Classic Eventing Nation

EN TRENDS:

Sunday Video: Reed Kessler Wins at Spruce Meadows

By Jenni Autry on Jul 7, 2013 3:00 pm -

Reed Kessler and Cylana won the $200,000 ATCO Power Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Spruce Meadows yesterday after delivering the only double clear round of the day. Despite a few hard rubs around the course — including at the final fence — Reed and Cylana left all the poles up to best an all-star field. Conor Swail and Lansdowne of Ireland finished second, while Beezie Madden and Simon were third. Reed talked in a video interview here about her ride, and said she wasn’t sure she actually was clear when she finished the course due to that hard rub at the final fence. Click here to read a full report on the ATCO Power Queen Elizabeth II Cup. Go Reed!

Andrew Nicholson, Piggy French Victorious at Barbury

By Jenni Autry on Jul 7, 2013 1:00 pm -

Andrew Nicholson and Avebury over the triple brush. Photo courtesy of Barbury's Facebook page.

Andrew Nicholson and Avebury led wire to wire in Section A of the CIC3* at Barbury Castle, adding just .8 time penalties across the country to win on a 35.2. Izzy Taylor and KBIS Starchaser moved up from sixth place overnight to finish in second after jumping clear and adding just 1.2 time penalties to their dressage score. Lucy Wiegersman and Simon Porloe jumped clear with 3.6 time penalties to move up from fifth overnight to finish in third place. Izzy Taylor also took fourth place in Section B with Dax Van Ternieuwbeke, while Michael Owen finished in fifth place on The Highland Prince.

Piggy French and Tinkas Time held their overnight lead in Section B of the CIC3*, adding just .8 time penalties to win on a 37.2. Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen also added .8 time to finish in second place on 39. It’s unfortunate that Clark and Glen dropped a rail in show jumping yesterday — as they would have won had it not been for that unlucky pole — but this is still a fantastic showing for Glen’s first major competition since his tie-forward surgery earlier this year. Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master moved up from eighth to finish in third place thanks to a quick trip across the country and just 3.2 time penalties. Kitty King and Persimmon finished in fourth place, while Andrew Nicholson and Nereo finished in fifth.

In Section A, six riders withdrew before the start of cross country, including EN guest blogger Charlotte Agnew and her mount Out of Africa Two. Laura Collett and Rayef — who were in second place overnight going into cross country — were the only pair to retire on course, while seven riders were eliminated. Barbury reported via Twitter that fence 5b, a triple brush following the owl hole, was causing problems in both sections of the CIC3*. While I don’t have a fence-by-fence analysis to see exactly what happened, I imagine this fence surprised quite a few riders.

In Section B, six riders withdrew before the start of cross country, while three retired on course and eight were eliminated. Laura Collett and Noble Bestman, who were sitting in sixth after show jumping, were the most notable pair to retire on course. Multiple top combinations were eliminated on course, including Mary King and Imperial Cavalier, who were second overnight going into cross country; Vittoria Panizzon and Borough Pennyz; and Andrew Nicholson and Viscount George. Barbury did tweet earlier in the day that the course was riding very well overall.

Section A Final Results

Section B Final Results

Walk the Kilguilkey House CIC2* Course with Michael Ryan

By Jenni Autry on Jul 7, 2013 11:00 am -

The inaugural Kilguilkey House International Horse Trials are taking place this weekend in in Mallow, Co Cork, Ireland. The first attempt to hold the event was unfortunately rained out last year, so competitors and organizers alike are very excited to be competing this weekend at one of Ireland’s new premier events. Trish Ryan sent in this video of Michael offering fence-by-fence analysis of the CIC2* cross-country course. It looks to be a beautiful course, and we wish the best to Mike and Trish — who are sitting in first and second in the CIC2* — as they go cross country today. Go Kilguilkey House International!

Four U.S. Riders in Top 11 of HSBC Rankings

By Jenni Autry on Jul 7, 2013 9:00 am -

Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM at Rolex.

Last month we reported that four U.S. riders — Buck Davidson, Marilyn Little, Phillip Dutton and Will Faudree — were sitting in the top 30 of the HSBC FEI rankings. This month’s rankings show these four riders have now moved into the top 11. Buck moved up one spot and is now sitting just behind Michael Jung — Ze Terminator himself! — in fifth place. Marilyn moved up from 16th to sixth place. Phillip moved from 18th to 10th place, and Will moved from 17th to 11th place. New Zealand and the U.S. are tied for the highest number of riders in the top 10 with three each. Unsurprisingly, Andrew Nicholson still leads the rankings, but William Fox-Pitt is closing in — only 48 points now separate the members of eventing’s biggest rivalry. Jock Paget rounds out the top three.

[HSBC FEI Rankings]

Rank	Previous	FEI ID	Athlete	NF	Points
1	1	10000193	NICHOLSON, Andrew	NZL	648
2	2	10000230	FOX – PITT, William	GBR	600
3	4	10016860	PAGET, Jonathan	NZL	421
4	3	10005015	JUNG, Michael	GER	398
5	6	10000238	DAVIDSON JR., Bruce O.	USA	353
6	16	10002167	LITTLE, Marilyn	USA	335
7	13	10005138	TOWNEND, Oliver	GBR	310
8	32	10012976	NICOLAS, Astier	FRA	295
9	15	10004013	SMITH, Donna	NZL	292
10	18	10000156	DUTTON, Phillip	USA	286
11	17	10005691	FAUDREE, Will	USA	282
12	5	10009695	KLIMKE, Ingrid	GER	275
13	11	10005675	PANIZZON, Vittoria	ITA	273
14	19	10014877	ALLISTON, James	GBR	272
15	8	10000553	TODD, Mark	NZL	270

Sunday Links from ERS-Eventing.com

By Jenni Autry on Jul 7, 2013 12:01 am -

Mary King and Imperial Cavalier are currently second in Section B of the CIC3* at Barbury. Photo via Barbury's Facebook page.

Competition in the Barbury CIC3* concludes today with cross country. Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen are in third place in Section B after dropping one rail in show jumping yesterday. “One unlucky rail down in show jumping today at Barbury,” Clark said on his Facebook page. “He actually jumped great, and I’m really pleased with him. Must have just breathed on the one rail, but that’s show jumping.” Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master jumped clear to sit in eighth in section B. Check back later today for a full report and final results from Barbury.

Barbury Links:

[Barbury Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Live Scores]

Events This Weekend:

The Maryland H.T. at Loch Moy Farm I [Website] [Entry Status] [Live Scores]

Chattahoochee Hills H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Live Scores]

Powder Basin H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Times] [Live Scores]

South Farm H.T. [Website] [Entry Status/Times] [Live Scores]

ENYDCTA/Old Chatham H.T. [Website] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]

Huntington Farm H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]

Huntington Farm Horse Trials is only running dressage and cross country.

The Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials have been cancelled.

Your Sunday News:

Nicholson, French Lead Barbury Horse Trials

Shows Crack Down on Online Bullying of Judges

Calif. Mare Tests Positive for Neurological EHV-1

Contamination a Hot Topic at Feed Conference

UGA to Host Horse Health Seminar for Owners

Are Ponies Really Healthier Than Horses?

SmartPak: A Day in the Life of a Hoof

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNCvT_h1TCw
The Lamb National — a Barbury tradition

ERS-Eventing.com provides riders with an interactive online portal that showcases product information, demonstrations, tutorials and reviews from fellow competitors and top international riders.

FEI Proposes New Rule for National Competitions

By Kate Samuels on Jul 6, 2013 4:47 pm -

Andrew Nicholson and Avebury at Badminton (photo by Jenni Autry)

The FEI has put forth a new proposal for a rule change for national level competitions that could very well have some repercussions for several nations. Under current FEI rules, a national event (CN) which has more than 15 foreign athletes or more than four National Federations (NFs) is considered to be an international event (CI). However, such an event is not entered into the FEI calendar and results do not count for qualification purposes, but it still requires the necessary extra fees associated with a CI.

Two changes to this rule have been suggested this past week at the FEI Bureau meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.

CNs with more than four NFs or 15 foreign athletes are prohibited and cannot be allowed by an NF
If a CN takes place under such conditions, no ranking or qualification points will be earned and the NF can be fined up to an amount equivalent to the total prize-money paid out at such competition.

Lisa Lazarus, FEI General Counsel, said: “The FEI is aware that some national events could reach the limit with regards to numbers of foreign athletes and National Federations. The FEI Bureau examined a number of proposals for modifications to the FEI General Regulations, and each of these proposals will be reviewed by the National Federations.”

While these changes may not especially affect US competitions, due to the fact that our events are largely populated by American riders, it does change things for countries such as England, where many foreign riders are based and compete full time. England is full of riders from New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and the US, and would likely be affected the most by this proposed rule change.

Barbury International Horse Trials CIC*** Results after Show Jumping

By AJ Dyer on Jul 6, 2013 1:53 pm -

Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen at Barbury 2012. Photo by Samantha Clark.

Overnight leader of CIC*** Section B, Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen had one rail in show jumping to move them down to tied for third place. Piggy French and Tinkas Time are now in the lead, followed by Mary King and Imperial Cavalier. Canadian Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master went clear to move up from 10th to 8th going into cross-country. It’s a competitive division, with 65 horses entered.

In CIC*** Section A, the top 10 remains much the same after show jumping. Andrew Nicholson and Avebury went clear and retain a 4-point lead over Laura Collett and Rayef. Tim Price and Wesco round out the top 3. EN guest blogger Charlotte Agnew is in 31st place with Out of Africa Two, adding a rail to their dressage score of 52.2. 61 horses will start cross-country tomorrow in this division; that’s over 120 CIC*** horses in a weekend. I think it’s easy to see why riders like Clark Montgomery, Tiana Coudray, and Rebecca Howard are spending time in England: you simply cannot get that kind of competition experience here in the US, where we’re lucky to have 25 Advanced entries at a single event.

[Barbury Scores]

Video Break: Summerhill Sires Film 2012/2013

By AJ Dyer on Jul 6, 2013 11:29 am -

My namesake, the Thoroughbred stallion Visionaire now stands at Summerhill Farm in South Africa. While searching for some photos a few days ago, I came across this awesome video of the Summerhill stallions. While most stud farms throw together a 30-second commercial clip of their horses (if you’re lucky), Summerhill created a 25-minute Hollywood-style movie with stunning photography and a meaningful storyline to showcase their bloodstock. I cannot imagine Ashford Stud or Claiborne encouraging their stallions to run free across a field, down a roadway chasing them with a video camera on a truck (a la Seabiscuit), but it certainly makes for beautiful cinematography.

Check it out! (The Visionaire segment begins at 13:55)

Megan Kaiser: Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials Canceled

By AJ Dyer on Jul 6, 2013 9:04 am -

If you’re in the Ohio River Valley or eastward, chances are you’re ready to build an ark. Record rainfall has made eventing difficult in this part of the country, and sadly Stuart Horse Trials in Victor, NY has become another victim of the weather. On July 4, the organizers of Stuart Horse Trials sent out the following email:

“It is with our deepest regret that we have to cancel the 2013 Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials. The safety of horses and riders are our top concern, and we could not ensure safe conditions at this time with the extremely wet footing and with more rain forecasted this week and next.

Competitor’s USEA and USEF fees will be refunded as soon as possible. After all expenses are paid, we will see if further refunds are available for competitors. Thank you for your understanding.”

While competitors are surely disappointed at the cancellation of this year’s event, Megan Kaiser took the time to thank the organizers for their concern for the horses and riders in making this difficult decision. Thanks for writing, Megan, and thank you for reading.

—-

From Megan:

I had my preview of Stuart horse trials all written up yesterday, it just needed one last read through, and I was going to send it out. Then I heard the news, for the first time in its 24 year history, they had to cancel. The strangely wet summer had made Stuart the second horse trails to be called off in our area in two weeks.

Normally, around here we are all starting talk about the ground getting hard – but not this year. It’s wet, it’s hot, it’s buggy, and it’s wet. Stuart is known for its hilly and challenging cross country. It is part of what makes it so great, but this year, with these conditions, it wouldn’t be great.

I would like to thank Heidi Vahue for all her hard work and for making the difficult call to cancel – it is the right thing to do. It would be unfortunate for everyone, especially those that were planning on traveling from afar to expend that much time, money, and effort, only to be disappointed upon arrival.

Stuart is a staple of my summer and there are people that I only see at this show that I won’t be seeing: my friends from Maine pack up the two kids and two horses and travel down every year – but we know it’s the right thing to do and we are thankful that horsemanship is most important.

I do want to thank everyone who put in a tremendous amount of effort; it does not go unnoticed.

To all the sponsors, patrons, and vendors; thank you for standing behind our sport.

And to everyone: we will see you next year!

Barbury’s Saturday Links From Tipperary

By Lila Gendal on Jul 6, 2013 12:01 am -

Loughan Glen enjoying the English countryside with Jess Montgomery in the irons. Photo courtesy of Jess's Facebook page.

Happy weekend from EN! Barbury is happening right now at the beautiful Barbury Castle estate in Wiltshire, England! No surprise here — Andrew Nicholson and Avebury are leading in the CIC*** Section A dressage with a score of 34.4. But we have to give an even bigger shout out to Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen, who are currently leading the CIC*** Section B dressage with a 34.2! Americans Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp and Julian Stiller are also competing at Barbury this weekend. Good luck to all our U.S. riders! Click here for more Barbury news and results.