Micheal Pollard moved into the lead in Advanced A by virtue of a fast clear on Shoensgreen Hanni, while Will Coleman brought both his horses home with steady clears.  Danielle Dichting stormed round on Tops to move into 3rd place behind Kate Samuels and Nyls du Terroir, while Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison shares 4th place with Kelley Williams and Brazen Bomber.

Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison

In the Advanced B division there was an obvious shift to the more experienced combinations – most of the riders chose to do the bigger drop down into the water  that was the CIC*** option and were braver this afternoon about taking the direct route at the corner. What a treat to see Neville’s big white mug galloping across the country again, with such disdain for the course, he made it look easy and seemed very happy indeed to be back.

Allison Springer had a wonderful round on Arthur, fast and clear and he looked like a dead cert the whole way, straight and true and focussed, what a great prep run for them both before Rolex. Sinead Halpin also had one of the best rounds all day to move up into second behind her, also clear and within the time, and just looked to be doing it for fun, did Taterball walk the course?! – they made it look like pony club!

Becky Holder had two good clears but whereas Comet was been there done that, Can’t Fire Me needed a much stronger ride, and looked quite green sometimes, but will be better for the experience today.  Phillip Dutton – what can you say? He sits there, rides his lines, is so strong, so accurate and yet so still, and so consistent. The only time I saw him move in the saddle today, over something like 20 miles that Brian O’Connor added up he rode xc today was funnily enough on The Foreman, his last ride of the day, perhaps he relaxed for a second, who knows, but I’m still not convinced P Dutty is all human, I think he has superhero  in his bloodlines!

Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen

Things look good for USA. Jon Holling, Clark Montgomery, Sinead Halpin,  Will Coleman, Laine Ashker all rode smart but competitive rounds. Marilyn Little Meredith looked best on Rovano Rex, the most comfortable of all her horses and that I saw taking less risks, and let’s be honest, she was by no means the only rider who got away with a long one, or needed a bit of luck at times! Marilyn finishes another tough xc day with a clutch of consistent rides under her belt. I feel for Jennie Brannigan and Jan Byyny who both had falls at the Sunken Road, I didn’t see them and I hear they were both ok.

Marilyn Little-Meredith and Rovano Rex

There’s lots more to write about, I know I’m forgetting lots, but before I quickly run to the press conference before sitting down to try and do a proper job a HUGE thank you to the volunteers, organisers, course builders and everyone who helped today, a long day but a successful one. Go Eventing!

The last element of the sunken road turned out to be the bogey fence today, with lots of horses running past it. As Sinead commented during her wonderful stint in the announcer’s booth with Brian O’Connor, up until then the cross country has been so forward and flowing, and enabled riders to attack, and this is the first real question that they have to collect and do several steps and be more gymnastic. Doug Payne was given a 20 penalties here on Running Order which he protested,  he told me that’s exactly what happened, normally R.O is very cautious, and he jumped in very aggressive so Doug made the decision to go round. It’s been a hard day to be a jump judge, here at the first water lots of riders would make their decision on the corner depending on the jump in. Likewise the double of corners are numbered separately so you can theoretically circle in between, but with only two strides if you make a last minute decision you’re bound to be penalised – hard call! Veronica was given a 20 here, and I think also at the first water when she jumped in huge and Karen decided to go long. The corner in the water actually jumped really well all day for those who were brave enough to try it, a few people took the flag with them but otherwise it caused no problem, and to go the long way really wasted a lot of time, I’m surprised more people didn’t bite the bullet and try it. Mystery Whisper was flawless, wasting no time, not looking hurried, but eating up the course and never looked to be uncomfortable, he just cruised round to stay in the lead for Phillip Dutton. Will Faudree had a less happy day, a run out at the sunken road on Pawlow, and then a heavy fall on the second corner near the end while flying round on Andromaque meant he had no chance of hanging on the joint lead he’d shared overnight. Meanwhile Marilyn Little-Meredith flew round on RF Demeter, chancing her arm a bit, but her horses seem to respond well to it at the moment, and she came home inside the time to move right up the order. Mr Medicott also bounced round, looking like Tigger, very keen, the only problem Karen might have had was how to stop or steer, but she looked pretty damn good to me! Speaking of which – Go Shandiss Wewiora and Rockfield Grant Juan, that great big beautiful Irish horse, had a few sticky moments, but Shandiss kept her head, went the direct routes, and as honest and scopey as he is they jumped clear, love them! Leslie Law had a good clear on Zenith ISF, also very impressive was Rebecca Howard on Riddle Master, made it all look effortless but came home (literally!) clear inside the time. Sara Kozumplik likewise, and Exponential had wings to fly round for the fastest time of the day; perhaps with a WEG flashback Jessie made sure to anchor him really well dropping into first water, then he threw a huge jump over the corner, she let the brake off and off they went. By the time they came back round to me they looked like they were steeplechasing the double corners, jumping for fun, absolutely safe and so exuberant, fabulous to watch. Hard luck story for me was Jess Hamp who was having a great go only to fall at the penultimate, but I’m sure there’s many others. Buck Davidson pulled up after a run out at the cheese wedges at 5, will try and talk to him later. Everyone who fell got up and walked away, thank goodness.Lots more to come, but about to start up again with the advanced so must GO EVENTING!

Exponential drops down into the water

Mandiba looked fantastic as the trailblazer this morning, getting stronger and more confident the whole way round, and even surprising Karen by leaving a stride out dropping down into the water two fences from home. Karen’s second ride RF Amber Eyes looked strong, and also jumped clear with a couple of time to keep her in second place, and Marilyn Little-Meredith stormed round on RF Smoke on the Water to stay in 3rd. More pictures to follow. One jump was taken out before the class started, a double brush at the top of the hill near the end due to visibility issues in the direct sunlight, which led to a slight delay in starting, so the short break between divisions just became shorter! Lots of advanced and 3* riders have been pacing out the double or corners behind me as I stood by the water, it’s a long two strides but numbered separately – what to do?!

Mandiba flying for home! There were four clears inside the time: Selena O’Hanlon on the lovely Foxwood High who has the most enormous stride, and I wondered if she might be slow because she looks hard to turn, but I guess her gallop must just eat up the ground, not to mention that jump! Also Rachel McDonough on Irish Rythm who jumped through the first water without a stirrup, well sat! Jamie Dolittle, last to go on A Dream Come True and Marilyn Little Meredith on Smoke on the Water, who made a bold, perhaps not the best move coming out the step to the cabin the first water, rode very aggressively for a long stride but got away with it. First horse on course now for CIC***. GO EVENTING!

A few additional notes to the Dressage Wrap.

Update # 1: I saw Colleen Rutledge just as she was leaving today and she told me Shiraz aka Luke was much better behaved today in his second fake test with Linda Zang, and we’re going to try and catch up for a longer chat tomorrow. Update # 2: I didn’t manage to find Selena O’Hanlon to talk about her test on A First Romance, but Sara Lieser from the Chronicle of the Horse who was standing closer to Selena and the judges when they pulled her up, confirmed that Selena shared that she had given her horse a pink cookie treat, and the vet confirmed that there was no blood in the mouth.

Dressage Updates: Phillip talked about his winning ride on Mystery Whisper, “he’s a pretty cool horse, he knows when to click in to gear, there wasn’t too much wrong with it” but also talked about his second ride of the day on Mighty Nice, above, “He hasn’t been out in quite a while, he had a bout of colic so he missed one event and he’s a bit short on runs but hopefully he’ll improve a bit before Rolex”

Michael Pollard talked about seeing his overnight lead on Jude’s Law (above) vanish first thing this morning and his heart sinking, but said he was pleased with his horses and happy that his score was still good enough to keep him in the top 3 at the end of the day.

I caught up with Will Faudree back at the barn where we talked a little bit about his horses, but more about how brave he’s been, riding with a dislocated elbow all week after a fall…(not from a horse!)

,

Update # 3: It was also Will who remembered that Kellie Pickler, who apparently was on American Idol thursday night (?) is from Albermarle, the nearest “town”!

Will Coleman leads the Advanced Section Test A that did dressage today on Ideal Contini. This attractive grey horse who originally came from Aussie Brook Staples in England and arrived at Will’s barn via Lucia Strini, is contesting only his second Advanced this weekend, “He’s been good this year but obviously he still hasn’t seen a lot of cross country courses, especially at this level, so it will be a big test for him but I think he’s ready to do it. Whereas an older horse or more experienced horse might see a line to a jump and lock on to it, he might not, so I think I’ll just have to be really sure that the horse understands whatever question is being put in front of him.”

Phillip chose the first water, at 9 on the CIC*** course as the jump he thought might take the most riding, a big drop down into the water, “and then that corner will come up pretty quickly”,

but without exception every rider has had nothing but praise for the venue – the footing, the course, the jumps, the attention to detail, and all the work that keeps being done to improve the event each year despite some inclement weather over time.

Update # 4: As much as I love Silva Martin’s horsebox, and I really do covet one, as I pulled into my hotel tonight and saw it parked in the Applebees car park it did occur to me that, especially if you have your name emblazoned all over it, you can’t really be incognito!

Hoping for safe rides across country for everyone this weekend, and looking forward to bringing you much more from The Fork. Go Albermarle and Go Eventing!

Will Faudree went in first thing this morning and took the lead with Pawlow, and was the penultimate ride on Andromaque and did another lovely test. The Fork is a happy hunting ground for him, I seem to remember him winning the intermediate here last year so I don’t doubt he’ll be looking for a repeat performance this weekend a level higher. I’m going to try and get some of these photos and a quick review up and then head to the barns and out on course and see who I can talk to before I leave the riders alone in peace for the evening! One person I really want to talk to is Selena O’Hanlon to find out exactly what happened to her as it was hard to hear what was happening during her test on A First Romance. As she trotted across the diagonal for the second time the judge at C, Ciska van-Meggellen rang the bell and called her over.

Selena trotting across the diagonal

The judge at E, Brian Ross got out of his hut and came up to C and they both spoke to Selena for a couple of minutes.

Finally, the vet came and examined the horse, cleared her evidently, and the judges told Selena to continue her test from the point at which they’d stopped her. To give Selena credit, she remained very calm and professional and rode very well both before and after. I’m not sure if the horse had a red peppermint right before he went in, or if he did indeed bite his tongue and have a tiny nick, or if it was nothing at all, and I will definitely try and catch up with her later to find out, but it’s hard to imagine that if this had been Rolex or the Olympics that you wouldn’t feel really hard done by.

In a happier note for the Canadians, Diana Burnett did a nice test on Shigatzi who looks more and more mature and established all the time

Exponential also behaved himself very well for Jessie Phoenix

and lovely Riddle Master was fabulous for the equally lovely Rebecca Howard, they scored 45 to lie in 5th place provisionally

Look at his lovely dappley bum! Many thanks, and apologies to Canadian Chef D’Equipe Graeme Thom (of the fabulous hair!) and Canadian Dressage Olympian Jacquie Brooks who generously and immediately downed tools to help me search for my lost phone in a field of long grass. What great sports they are, I do owe them a big Easter Egg each, especially when we found the phone in my car – this has NOT been my weekend!

Hannah Sue Burnett did a lovely test on Harbour Pilot, and having been thoroughly impressed with his jumping (and her riding) at Poplar a couple of weeks ago I think this is going to be a very exciting partnership; they just had the one bobble when he kicked out in the second change but what a lovely combination they are, and Hannah Sue has him looking fabulous

Speaking of which, Lizzie Snow did a lovely test in the Advanced on Coal Creek

Will Coleman leads the Advanced Test A Division on Ideal Contini, another lovely grey horse, similar in type to all his other lovely horses,

and I was happy to see Danielle Dichting’s second string, The Graduate, also in this division, also another lovely horse that makes up a dynamic pair for this young rider with her more experienced ride Tops.

Downtown Harrison is back, baby, with Jon Holling and looks superb and promises even more, another very exciting combination for the US. I think I forgot to mention yesterday that Jon’s ride Quigase du Lac is lying 8th after dressage in the CIC**. Jen told me had banged his stifle pretty hard on the cross country at Poplar so they didn’t trot him up there, but he, obviously, is fully recovered; they did x-ray it just to make sure, but I saw his test yesterday and am happy to say that it looks like Jon is really building a nice string for himself in the future.

Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison score 31.6 in the Advanced Test B

Doug Payne told me he was fairly happy with Running Order’s test yesterday, as we watched Jess do hers on High Society this morning. To me Running Order looked good, but not as good as he did in the training session the day before, and Doug agreed and said that with success comes pressure, and people (me!) tend to forget how green R.O is, and that he’ll take time, he’s only ten, and Doug isn’t going to rush him. Doug was also quite thoughtful about what makes Running Order such a different, and in some ways slightly more difficult ride on the flat to his other horses, but seemed very mellow about it all. I love picking Doug’s brains, he’s definitely a rider who thinks and analyses things and can articulate the process, which is one of the reasons why I think he’ll be fantastic to walk the Rolex course with in just a few weeks time. Don’t forget, we’ll have details about days and exact times as soon as we can, but you’ll be able to walk the course with Doug, Boyd, Buck or Sharon – any or all of them for a donation of your choice to Just World International. Personally, I can’t wait!

Jess Hampf on High Society, a blonde moment meant a late circle, and some bobbles, but otherwise a solid performance. Whitney Weston also completely forgot that circle on Rock on Rose until the judge gently reminded her!

Ballylaffin Bracken, who went four from the end, was tense for Kristin Schmolze, and as you can see the footing was beginning to deteriorate somewhat, becoming quite deep and boggy. Leyland was also disappointingly uptight for Stephen Bradley, and Selena O’Hanlon’s first and most experienced ride Colombo also didn’t perform up to par

5 o Clock Somewhere, the full brother to Hawley Bennet-Awad’s WEG, Badminton and Burghley ride Gin’n’Juice did a lovely test, including a bonus change in the canter serpentine, flawless, but sadly no extra points but points deducted! I caught up with proud owner Sue Church briefly afterwards in the rain, and she told me that Chunky (his nickname, above) was her amateur event horse for four years before Hawley got the ride on him, and that she is a keen follower of hounds and Chunky owes much of his education to trotting up and down those mountains you see in the vista of pictures of Galway Downs events, and hunting the Santa Fe Hounds hunt country. Sue also told me she has another full sibling to both Chunky and Ginny, appropriately called, yes, Happy Hour (!) and that the mare is a perfect mixture of them both and is currently hacking and hunting with her husband – I can’t wait to see her!

Caitlin Silliman and Catch a Star do a nice test in the Advanced Test B to score 37 and currently lie in 10th place

Clark Montgomery and Universe did another nice test but it lacked their usual finesse – I’m sure Clark will be knocking off all the rough edges before Rolex with Loughan Glen, and then the last I heard, the plan was to take this horse to Bramham in England and remain there all summer. Clark is such a perfectionist that I’m sure both horses will come out a hundred times improved for this outing, and besides, we haven’t even started on the cross country yet!

Mr Medicott had one bobble in the canter but apart from that was the most relaxed I’ve seen him, much more so than at Red Hills or Rocking Horse Winter II.

Remington also did a very nice test for Boyd for 46, and I’m trying to remember if he always looked this good condition wise, he’s looking super – fit and ready to run but not at all skinny.

Jany Byyny did a lovely test on Why Not in the Advanced, you can see in this picture just what an enormous horse he is, and Jan, although strong as an ox, is quite petite.

Sadly, last to go in the CIC***, Inmidair let nerves get the better of him a bit, and although Jan managed him really well she lost him a little in the canter, especially the last extended canter down the long side when he just let out a huge buck and she struggled to bring him back for the corner. Oh, horses, they can break your hearts in so many thousands of ways, from annoying little mistakes, the if only’s, the coulda woulda shoulda, to the crushing disappointments.

Despite the early rain, we saw some nice tests though. Mystery Whisper and Will Faudree on both of his especially in the CIC***, and plenty in the Advanced – Will Coleman who leads, but Danielle’s Tops, Buck’s Absolute Liberty, Jon’s Downtown Harrison, and I also liked the look of Jennie Brannigan’s ride for jumper Sharn Wordley, Varmo – all exciting up and coming rides to look out for.

I enjoyed standing with the ‘real’ photographers Anthony Trollope, Leslie Mintz for the USEA and Sara Lieser for the Chronicle and not only are they brilliant, but their cameras are also ten times the size of mine, so do be sure to check out their pictures and reports online! Leslie was cracking me up with stories of her very non-horsey mother, I tried to keep up but how can you compete with a parent who can’t even tell the difference between your last horse, a paint palomino, and your current one, a plain bay? Leslie wins! Much more still to come from The Fork; as usual I think everyone’s relieved that dressage is done and dusted and we can all start concentrating on cross country. Thanks for visiting Eventing Nation and Go Eventing!

Will went in first thing this morning and took the lead with Pawlow, and was the penultimate ride on Andromaque and did another lovely test. The Fork is a happy hunting ground for him, I seem to remember him winning here last year so I don’t doubt he’ll be looking for a repeat performance this weekend. I’m going to try and get some of these photos and a quick review up and then head to the barns and out on course and see who I can talk to before I leave the riders alone in peace for the evening!  One person I really want to talk to is Selena O’Hanlon to find out exactly what happened to her as it was hard to hear what was happening during her test on A First Romance. As she trotted across the diagonal for the second time the judge at C, Ciska van-Meggellen rang the bell and called her over.

Selena trotting across the diagonal

The judge at E, Brian Ross got out of his hut and came up to C and they both spoke to Selena for a couple of minutes.

Finally, the vet came and examined the horse, cleared her evidently, and the judges told Selena to continue her test from the point at which they’d stopped her. To give Selena credit, she remained very calm and professional and rode very well both before and after. I’m not sure if the horse had a red peppermint right before he went in, or if he did indeed bite his tongue and have a tiny nick, or if it was nothing at all, and I will definitely try and catch up with her later to find out, but it’s hard to imagine that if this had been Rolex or the Olympics that you wouldn’t feel really hard done by.

In a happier note for the Canadians, Diana Burnett did a nice test on Shigatzi who looks more and more mature and established all the time

Exponential also behaved himself very well for Jessie Phoenix

and lovely Riddle Master was fabulous for the equally lovely Rebecca Howard, they scored 45 to lie in 5th place provisionally

Look at his lovely dappley bum! Many thanks, and apologies to Canadian Chef D’Equipe Graeme Thom (of the fabulous hair!) and Canadian Dressage Olympian who generously  and immediately downed tools to help me search for my lost phone in a field of long grass. What great sports they are, I do owe them a big Easter Egg each, especially when we found the phone in my car – this has NOT been my weekend!

Hannah Sue Burnett did a lovely test on Harbour Pilot, and having been thoroughly impressed with his jumping (and her riding) at Poplar a couple of weeks ago I think this is going to be a very exciting partnership; they just had the one bobble when he kicked out in the second change but what a lovely combination they are, and Hannah Sue has him looking fabulous

Speaking of which, Lizzie Snow did a lovely test in the Advanced on Coal Creek

Will Coleman leads the Advanced Test A Division on Ideal Contini, another lovely grey horse, similar in type to all his other lovely horses,

and I was happy to see Danielle Dichting’s second string, The Graduate, also in this division, also another lovely horse that makes up a dynamic pair for this young rider with her more experienced ride Tops.

Downtown Harrison is back, baby, with Jon Holling and looks superb and promises even more, another very exciting combination for the US. I think I forgot to mention yesterday that Jon’s ride Quigase du Lac is lying 8th after dressage in the CIC**.  Jen told me had banged his stifle pretty hard on the cross country at Poplar so they didn’t trot him up there, but he, obviously, is fully recovered; they did x-ray it just to make sure, but I saw his test yesterday and am happy to say that it looks like Jon is really building a nice string for himself in the future.

Jon Holling and Downtown Harrison score 31.6 in the Advanced Test B

Doug Payne told me he was fairly happy with Running Order’s test yesterday, as we watched Jess do hers on High Society this morning. To me Running Order looked good, but not as good as he did in the training session the day before, and Doug agreed and said that with success comes pressure, and people (me!) tend to forget how green R.O is, and that he’ll take time, he’s only ten, and Doug isn’t going to rush him.  Doug was also quite thoughtful about what makes Running Order such a different, and in some ways slightly more difficult ride on the flat to his other horses, but seemed very mellow about it all. I love picking Doug’s brains, he’s definitely a rider who thinks and analyses things and can articulate the process, which is one of the reasons why I think he’ll be fantastic to walk the Rolex course with in just a few weeks time. Don’t forget, we’ll have details about days and exact times as soon as we can, but you’ll be able to walk the course with Doug, Boyd, Buck or Sharon – any or all of them for a donation of your choice to Just World International. Personally, I can’t wait!

Jess Hampf on High Society, a blonde moment meant a late circle, and some bobbles, but otherwise a solid performance. Whitney Weston also completely forgot that circle on Rock on Rose until the judge gently reminded her!

Ballylaffin Bracken, who went four from the end, was tense for Kristin Schmolze, and as you can see the footing was beginning to deteriorate somewhat, becoming quite deep and boggy.  Leyland was also disappointingly uptight for Stephen Bradley, and Selena O’Hanlon’s first and most experienced ride Colombo also didn’t perform up to par

5 o Clock Somewhere, the full brother to Hawley Bennet-Awad’s WEG, Badminton and Burghley ride Gin’n’Juice did a lovely test, including a bonus change in the canter serpentine, flawless, but sadly no extra points but points deducted! I caught up with proud owner Sue Church briefly afterwards in the rain, and she told me that Chunky (his nickname, above) was her amateur event horse for four years before Hawley got the ride on him, and that she is a keen follower of hounds and Chunky owes much of his education to trotting up and down those mountains you see in the vista of pictures of Galway Downs events, and hunting the Santa Fe Hounds hunt country. Sue also told me she has another full sibling to both Chunky and Ginny, appropriately called, yes, Happy Hour (!) and that the mare is a perfect mixture of them both and is currently hacking and hunting with her husband – I can’t wait to see her!

Caitlin Silliman and Catch a Star do a nice test in the Advanced Test B to score 37 and currently lie in 10th place

Clark Montgomery and Universe did another nice test but it lacked their usual finesse – I’m sure Clark will be knocking off all the rough edges before Rolex with Loughan Glen, and then the last I heard, the plan was to take this horse to Bramham in England and remain there all summer. Clark is such a perfectionist that I’m sure both horses will come out a hundred times improved for this outing, and besides, we haven’t even started on the cross country yet!

Mr Medicott had one bobble in the canter but apart from that was the most relaxed I’ve seen him, much more so than at Red Hills or Rocking Horse Winter II.

Remington also did a very nice test for Boyd for 46, and I’m trying to remember if he always looked this good condition wise, he’s looking super – fit and ready to run but not at all skinny.

Jany Byyny did a lovely test on Why Not in the Advanced, you can see in this picture just what an enormous horse he is, and Jan, although strong as an ox, is quite petite.

Sadly, last to go in the CIC***, Inmidair let nerves get the better of him a bit, and although Jan managed him really well she lost him a little in the canter, especially the last extended canter down the long side when he just let out a huge buck and she struggled to bring him back for the corner. Oh, horses, they can break your hearts in so many thousands of ways, from annoying little mistakes, the if only’s, the coulda woulda shoulda, to the crushing disappointments.

Despite the early rain, we saw some nice tests though. Mystery Whisper and Will Faudree on both of his especially in the CIC***, and plenty in the Advanced – Will Coleman who leads, but Danielle’s Tops, Buck’s Absolute Liberty, Jon’s Downtown Harrison, and I also liked the look of Jennie Brannigan’s ride for jumper Sharn Wordley, Varmo – all exciting up and coming rides to look out for.

I enjoyed standing with the ‘real’ photographers Anthony Trollope, Leslie Mintz for the USEA and Sara Lieser for the Chronicle and not only are they brilliant, but their cameras are also ten times the size of mine, so do be sure to check out their pictures and reports online! Leslie was cracking me up with stories of her very non-horsey mother, I tried to keep up but how can you compete with a parent who can’t even tell the difference between your last horse, a paint palomino, and your current one, a plain bay? Leslie wins!  Much more still to come from The Fork; as usual I think everyone’s relieved that dressage is done and dusted and we can all start concentrating on cross country. Thanks for visiting Eventing Nation and Go Eventing!

Boyd and Remington canter into provisional 6th place at The Fork in the CIC***

When I saw Silva here at the beginning of the week I naively thought, how nice for her to be able to spend a a weekend at The Fork supporting her husband at one of the crucial competitions in the Spring Calendar – behind every successful man and all that…! However, once I’d seen her coaching in all weathers (literally) from dusk to dawn, and talked to her about her schedule for the short time that she’s here (she can’t stay for the whole event unfortunately, commitments at home mean she’ll leave before saturday’s cross country) I realised that her busman’s holiday isn’t a holiday at all!  Silva kindly stopped to chat for a few minutes about what it’s like to coach her husband, which of his horses she thinks can potentially do the best test, but which one she’d prefer to see him ride in London, and she also shows off her spiffy new wheels – swank!

Many, Many thanks to Silva for her time, and looking forward to seeing her tooling around Lexington in her ladies’ horsebox when she comes to Rolex! Go Lorries and Go Eventing!

 
Wishing Laine and Anthony Patch, and all the OTTB and Thoroughbreds competing this weekend a great go of it. If you’re into twitter, please make sure and follow Joanie Morris at USEquestrianHP for great information, like this tidbit on thursday’s dressage at the Fork,

Many thanks to Laine for her time, and to Joanie for as always organising everything with such good grace and humour that she makes it seem effortless, I strive for that but usually achieve the opposite! Plenty more to come from The Fork, I have yet to investigate the Shooting with The Stars Phenomenon – 23 teams, advanced riders teaming up with armed sportsmen to win prizes, hmm, sounds like The Hunger Games waiting to happen, but in all seriousness there’s a lot of money at stake, not to mention reputation so I’ll see what I can find out! Thanks for sticking with Eventing Nation, and Go Eventing!

Will Faudree rode through the rain and a painful injury from a fall at home earlier in the week  to post a winning score on Pawlow as the very first ride on Friday morning, he is amazing, nuff respect!  However a couple of rides later Phillip Dutton brought Mystery Whisper into the ring and if possible, did an ever nicer test than the one that was good enough for a 27, and the win in the CIC*** at Red Hills, and  Will and Phillip now share The Fork CIC*** dressage lead on a score of 39 after the first Friday morning Dressage session. After temps in the 90’s on wednesday afternoon, it’s in the forties and raining, which means a) it’s cold and miserable, b) I’m not taking many pictures because I’ve always balked at spending hundreds of dollars for a raincover for my camera and c) most pertinently, the horses are fresh and sometimes uncooperative, unless they’re called Pawlow or Mystery Whisper!  Back out now for more, stay dry and warm Eventing nation and go Eventing!

There’s a lot to admire about Laine: like every eventer she’s hard-working of course, she produces all her eventers herself, thoroughbreds that  her mother selects off the track, some she keeps and some have been sold, and Valerie has a pretty impressive track record, don’t worry, she’s on my list to talk to as well! Laine is positive and energetic, she’s a bona fide tough mudder, and now she’s adding media star to her repertoire with her debut for PRO at The Fork, interviewing the top 3 – she’s a natural and did a fantastic job. Once she’d finished, I flipped the tables, and asked her about her day.

Wishing Laine and Anthony Patch, and all the OTTB and Thoroughbreds competing this weekend a great go of it. If you’re into twitter, please make sure and follow Joanie Morris at USEquestrianHP for great information, like this tidbit on thursday’s dressage at the Fork,

Many thanks to Laine for her time, and to Joanie for as always organising everything with such good grace and humour that she makes it seem effortless, I strive for that but usually achieve the opposite! Plenty more to come from The Fork, I have yet to investigate the Shooting with The Stars Phenomenon – 23 teams, advanced riders teaming up with armed sportsmen to win prizes, hmm, sounds like The Hunger Games waiting to happen, but in all seriousness there’s a lot of money at stake, not to mention reputation so I’ll see what I can find out! Thanks for sticking with Eventing Nation, and Go Eventing!

While David O’Connor and EN John pretend to be doing whatever they’re supposed to be doing this weekend that’s not at The Fork, (Master’s Golf, whatever, wocka wocka, planning a global eventing take-over), Equine Canada have drafted in an able substitute to take care of the dressage side of things for the all their eventers at The Fork. Jacquie Brooks has represented Canada at the Olympics in dressage, so comes very well qualified, and was kind enough to stop and chat.

Many thanks to Jacquie for her time and expertise, it was a pleasure to meet her and spend some time with her, albeit far too brief. What a shame she has to fly home and miss the fun stuff, but how nice of her, and how great for the riders that she was able to squeeze the trip in. Go Canada and Go eventing!

Marilyn Little-Meredith slotted into third place right behind Karen on RF Demeter, “Demeter was fantastic today, I’m still in a phase where I’m getting to know her, she’s a new ride since December, but I’m just finding the buttons, learning not to push too many at the same time, let the horse do the work, she was great, I was really pleased.”

Karen O’Connor sitting in second place on Veronica, “I was really, really happy with my trot work, she’s been coming on very strong for the last six months and I’m really excited about her, her movement’s stepped up to another level, her trot work I was really thrilled with. I felt like I lost connection with her in the canter and she got quite crooked so I left a lot on the table in the second half of the test and I’m excited about that, to improve that for Rolex, but I was delighted with her and I’m looking forward to the weekend.”

Emily Beshear did an accurate, positive test on Here’s To You for 47.1 and lies in 5th place in the CIC***

I only caught glimpses of Indie and Jennie Brannigan, lying second in an intermediate division to Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM, but they both looked super.

Jolie Wentworth is here representing The Fork for the West Coast, and is in good company. Good Knight made some errors, but also had some nice moments, his changes were perhaps a bit ‘expressive’.  

Brittany Kart on Llewellyn.

Kelli Temple on Veelion, lying fourth in the CIC**.

There were a few stunning tests today, the majority from riders we expected them from  – Allison, Karen, Michael Pollard, Becky, but there were a lot of tests that were on the verge of being stunning, and lots of lovely, very fit horses with riders tweaking their programmes and tests in preparation for the big run in a few weeks time.  I talked to Colleen at the course builder’s pig roast – roaring success by the way, more props to Travers, what can’t this man do?! – and she shrugged, and told me Friday she’ll plait Shiraz, put on her tails, and ride her test again, and again, and again, as many times as it takes, for coach Linda Zang. Colleen wished she’d had an extra 20 minutes in the warm-up, she said he’d gone so well the morning of the test and the day before, but such is life.

Clark Montgomery did a forward, flowing test on the gorgeous Loughan Glen, but ever the perfectionist tweeted after,

Equally, Leslie Law’s lovely young horse Zenith ISF who hasn’t put a foot wrong yet showed some lovely trot work before losing concentration in the canter and it took all of Leslie’s considerable skill to coax the test he did out of him.

As always, though, it is a three day event, even though it isn’t, and cross country day will be influential. Thursday night brought rain and thunderstorms which will do nothing but improve the going even more. A full day of dressage again on Friday, and lots more ridiculousness still to come, thanks for being a part of Eventing nation, and go Eventing!

And then Michael Pollard had to go and ruin everything with a 41.1 on Jude’s Law!

At the time of taping this insanity, Karen was leading everything, and Marilyn is sticking like glue right behind her. Brian has done a sterling job all day keeping everything running smoothly and, in fact, slightly ahead of schedule, no wonder the insanity has to leak out somewhere!  The real test will come on saturday though, for me the benchmark will be the golden honey tones and deadpan wit of John Kyle: can Brian match or even better that? Time will tell! In the meantime, no-one does insanity in the middle like he does, enjoy!

Many thanks to Brian, to Karen who you can hear hollering at him in the background, and to all the volunteers, scribes, scorers, arena crew and everyone who made today run so smoothly. A special shout out to Susan Beebee’s friend Jonah who gave me a lift in his golf cart to the press conference, and to Jen Holling for mothering me and making me feel all better, “because that’s what we do”, I do feel all better and hope I can pay it forward one day. Many thanks, I love eventing!

Allison and Arthur conquered the angry birds in the arena!  You can just see them in the bottom right hand corner, they had been there all day, flying up and squeaking, they sound a bit like seagulls, and could well have been the undoing of the notoriously spooky Arthur but instead he rose to the occasion and pulled a 22 out of the bag, good enough to lead the Advanced Division B.  Allison said she specifically picked this class to support the World Cup and to do this test, and so far it seems to be paying off! Her plan for cross country is to go fast and clear, in this obviously her final run before Rolex, she loves the course and the footing here, feels like it asks all the right questions going to a four star, she told me Arthur is feeling great, he certainly looks it, and she said she  intends to put her foot down on saturday.

Boyd and Neville did a nice test, very respectable with flashes of brilliance, but unbelievably in a testament to the strength of the section, a score of 26.7 was only good enough for 4th place today.

Meanwhile, last to go in the adjacent arena for the CIC***, Michael Pollard and Jude’s Law performed a stunning test to take the lead. Michael said later that he’d left some marks on the table which he’s excited about, naturally, but watching it with Canadian Dressage Olympian Jaquie Brooks, neither of us saw much not to like. That seemed to be a common theme today, perhaps as the CCI’s get close and many riders have their final run, and because this is the personality of a top class competitor anyway, but you are all so hard on yourselves! Riders are definitely their own harshest critics!

Karen O’Connor, who led the CIC*** for most of the day on Veronica, was denied a whitewash of the first day of dressage at The Fork by Michael, and similarly said she was thrilled especially with Veronica’s trotwork, but still feels like she has a better test to come from her.  

It was nice to see Twizzel back in action, and I think he thought the same thing; he did some lovely trot work and some rather exuberant changes. Will Coleman might not have been very happy with him afterwards but there were definitely nice moments, and he scored a 28.7 to sit in 6th place.

Sinead equally was unhappy with her test, it actually looked really nice but she told me he wasn’t taking the contact forward at all, and like so many other riders, she found herself a little surprised this weekend at just how fit her horse is, and in hindsight wishes she had perhaps taken him for a little hack in the morning.

I felt for Colleen – Shiraz was tense and uptight, and what makes him such a phenomenal jumper and cross country machine works against him a hundred fold in the dressage arena. It must have been a disappointment to her after all the work she’s put in over the winter when he coiled up in his little tight neck, and botched his changes, but I know how tough she is mentally, and this is part of a bigger plan. I look forward to seeing them fly round on saturday, and also more importantly, that first weekend in May.

I have lots  more pictures and videos to come including some Insanity in the Middle with Brian O’Connor so thank you again for being a part of the Eventing Nation, and please continue to do so! Go Eventing!

Caitlin and Hoku

This is one of the best posts I’ve been able to put on Eventing Nation, and I’ve been lucky enough to share some wonderful stories over the last couple of years. Caitlin Silliman lived in the apartment at True Prospect Farm when the barn burned down almost a year ago. Although she and her flatmate Ryan lost everything they owned, they were lucky to survive.  The tragedy has been well-documented, but now we can start to follow Caitlin and her horse Catch a Star, stable name Hoku, as they compete at the highest level again, defying the vets who told Caitlin  it was unlikely she would ever be able to ride her mare again – sound familiar?!  This weekend Caitlin and Hoku will compete in the Advanced division at The Fork, and Caitlin kindly introduced me to Hoku before the competition started.

Hoku is a Holsteiner cross – she is eleven years old and was actually bred in California by the same breeders as Hawley Bennet-Awad’s Gin’N’Juice, Terry and Linda Paine.  Caitlin is taking it one event at a time, but is tentatively thinking about the CIC at Bromont as a goal this season. Wishing Caitlin the very best of luck!  Go Caitlin and Hoku, and Go Eventing!

Karen and Veronica take the lead in the CIC*** going into the lunch break

Karen O’Connor is on fire today; not content with dominating the CIC** earlier this morning with Mandiba and RF Amber Eyes in 1st and 2nd places, she did a lovely test on Veronica right before lunch to take an early lead. All her horses were beautifully turned out by Max of course, as we’ve come to expect nothing less, and Linda Zang, who’s in demand this weekend with Colleen Rutledge and Sharon White, was busy helping her as well.  As soon as she’d finished her test on Veronica, Karen hopped off and stood in the rain to coach Marilyn on RF Demeter who also did a very nice test to sit in second place at lunchtime. All live scores are available here. Demeter looks better than she did when I first saw her at Rocking Horse, she’s put weight on and has more muscle and top line, and just looks more impressive to me. She has stunning movement, and I think is just going to improve more which is exciting for Marilyn, and for the team.

Meanwhile in the Advanced Ring Michael Pollard performed what we’ve come to expect from him, his customary polished, accurate test, this time on the lovely, elegant  Icarus to take the lead from Michelle Mueller on Amistad. Lots more pictures and reports to come this afternoon from The Fork. Go Eventing!