Classic Eventing Nation

Fence 15 - Rocky River Crossing

The Fork is the traditional final run before Kentucky for the vast majority of riders based in the U.S., and as a result, it’s always a tense morning on Saturday in Norwood, North Carolina. This year, course designer Tremaine Cooper has added a new loop on the far end of the CIC3* course, incorporating both a re-vamped coffin and bringing back the sunken road in quick succession to up the level of intensity in this section of the course.

That feeling of questions coming up quickly one after the other is meant to simulate what the riders prepping for Rolex will face in just three weeks’ time, and Tremaine kindly gave EN a tour of the course to show firsthand how he’s softened the beginning of the course to compensate for that new far loop. But there’s still plenty of work to do the whole way around, and this course historically shakes up the leaderboard and leaves riders with homework to do before Kentucky.

The first four fences are open, galloping jumps to help horses and riders settle into a rhythm, with the first question coming at fence 5, the Carolina Farm Credit Curve. Riders can go right or left at the corner at B, with the combination working nicely as a straight five strides on the left or a slightly bending six strides on the right. While not super technical, it’s a question that will get horses and riders on their toes for the challenges to come.

The next question comes at the coffin at fence 8, which has been branded the Land Rover Leap and sports a new look this year. Tremaine did add an option at the C element this year, and while it will certainly eat up a lot of time on the clock, it does provide a back-up plan for riders who run into trouble at the triple brush arrowhead at the direct route; there’s really not a good way to re-present to that fence following a runout.

Riders will then enter the new loop of the course, which features freshly laid turf Tremaine said he will be closely monitoring throughout the day — especially if more rain falls overnight — followed by a new gate at fence 10, which features a MIM clip, and the return of the sunken road at fence 11, the Uwharrie Bank Hollow.

Next riders will splash through the first water at fence 13, which simply features a table in the water, before jumping the same angled ditch and brush that appeared on course last year and staring down what is easily the most difficult combination on course, the second water at fence 15, the Rocky River Crossing.

This is by far causing the most chatter in the barns, and it’s easy to see why. When you stand directly in front of the big, airy log at the jump in, it doesn’t seem very doable, with a brush corner in the water sitting at a sharp turn to the right, followed by a triple brush arrowhead as the out element at C.

“It’s one of those things were you stand at A and you don’t see it — there’s no in — and then you start to walk it, and all of a sudden it opens up when you’re in the water, and I think the horses will really read it,” Tremaine said. “You need to keep planning all the way through and ride them all separately.”

If riders jump in straight over the log and wait to turn, it’s a steady five strides to the corner, followed by a straightforward three strides to the arrowhead. There is a line there, but this water is almost certainly going to cause drama tomorrow. There is a black flag option at the B element, so riders do have a backup plan if they run into trouble at the corner in the water.

Next is a gallop around the back loop of the course, which features the same tables and cheese wedge combination we usually see here, followed by the mound complex, which debuted last year and has a different look this year. Last year, riders jumped in over a hayrack, through a keyhole on the top of the mound and out over an angled brush.

This year, horses and riders will jump that angled brush as the in, followed by a sizable log on the top of the mound, with three strides taking them down the mound to a narrow, angled log. The angled log at the C element has a good ground line, as well as a small log sitting upright at the front right to encourage riders to curve their line a bit.

“It’s different in that the keyhole kept you exactly in one spot, whereas this is quite a wide log. If you’re a foot or two to the left, it will change your distance to C,” Tremaine said. “The log has a nice ground line, so even if you get in quite close, they’ll be fine. You might have to do a little bit more to work for it, though. You won’t have the same ride over this for every horse, which will make it interesting.”

From there it’s a straight shot home, with just a handful of fences standing between the riders and the finish line. With the front of the course softened this year and a new technical loop added on the far end, it’s tough to say exactly how time will shake out. The top 25 percent of the CIC3* will jump in reverse order, so it will definitely be an exciting finale here at The Fork.

Thank you to Selena O’Hanlon for sharing her photos of the course, and thank you to Tremaine for his time in giving EN an exclusive look at this year’s CIC3* course. The CIC* will tackle the course first in the morning at 8:30 a.m., followed by the CIC3* at about 10 a.m. You can follow along live with our updates here on EN and listen live on PRO Tour Radio at this link. Be sure to click here to catch up on all our coverage from The Fork.

Go Eventing.

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Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The ladies continued to bring the heat today at The Fork, with Jennie Brannigan, Sinead Halpin and Molly Tulley leading the CIC3*, CIC2* and CIC* divisions, respectively, at the end of a windy, dusty day of show jumping, and we caught up with them at the afternoon press conference to break down their rides.

Nina Gardner’s Cambalda had a hard rub at the final fence in the CIC3*, a blue oxer set on a six-stride bending line. Jennie looked back at the fence as she galloped past the timers, and with the pole still sitting in the cups, she took the lead with a double clear round to stay her dressage score of 42.8.

“He’s so behind the leg, and I was laughing because he can do two-time changes, but then he wouldn’t do a clean flying change in the show jumping,” Jennie joked, but she said she was very happy with the round, which course designer Chris Barnard told me he thought was one of the nicest in the division.

Jennie and “Ping” have never finished lower than third place in three appearances in the CIC3* at this event, and they won it in 2011. With Jennie planning to put the pedal down on Tremaine Cooper’s cross country course tomorrow, chances look good for our prediction that she’ll take home the win for a second time.

But first they’ll have to get past the final water complex, which has been overhauled this year and has all the riders chattering in the barns. Coming at fence 15 on course, the jump in at A is a big, airy log, with five strides to a sizable brush corner in the water at B, followed by three strides out of the water to a chevron at C.

The technical delegate did approve adding a black flag option at the B element, which Jennie said she was happy about so riders have a Plan B if they do run into trouble there. “I love this place; the ground is always great, and we got some rain last night, so I’ll be going out to try to give him a good, solid round for Kentucky.”

Liz Halliday-Sharp came into show jumping sitting in the overnight lead with Deborah Halliday’s Fernhill By Night. A rail down at the second to last fence dropped them to third place on a score of 45.8, and Liz took full responsibility for the dropped pole.

“Blackie jumped great; the rail was completely my fault,” she said. “I was going for time, and he’s a really big, rangy horse; he has a huge stride, and I always struggle with distances with him. But I know him well enough now, and he jumped big over the vertical, the third to the last, and I realized I was going to get there in 5 1/2 strides.”

Liz said she’s not planning to run fast tomorrow on cross country, as she needs a confidence-building go heading into her first CCI4* at Rolex with the horse after having runouts at both Red Hills and Carolina International.

Sinead Halpin Takes the CIC2* Lead

The live scores are not correct for the CIC2*, and Sinead Halpin and Nicole Carolan’s Topgun are actually leading on their dressage score of 40.3 after jumping double clear. Sinead has had the ride on “Gunnar,” a 9-year-old gelding by a Dutch stallion and out of an Irish pony mare, since last spring when his owner went to college.

“He’s a character,” Sinead said. “He’s a really talented horse — a super jumper. He’s just been a little quirky.” They worked through some bitting issues last fall, and Sinead said things have started coming together really nicely in the last few events this season. “We’ve come up with a few different tricks for him — the right noseband, the right bit and no warm-up before dressage.”

The plan is for Sinead to keep the ride on Gunnar through the year, as Nicole is having surgery on her ankle next month, and they’re aiming for the CCI2* at Bromont. She said she plans to go fast out of the box tomorrow to help give him the experience he’ll need in Canada.

Lillian Heard and Abbie Golden’s Arundel pulled one rail to drop to third place in the CIC2*, and she said she was still really pleased with the performance, as he had two rails at Carolina International. “He jumped really well,” Lillian said. “I just got him a little close to the second jump and tried to do something about it too late.”

With the CCI2* at Jersey Fresh or Bromont as their major goal for the spring, Lillian said she’ll try to have a fast run tomorrow with “Spencer,” though she’ll adjust her plan if he feels rusty, as he hasn’t had that many runs this year.

Molly Tulley Moves Into CIC* Lead

Molly Tulley took the CIC* lead with a clear show jumping round aboard Allie Knowles’ former upper-level mount Last Call, who she is leasing to gain mileage at the Preliminary and one-star level. She successfully completed her first CIC* at Carolina International aboard “Fergie” and said she’s incredibly grateful to have the opportunity.

“I kept saying to Allie, ‘I really feel like we’re going to nail it this weekend, because I feel like everything is coming together,’” Molly said. “She’s not the kind of horse that just gives everything to you. I’ve learned so much from her, and I can’t wait to apply it to my own horses at home.”

Molly, who works for Allie and also exercises horses at the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center in Lexington, hopes the experience she gains on Fergie will help her with her Trakehner mare Miriam, who she hopes to take to her first CIC* at Morven Park or Plantation Field in the fall.

Beau Guimond is sitting in second place in the CIC* with his own Filibuster ST on a score of 44.3 after jumping a clear round with 1 time penalty; this is the horse’s first one-star, and Beau said he’s been extremely happy with him all weekend.

Boyd Martin originally found the horse, an 8-year-old Hanoverian gelding, through Alex Robertson and told Beau, who was a working student for him at the time, that he thought the horse would be a good mount to take through the levels.

“He’s a really cool horse, and I’m very lucky to ride him,” Beau said. “He had a reputation for bucking people off, and he’s still wild now, but he’s gotten a lot better in the dressage. I’m going to take him as far as he’ll go.”

Marilyn Little and RF Overdressed moved into the top three in the CIC* with a clear show jumping round. Though the horse, an 8-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Jacquie Mars, Robin Parsky and Raylyn Farms, has two-star mileage, Marilyn has been competing him at the one-star level to develop the partnership.

“His show jumping has been a work in progress,” Marilyn said. “He’ll gallop along tomorrow because he is a two-star horse, and he’s had some great two-star runs, but also the partnership is going up and down right now in a building phase,” Marilyn said.

She has been working on the shape of his jump and creating more of an arc, as she said he tends to “jump like Bambi” — “Carolina was better, and today was an improvement,” she said. The plan is for the horse to aim for the CCI2* at Bromont.

CIC* cross country starts at 8:30 a.m., followed by the CIC3* at about 10 a.m., with the CIC2* scheduled to go around 3 p.m. PRO Tour Radio will be streaming live all day, and we’ll also be posting live updates for the CIC3* and Advanced here on EN.

If you missed the Advanced report from earlier, click here to read it, and stay tuned for the full preview of the CIC3* course with analysis from Tremaine Cooper.

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Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda. Photo by Jenni Autry.

You know it was an influential day of show jumping when riders with rails found themselves moving up the leaderboard. With the dust settled — literally — on this blustery day at The Fork in Norwood, North Carolina, Jennie Brannigan and Nina Gardner’s Cambalda took the lead in the big CIC3* on their dressage score of 42.8 after delivering one of the handful of double clear show jumping rounds in the division.

While 12 in all jumped clear rounds, only six managed to do it inside the tight time of 72 seconds around Chris Barnard’s twisty track. With multiple turns requiring hairpin rollbacks after verticals, we saw plenty of rails fall as riders tried to take inside lines to beat the clock. And the near gail-force winds only upped the ante, with planks and flags blowing off the jumps and the decorative ferns rolling around like tumbleweeds.

The horses and riders enjoying spots at the top of the leaderboard overcame the conditions. Bruce Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM executed a beautiful round with 1 time penalty to move up from fourth to second place on a score of 45.7. Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deborah Halliday’s Fernhill By Night led after dressage but pulled the second to last fence today in their race against the clock, though they’re still enjoying a spot inside the top three on a score of 45.8.

Lynn Symansky and Donner. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Mackenna Shea and her own Landioso, who hauled from California to compete at The Fork before tackling their first CCI4* at Rolex, pulled off the save of the day by far and are now sitting in fourth place to reward their efforts. When “Landi” found a long spot to the first fence of the tricky triple combination, Mackenna slipped the reins and smartly let the horse pick his way through. They ultimately jumped clear with 2 time penalties to move up from seventh on a score of 48.3.

Colleen Rutledge told her homebred CR “good boy” after he cleared the last fence on course, where they pulled one rail to move up to fifth place on 50.3 in their final preparation for the horse’s first four-star at Rolex. To show you just how much clear rounds caused movement on the leaderboard, Marilyn Little and Team Demeter’s RF Demeter moved all the way up from 16th to sixth place after jumping one of those six double clears.

Silvio Mazzoni, the USEF eventing team show jumping coach, watched attentively from the side of the ring as Boyd Martin and Steve Blauner’s Master Frisky started their round. Boyd and Silvio have been working hard on the show jumping with “Mikey,” and while the horse pulled a rail at the third fence, they still moved up from ninth to seventh place on a score of 50.9.

Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Fugitive. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Lynn Symansky and her own Donner, who is notoriously spooky in busy atmospheres like the one we saw today, jumped a lovely clear round with 3 time penalties, moving from 13th to eighth place on 51.6. Phillip Dutton is having a hell of a weekend with Tom Tierney and Annie Jones’ Fernhill Fugitive as the horse prepares for Kentucky; the horse jumped beautifully despite pulling one rail, which moves them up to ninth on 51.7.

Michael Pollard and Ballingowan Pizazz round out the top 10 in the big CIC3* class on a score of 52.1 after a bit of a hairy moment at the final fence, a big blue vertical going toward the crowd of spectators. They pulled a rail there and picked up 2 time penalties to drop from sixth place.

In addition to the pairs already mentioned, the following combinations also jumped double clear: Julie Richards and Beaulieu’s Cayenne, 22nd; Boyd Martin and Crackerjack, 24th; Jessie Phoenix and A Little Romance, 25th; and Caroline Martin and Quantum Solace, 26th.

Kurt Martin and Anna Bella. Photo by Jenni Autry.

It was definitely a dramatic afternoon of show jumping to say the least. Santino had a refusal with Holly Payne at the triple bar after seeming a bit upset by the atmosphere. With this being Good Friday, large crowds were out enjoying the sunshine at the event today, so the rails were packed with spectators, which upset some of the horses.

Leah Lang-Gluscic and A.P. Prime parted ways at the second fence on course, a vertical jumping away from the crowd. It looked like “AP” stumbled on landing and couldn’t quite get his balance back, and Leah tumbled over his head. She was up right away and walking. In an ideal world, the event officials will allow her to go cross country HC tomorrow, as this is their final prep run before their first CCI4* at Kentucky.

The CIC2* is show jumping now, and I’m about to go tour the cross country course with designer Tremaine Cooper to bring you a full fence-by-fence preview. If you missed the Advanced show jumping report from this morning, be sure to click here to read all about how Lauren Kieffer is dominating both divisions. Stay tuned for much more from The Fork.

The Horse Pesterer is busy uploading videos from today’s rounds, and he’s already uploaded Jennie’s ride in the CIC3* this afternoon:

You can view more rides from the day as they are uploaded here.

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Lauren Kieffer and Veronica. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Lauren Kieffer is absolutely dominating the Advanced divisions at The Fork after show jumping, delivering clear rounds to both hold her overnight lead with Team Rebecca’s Veronica in one class and move into the lead with Court and Kylie Ramsay’s Czechmate in the other.

She delivered four total clear rounds in all this morning with all four of her Advanced rides, and it’s safe to say Lauren has found her sweet spot in this phase. Her clear with Veronica is her fourth consecutive show jumping clear aboard the mare this season — not a bad hot streak to be on heading into Rolex.

Five horses and riders in all delivered double clear rounds over Chris Barnard’s show jumping track in the Advanced Test A division, and time definitely proved to be a factor, with leaders Lauren and Veronica recording 1 time fault for a score of 23.

Lillian Heard and Share Option. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Will Faudree and Jennifer Mosing’s Andromaque delivered one of those double clear rounds to move up from fourth to second place in this division on a score of 24.5. Lillian Heard and her own Share Option jumped a lovely clear round with 1 time penalty to move from fifth to third on 26.6.

Phillip Dutton and Evie Dutton’s Mighty Nice, who is known for his exuberance in this phase, pulled one rail early on the course to slip from second to fourth place on 27.1, followed by Courtney Cooper and Who’s A Star, who pulled one rail to drop from third to fifth on 27.8 in their final prep event before their first CCI4* at Rolex.

Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn (6th) also jumped double clear in this division, with “Cuba” amusing the crowd with his sassy hind leg kicks in mid-air over the fences. Will Coleman and Obos O’Reilly jumped double clear too, along with EN’s own Kate Samuels and Nyls du Terroir and Abby Hamblin and Silver Flash.

Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Riders definitely had to keep moving to make the time, which was adjusted to allow more breathing room after the first few riders went this morning. Rails fell throughout the course, with the triple combination jumping away from the in-gate and toward the VIP tent catching out a number of riders, as many of them jumped in from a long spot.

In the Advanced Test B division, Boyd Martin and the Pancho Villa’s Syndicate’s Pancho Villa are sitting just behind leaders Lauren Kiffer and Czechmate on a score of 28.7 after jumping one of the nine double clear rounds in this larger class of the two.

Ellie MacPhail and Sally Crane’s RF Eloquence, who led this division after dressage, dropped one rail to slip to third place on the leaderboard on a score of 31.3. Continuing her total domination of the Advanced divisions, Lauren also jumped clear with Meadowbrook’s Scarlett and Landmark’s Monte Carlo to move up to fourth and fifth places, respectively, on score of 33.2 and 35.9.

Jimmie Schramm and Bellamy. Photo by Jenni Autry.

We are on a slight delay now before CIC3* show jumping starts at 12:15 p.m. The CIC* riders jumped early this morning, with Molly Tulley and Last Call moving up to first place with a double clear round. Beau Guimond and Filibuster ST moved up to second with a clear round and 1 time penalty, followed by Marilyn Little and RF Overdressed in third.

Be sure to follow along with live updates from the CIC3* show jumping on EN’s Twitter, check out behind-the-scenes photos on our Instagram, catch up on videos from dressage on Thehorsepesterer’s YouTube channel, and stay tuned for much more from The Fork.

Go Eventing.

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