythm who are in 13th

Valerie Vizcarrondo had a steady but stylish round on Playtime, look how neat and tidy he is!

Splendor of the Sun jumped a super round for Hawley Bennet-Awad but unfortunately they did the wrong cabin coming down the hill and picked up a technical elimination

Maybelline Cover Girl was one of quite a few horses to slip in the slick grass this morning, and Ashley Kriegel popped off. Neither were the worse for wear, but it must have been very annoying.  Well done to everyone who competed, the CIC** course looked to ride really well. Thanks for reading, and Go Eventing!

Arthur and Allison Springer lead Advanced Division B, which is officially a slightly more testing one than Division A. On entering the competitors were sent an email informing them that their cross country would be similar to the CIC*** (hence why “so many” – all of them! did the bigger drop into the water! ) and they had the option to switch to the softer division if they chose at that time.  Allison talked about her ride afterwards, “I was pretty busy this morning show-jumping so I didn’t ride him, and he’s been a lot better lately, but I knew I was in a bit of trouble in the warm-up because he was very fit and full of it and excited to go, but he was super at all the jumps, he just did everything as planned and I was really happy. I think it was a super last run for him before Kentucky, it was just what I wanted to do.” Allison said she’s looking forward to the challenge of show-jumping on Sunday, that she used to dread it, but that she and Arthur “are growing old well together!”

Buck Davidson pulled The Apprentice up after a run out at the cheese wedges at 5, so I was glad to see him have a better go on Absolute Liberty in Advanced Division A, although they did run past the third element at this, the turtle pond.  It looked like a genuine drive-by, and Buck circled her round to re-present and she popped over it no problem.

Buck and Titanium in Advanced Division B: still a bit rusty understandably,  but a nice steady clear nonetheless

Laine Ashker posted a solid clear with Anthony Patch, a good pre-Kentucky run. Laine took the direct route through the water over the corner here, but near the end played safe and circled in between the two corners, and her mother was standing next to me talking me, herself, Laine, I’m not sure who, through it, “that’s right, circle, good girl…” and when she cleared the second corner I thought I might be deafened by the cheers and it was lucky we weren’t near any windows! God Forbid Lily ever gets anywhere close to Advanced Level, I’m sure I’d be a nervous wreck, I feel for every single mother out there watching, and I hold your hand, no grasp, clench, twist your hand in sympathy – watching is at least a hundred fold worse than riding! Good luck to both Laine and Valerie at Rolex!

Kate Hicks and Belmont also posted a good, solid clear round before Rolex in the B Division

Becky is back! Can’t Fire Me was green in places but Becky still managed to pilot him round extremely capably to finish the day in 5th place in the stronger B Division

Courageous Comet jumped and galloped into third place in Advanced B, sitting two places above his grey stablemate. Nice work, Becky!

Caitlin Silliman rode a beautiful round on TPF fire survivor Catch a Star to jump clean but steady  in Division A which restored my faith in faith! It was a great day to see them skip round with such style, and then to see Neville storm round, both so different but both at the top of their game and evidently doing what they love, it must have been my Easter present! Well Done again to them both, and to everyone who contributed to their recovery in any way, no matter how large or small, you were part of those rounds today too.

Leslie Chelstrom had a cracking round on Cecelia in Division A to move up 11 places and take 8th overnight

The Foreman is back again! Phillip saved his best ride for last, except he wasn’t! Phillip explained, “He was’nt  that good to tell you the truth, and I think it’s because I just don’t think I prepared him well enough. He’s such a freak of a cross country horse that I’d virtually done none on him at all, so it was a probably a bit of a tall order to go out and jump a pretty big track, but hopefully he’s none the worse for wear. It was a bit of a late decision to bring him, we switched him with another horse that scratched, and I don’t know what we’re going to do with him, I have to talk to his owner Annie Jones,  but if we do run him again he’ll be much better prepared.”

Fernhill Eagle went really well in Divison B for Phillip and finished clear with a handful of time penalties

Not a happy day for Madeline Blackman – Gordonstown accumulated three stops around the course but completed in Division A

Icarus did indeed fly around inside the time, and moved up a couple of places to fourth in Division B.

Michael rode Wonderful Will around clear in Division B with only two time penalties, and also leads Division A on Hanni, who I unfortunately didn’t get a picture of but he did talk about his ride on her afterwards, “I  wanted to run Hanni just in the advanced before Jersey because she already has her qualifications,  and she was a star, she was just fantastic. Every time we move her up, or ask her to go a bit faster she keeps stepping up to the plate. I’m really looking forward to Jersey, I feel like she’s a lot fitter than she was at the Pan Am Games so we’ll see how she does over a three star track but she made the Advanced feel easy today which is exciting.”

Will Coleman on Ideal Contini. If I had chosen Will to ride my horse or be my stable jockey I’m certain I’d be feeling quite smug tonight! Not only are all his rides immaculately turned out at all times, but he gave each one today absolutely a perfect and appropriate ride. Ideal Contini (who won the dressage) and Vancover both posted steady clears in Advanced Division A, but both looked to be going round with supreme confidence, jumping in a lovely technique,unhurried and taking so much home from the experience.

Vancover taking the direct route the first water

Twizzel looked like an old campaigner, and I mean that in a good way, he hardly batted an eyelid it seemed, just did his job, galloped round, jumped the jumps, no biggie. Will seems so comfortable on him, like taking your favourite pair of jeans out of the dirty laundry because you want to wear them again, they just look and feel better than the others (come on, you’ve done that too?!) and although, as on all his horses, he never looks in a rush, they actually posted quite a fast time, but really it was just a pleasure to watch.

Sadly Anne Dornin North fell at the second of the big sunshine tables before the water, but both her and Jimminy Cricket were fine.

Julia Wendell jumped clear on Cavendish, although survived a few lucky moments.

Kristin Bachman’s Lucky Little Spy was the only horse who took a vehement dislike to the drop down into the water, and absolutely refused, three times, to go in. Peter Barry actually had one uncharacteristic stop here on Kilrodan Abbot in the CIC*** but I think that’s because he was coming in too gently to try and get a soft jump in to make the corner.

What a gutsy little mare Madeline is, only 15.2 and she flew round with only 2.8 time penalties, moving her and rider Holly Payne up into the top ten – they lie 9th overnight in Division B.

Ho-hum for Manoir de Carneville, just another day at the office! Take the direct route? Sure! Fly around inside the time? No problem! Sinead and Tate are another combination who were a pleasure to watch and really made it look effortless, and as I write this Meg just updated her facebook status to “Life is Good”! How can you not root for this team?

Kate Samuels stormed around on Nyls du Terroir clear inside the time in Division A to move up into 2nd place.

Go Orange! Sharon White and Rafferty’s Rules looked confident and competitive for a good, solid, pre-Rolex clear.

RF Rovano Rex soars over one of the big tables, while Marilyn already has her eye on the water. Lying 7th in Advanced B, this is actually her lowest placed ride of the weekend, although I think it’s the horse she rides the best. RF Demeter is in 2nd in the CIC*** going into the show-jumping, and RF Smoke on the Water lies 3rd in the CIC**.

Libby Head’s Sir Rockstar tries to make amends for a dismal dressage by jumping out of his skin across country, but sadly has a stop at the double of corners.

Danielle Dichting and the experienced Tops flew around inside the time to move up to 3rd place in Division A, but The Graduate didn’t look ready to go quite as quickly and they parted company at The Turtle Pond. Luckily both are fine, and Dani has two very nice horses to take forward and be excited about.

I was sorry to hear about Jan’s fall later on course at the Sunken Road, and hope that she is ok. Why Not came trotting towards us and looked fabulous, and I hope that’s the case too.  For all the trouble the course caused today there were no really serious injuries that I know of. I hope to post the CIC pictures and a brief report next. Karen O’Connor did tell me that Veronica banged the front of her hock when she reached to make the second table and somewhat slid across it. They have x-rayed her, and she’s absolutely fine, but quite bruised and they wanted to medicate her so Veronica was withdrawn from The Fork on saturday evening, and fingers crossed everything will be fine for her for Rolex. Hopefully by now all the horses are resting comfortably and happily in their stalls, feeling proud of themselves, or a bit embarrassed, and I’m sure most of the riders are partying like rock stars. If my memory serves me right from last year, The Fork can throw as good a party as they can put on an event, and they don’t do anything in half measures, so there may be some sore heads and sunglasses in the morning! Well done to all the horses, riders, grooms, volunteers, jump judges, crossing guards, vets, medics… the list of who makes an event work is so long. The course builders were buzzing around all day, fixing flags mostly, but making sure conditions were perfect, and conditions were perfect. Once again tonight the riders stressed what a wonderful competition this is, that this is probably the most important day in the spring season for them and that The Fork is without a doubt the best place to hold it due to the effort that goes into every single aspect of it – the footing, the courses, the atmosphere, no stone is unturned and it’s very much appreciated.

Busy all day – Travers Scheck, Course Builder.

So thank you to everyone for a fabulous day of cross country  (and  lower level show-jumping ) at The Fork, and thank you for reading,  and we look forward to more of the same tomorrow!

Go Eventing!