Meghan Fillius of Powhatan, VA, rode Dress Blues to victory in the USEA Area II Novice Championships at Loch Moy Farm in Adamstown, MD. © Erin Gilmore Photography
Ten USEA Area II Champions were crowned Saturday on the second day of the The Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy Farm. A total of 350 horses from across the Area II region and beyond (PA, NJ, DE, MD, VA and NC) have gathered to celebrate the summer eventing season, having qualified to compete among the best of their peers; and are taking advantage of a luxurious premium facility to prepare for the upcoming Maryland CCI5* later in the month.
Saturday also hosted a one-day event for Open Intermediate, Preliminary, Modified and Training levels; while Sunday saw Novice, Beginner Novice and Starter take center stage.
Highlights from Saturday at the USEA Area II Championships
Alexandra Wikstrom of Clifton, VA, and Viking Navigator won the Modified Championship at the Maryland Horse Trials and USEA Area II Championships at Loch Moy Farm. © Erin Gilmore
Many of Friday’s leaders were able to defend their positions and take the Championship title following Saturday’s show jumping phase of the competition. First to be awarded a winner’s sash was Rylie Nelson of Unionville, PA, with Fylicia Barr’s Galloway Sunrise, taking the Preliminary Championship on a final score of 28.4 penalties.
In the Modified Championship division, Alexandra Wikstrom of Clifton, VA, with her own Viking Navigator, or ‘Gunner’ in the barn, finished the weekend on a final score of 35.4, moving up from fourth after dressage to take the blue ribbon.
Wikstrom rides with Jan Byyny and Sally Spinard and admitted that while cross-country is generally their strongest phase, this weekend’s Championship courses designed by Great Britain’s Andy Heffernan, asked all the right questions.
“There were some questions out there that we have had some challenges with in the past, including bending lines to corners and some pretty skinny technical fences,” said Wikstrom. “But I think the whole course rode really well. The time was hard to get — we were the fastest in the division and even so we still had a few time penalties. I’m fortunate he’s an off the track thoroughbred (OTTB) which means he has a really big, open galloping stride, which helps me make the time.
“Show jumping today he was a little bit tired. We don’t often get the opportunity to practice show jumping after going cross-country, a lot of times we show jump first and then go cross-country. So I think it was really good practice especially as I’m aiming him for the CCI1* at Virginia in November. We had one rail down but I was lucky to have that in hand.”
Lillian Oakley, 17, of Pfafftown, NC, and Hidden’s Clover won the Junior Training Championship at the Maryland Horse Trials and USEA Area II Championships at Loch Moy Farm. © Kira Topeka for Erin Gilmore Photography
In the Novice Championship division, Meghan Fillius of Powhatan, VA, and Dress Blues earned the blue sash and bragging rights, topping one of the largest divisions of the weekend. The pair finished on their dressage score of 25.8 penalties across the three phases — far surpassing their expectations for their first visit to Loch Moy Farm.
Fillius acquired the Virginia bred, 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse ‘Kieran’ as a five-year-old from friend and breeder Tracey Leftwich, of Fireman’s Run Farm. She calls him her Horse of a Lifetime, having taken him over his first jump and “God willing, I’ll take him over his last jump too!”
As a change from many eventers who fear and even dread the dressage arena, Fillius says Kieran has “embraced” dressage, having spent a lot of time learning how to carry his generous 17.2 frame in second level dressage and more. With a brave and steady cross-country round Friday, on a course that was “made for him,” they just had to hold on through Saturday’s stadium to seal the deal.
“I was a little nervous coming into stadium,” admitted Fillius, “Because he’s not always the most careful when the jumps seem a little less intimidating, and because he’s 17.2 it takes a lot for him to really feel like he’s working! When he came in today and just lit right up and jumped clean, I was beyond thrilled.”
Like many adult amateur riders, Fillius says it’s hard fitting in work, riding and family time these days. “Balancing the horse and family life is tough. I don’t get to ride as much as I would like, but luckily I have a phenomenal coach in Emily Beshear and she’s helped me come up with a plan to help me maximize the time I do get to spend on his back to really get the most out of our performances. We’re hoping to continue on to Training level next year, but honestly I know with horses you have to take things day by day. You can’t take anything for granted and I know that every single ride I have with him is a gift.”
Lillian Oakley, 17, of Pfafftown, NC, took the Junior Training Championship title with Michelle Hargreaves’ Hidden’s Clover. The pair sat in third place after cross-country and laid down a solid double-clean show jumping round Saturday to finish on a three-phase cumulative score of 37.0.
Imported 18 months ago, six-year-old Irish Sport Horse “Clive” has been hard at work preparing with Oakley for their Pony Club B-Rating next weekend and used the Area II Championships as a big push toward that. Their positive outing included a best-ever dressage score, a confidence-building cross-country round (Clive gets nervous in the warm-up) and solid double-clean in show-jumping.
In the National (non-Championship) divisions, Ema Klugman and Chiraz won the Open Intermediate. © Hannah Lujbli for Erin Gilmore Photography.
With a youthful eye toward someday representing her country at the Olympics, Oakley admits bringing a green horse along has been a steep but rewarding learning curve.
“When Clive came to us he only had four months under saddle with no cross-country experience,” explained Oakley. “That was a real learning experience for me. I’ve ridden a horse that’s campaigned at the two star level — I’ve never had to teach a horse before. Having to teach him the water, and how to understand cross-country questions has definitely made me a better rider.”
In addition to the USEA Area II Championships, Loch Moy Farm is also hosting The Maryland Horse Trials #3 recognized National Divisons as two one-day-events (where all three phases are completed on the same day.) Open Intermediate, Preliminary, Training and Modified took place on Saturday with Novice, Beginner Novice and Starter taking place Sunday.
Ema Klugman, representing Australia but based in Germantown, MD, won the Open Intermediate division with the Chiraz Syndicate’s Chiraz. In a group which saw time penalties on cross-country from every rider in the group, the pair added just six time penalties on cross-country to their combined dressage and stadium jumping score to finish on 34.2 penalties.
As a preparation run ahead of the upcoming CCI3* held during the Maryland CCI5* in a few weeks, Klugman admits she didn’t wear a watch to keep time on cross-country Saturday, preferring to “play around” with how Chiraz was going and to get him in the best mental place at the moment.
“Chiraz has actually done some advanced level events so this was intended to be a nice confidence building outing for him which this was,” explained Klugman. “He was great in dressage, he can be a little nervous traditionally but he has come a long way and he’s getting a lot more relaxed.
“He show-jumped very well but had a bit of a spook at something outside the ring while on course, causing me to lose my stirrup. We had to hustle to make the time allowed.”
Kendal Fansler (Clarksville, MD) rode Jaclyn Whitaker’s Curioso to the USEA Area II Junior Novice Championship at Loch Moy Farm. © Erin Gilmore Photography
Klugman was particularly impressed with this year’s cross-country course noting “(Loch Moy) is a hard place to design for, as there’s not a huge amount of space, so it sometimes goes back and forth a little. This year’s course was one of the best we’ve had here, with a really nice flow. There were plenty of terrain questions and Chiraz handled them all really well.”
Each rider we spoke with took the time to mention the quality of venue, arenas and in particular the footing at Loch Moy. Said Klugman: “The footing on cross-country was fabulous. I was a little worried because it’s been raining for about two weeks straight but the footing turned out to be really ideal.”
The Maryland H.T. + Area II Championships at Loch Moy Farm (MD): [Website] [Results]
