Classic Eventing Nation

EN TRENDS:

Big Wins for Phillip Dutton and Boyd Martin at MARS Bromont CCI

By Abby Powell on Jun 11, 2023 8:24 pm -

Phillip Dutton and Azure. Photo by Abby Powell.

We saw something rather unusual at the upper-levels today in the MARS Bromont CCI finale: all thirteen placings in CCI4*-L division remained completely unchanged between yesterday’s cross country and today’s show jumping. A few rails toppled over Marc Donovan’s course and a couple riders picked up a time fault or two, but, for better or for worse, no round was significant enough to shuffle the standings.

Perhaps then it goes without saying (but we’re going to tell you anyway!) that two-phase leaders Phillip Dutton and Azure, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare (Omar – Cavalier Roselier, by Cavalier Royale), maintained their position atop the leaderboard and went on to win Bromont’s marquee division this weekend.

Produced through the four-star level by Ireland’s Elizabeth Power, Azure came to Phillip’s program only about a year ago through the support of owners Anne, Caroline, and Michael Moran. During that time the horse picked up an injury that required some time off, making Phillip and the mare’s partnership all the more nascent.

Phillip has been training with show jumper Lauren Hough and he’s delighted in the progress that he and the mare have made in this phase. One wouldn’t have been wrong for guessing that this pair might have rail or two based on Azure’s previous FEI results, but another piece of the puzzle fell into place today with and they produced a clear and oh-so nearly inside the time show jumping round. The pair finishes their weekend on a score of 37.2, with a single second of time faults from each of the jumping phases added to their dressage score.

Phillip Dutton and Azure. Photo by Abby Powell.

“She jumped beautifully and you know she hasn’t been that easy in the ring,” Phillip said. “We’ve sort of now finessed the warm up and how to prepare her to go in the ring, but it was really rewarding the way she jumped today.”

As for what we can expect out of this partnership later this year, Phillip intends to continue chipping away at the mare’s flatwork to improve her competitiveness, but otherwise thinks she’s ready to continue stepping up.

“We got to do a bit of work on the dressage, she’s a freak cross country, and I was very, very pleased with the way she show jumped,” said Phillip. “So she’s kind of ready for five-star if I can give her a little bit more competitive on the flat.”

Arielle Aharoni and Dutch Times. Photo by Abby Powell.

While our guess regarding Phillip and Azure having a rail today would have been wrong, we would have bet on Arielle Aharoni and Dutch Times jumping clear today and would have been right! Arielle and the 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Goodtimes – Alino Queen, by Michellino) also make their fair share of appearances in the FEI show jumping ring produced a characteristic clear round which clinched them a second place finish this weekend with a score of 41.3, adding only cross country time faults to the personal best dressage score their earned on Friday.

The only question mark surrounding Arielle and “Dutch’s” performance today was the pressure of heading into the ring in a podium position, but the familiarity of their long-time partnership and training that they’ve done over the years prepared them for the challenge.

“I was so nervous all morning,” Arielle told us, “but I know that horse is amazing. So as soon as I swing my leg over, you know, all the nerves go away and all I gotta do is just sit up there, trust him, and he’s gonna perform. So I’ve got to just keep that going!”

Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol H I M. Photo by Abby Powell.

Our third place finishers today, Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol H I M should also be rather pleased with their performance in all three phase this weekend. Thrilled after “Chito’s” cross country performance yesterday, she’ll have made another happy call home to her husband, show jumper Mattias Hollberg, to report back on her double clear round this afternoon. They complete the weekend with a score of 42.4.

Hannah told us yesterday that she’d be particularly missing her “secret weapon,” who isn’t present at the event this weekend, during today’s final phase. As it often does though, the work at home and the jumping practice that Mattias encourages paid off in today’s performance. Hannah says Mattias’ insight as a fellow equestrian has been particularly helpful to her own eventing program.

“He is incredible at figuring out like what each horse needs in that moment and going forward and planning how to jump school them toward their big event and stuff,” Hannah said. “It’s It is remarkable.”

Boyd Martin and On Cue. Photo by Abby Powell.

Boyd Martin Sweeps Divisions Entered

Simply put, Boyd Martin had one heck of a weekend. He takes home three wins, topping the leaderboard in each division that he had horses entered in. Today’s performances bring his total career victories at Bromont to a grand total of twelve.

2021 Maryland 5-Star winner On Cue announced her re-arrival to the top of the sport with a solid hold on the CCI4*-S from start to finish, ultimately winning on a score 45.8 after knocking the first rail of the treble combination. Taking the win in the division was simply icing on the cake, as Boyd is most happy to have the 17-year-old Anglo-European mare (Cabri d’Elle – On High, by Primitive Rising) back on top form after straining a tendon and missing a season.

“She’s just changed my career with the win at Maryland,” Boyd told us. “I’ve never ridden such a champion cross country horse and she tries her guts out in the show jumping. She just feels brand new after a bit of time off and I think she’s got a fair bit left in the tank.”

Given how well “Cue” has felt throughout the weekend, Boyd seems to be eyeing a trip to Burghley with her this fall. The mare will have a few weeks off at home before gearing up for a return trip to Bromont for the FEI Eventing Nations Cup event scheduled later this summer.

“I think it’s the perfect preparation event for an epic competition like Burghley,” Boyd says.

Boyd Martin and Chiraz. Photo by Abby Powell.

Honestly Boyd clinching multiple wins across multiple divisions is probably not too big of a shocker most of us eventing fanatics, but he may have surprised himself a little with his win in the CCI3*-L aboard 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding Chiraz (Caydo 3 — Asquetta, Casall). A double clear round across the country yesterday and another over the colored poles today mean the pair win on their dressage score of 29.6.

“He’s a fantastic jumper. I really came here not knowing what to expect from him and to come in and put in a performance like that … I’m absolutely thrilled for the owners and blown away by his performance,” Boyd said.

Chiraz, owned by Sandra Holden, was previously campaigned to the CCI3*-L level by Mikki Kuchta before becoming Boyd’s ride. Their first competition together was just four months ago at Pine Top Horse Trials this February and their win today marks their second FEI victory together already — they won the CCI3*-S at the Fair Hill International April Horse Trials.

Friends and competitors: Boyd Martin on Asti’s Charming and Phillip Dutton on Fernhill Shutterfly. Photo by Abby Powell.

Finally for Boyd, he and Asti’s Charming held off Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Shutterfly all weekend — both finished on their dressage scores of 23.0 and 24.9 respectively, making for a wire-to-wire win for Boyd and “Charm” in the CCI2*-L.

Charm, a ten-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Asti’s Amsterdam – Atlantis C, by Landjonker), just began eventing just over a year ago, completing his first event under Boyd’s assistant rider Diego Farje in the Novice at Sporting Days Farm last February.

“Charm put it in a heroic effort,” Boyd said. “Since he came from the showjumping world, I had a tiny bit of confidence leading into today. Yesterday didn’t take anything out of him and I was very pleased for the win.”

Charm proved he can hold his own over three days and three phases. The gelding is owned and was produced as a show jumper by Catie Boone of Sterling Equestrian, who originally sent the horse to Boyd because of his spookiness, hoping that some cross country schooling with Boyd would build his bravery and get him a little more forward thinking in the show jumping ring. Catie and Alex Boone have been long-time supporter’s of Boyd’s and have owned pieces of several of Boyd’s top mounts including Blackfoot Mystery, Pancho Villa, Luke 140 and also Barney Rubble, who placed fifth in this division.

“I quickly rang Catie up and said, ‘I think this horse could actually be an eventer, can I keep it for a bit longer?’” Boyd recalled, “and she sort of said, ‘see how far you can go with him.’”

Maya Clarkson and Maks Mojo C. Photo by Abby Powell.

Bromont Rising Stars Shine Brightly

Maya Clarkson earned special honors as the highest-placed MARS Bromont Rising participant in the CCI3*-L, in which she finished second overall with Maks Mojo C on her dressage score of 32.5.

Maya and “Maks'” partnership is a relatively young one. She’s owned and ridden the 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Mighty Magic — Winter Morning, by Ramiro’s Bube) who was bred by Laurie Cameron and previously produced through the 3*-S level by Maya Black, for about a year after purchasing the gelding at the behest of her long-time coach Shannon Lilley. This was both horse and rider’s first 3*-L and therefore Maya wasn’t too sure what to expect, but was ready for the challenge and was rewarded thusly.

“I wasn’t sure you know, it’s a really big atmosphere in that arena, so I was really excited for the opportunity to jump in that kind of atmosphere,” said Maya. “He went in and was all business and it was like he didn’t even run yesterday. He was just amazing. He jumped incredible the whole way around.”

Maya is normally coached by a tag-team of Shannon Lilley and Lauren Nicholson, so adding Bromont Rising guest coach Bettina Hoy into the mix made for a “power trio” this weekend.

“It was my first year doing [the Bromont Rising program]. It was incredible. I’m so appreciative that I got to be a part of the program,” Maya said. “I feel like my success this weekend is extremely contributed to the program and in all that we did like the classroom sessions, I learned so much every single time and was able to apply all that to every single ride this weekend. I really appreciate the opportunity to be a part of it.”

Sara Schulman and Cooley Chromatic. Photo by Abby Powell.

MARS Bromont Rising grant recipient Sara Schulman and her own Cooley Chromatic take the win in the U25 CCI2*-L division, reclaiming the top of the leaderboard which they had originally held after dressage. Their lead had slipped away yesterday after collecting a handful of time faults across country, but fallen rails from the cross country leader and a double clear effort from Sara see her come out on top at the end of the weekend.

“It’s been really nice to have all three phases come together,” said Sara. “I think we’ve had a solid three phases the whole weekend, which has just been a great experience.”

Now seven years old, the Oldenburg stallion (Thorgal — Castrade) has grown up quite a bit since she purchased him as a youngster from Cooley Farm.

“This is the biggest atmosphere he’s been in, and he’s a very spooky horse. So I didn’t necessarily know how he would handle it, especially showjumping in the ring with a bunch of spectators,” Sara told us. “But I can tell he’s grown up from the four-year-old I started with, and he’s a total professional now.”

Sara was delighted to have been awarded one of the ten MARS Bromont Rising grants, which provided both financial and educational assistance to recipients.

“That was an awesome surprise,” Sara said on being named one of the recipients. “Because I probably wouldn’t have been able to come up here with all the financial costs it takes to compete, let alone travel up here. And then the entry fees, everything that goes into it. So that was super helpful in me even being able to come up here at all as a competitor.”

In addition to the help of her long-time coach Jan Byyny, Sara also benefitted from coaching and lectures from Bettina Hoy and Cara Whitham.

“It was awesome because both [Jan and Bettina] were pretty much always with me. So they sort of bounced ideas back and forth. And Jan was able to give her a bit more of an understanding of our background and the issues and particular things we’re working on so Bettina was able to work with that and not really change our program hugely, but add in those minor details that you think might help depending on how the course looks or how certain lines are.”

Thanks for joining us for a big weekend of coverage over the course of both Bromont (and Brahmam!) Stay tuned for another big week coming up as Luhmühlen kicks off on Wednesday. In the meantime, go eventing. Or go driving home from Canada — that’s what I’m about to do.

MARS Bromont CCI: [Website] [Schedule] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Live Scoring] [EN’s Form Guide] [EN’s Coverage]

“You Think You’re Past It, And Then…” Pippa Funnell Takes Fourth Bramham CCI4*-L Win Across Four Decades

By Tilly Berendt on Jun 11, 2023 4:51 pm -

Pippa Funnell: victorious again at a very happy hunting ground. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I can’t tell you how special winning a big one is when you get to this stage,” says Pippa Funnell, who jumped a faultless round to retain her lead and secure the win in the 2023 Bramham CCI4*-L with MCS Maverick. “You think you’re past it — oh, god, I’m going to blub! — and then to do it…”

This marks Pippa’s fourth win in this class — she’s previously taken the title in 1992, 2002, and 2010, although this win, she says, “makes me a feel a little bit of a fraud, the way I’ve come in here saying ‘oh, I don’t know how he’s going to be’, but I genuinely didn’t know! I think this is the first rosette I’ve won on him!”

Pippa Funnell steps onto the podium after a decisive victory. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

CCI4*-L debutant MCS Maverick is a new ride for 2023 for Pippa, who inherited him from her Billy Stud stable jockey and fellow five-star rider Helen Wilson. Even having been previously impressed by the look of the horse, though, Pippa had her reservations about taking the ride on herself: “He’s very, very hot, and I thought, ‘do I really want to put all that time and work in?” But once she did commit to giving him a go, “I really wanted to bring him here because I wanted to find out if it was worth putting the time in at my age. And at the moment, it’s definitely been worth it!”

Pippa Funnell and MCS Maverick. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The time she does have to put in isn’t inconsiderable, though, and it begins with an early arrival time to maximise the ten-year-old’s settling-in period.

“At every event, what I’m trying to do is go a day early. I knew my dressage was going to be on the Friday, and I came on the Tuesday anyway, because you can’t tire him out, and I don’t want to tire him out,” Pippa says. “The last thing you want to do is put loads of wear and tear on a nice horse, so instead, it’s about the mind games — it’s getting them out, then putting them away, then getting them out, then putting them away… just keeping him relaxed and getting him to slow his brain down. That really showed, I think, in the showjumping — he was so relaxed, although that might be because he ran all the way round yesterday!”

Pippa Funnell and MCS Maverick. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The reward of the slow approach was evident in the first phase, too, where the pair earned a 29.3 to sit second going into cross-country.

“I think all the time, it’s been going in the right direction, but when I went to Bicton CCI4*-S, it had been a long time since he ran at Burnham Market CCI4*-S, but I really thought we were getting there,” she says. “In the trot work, he got 7s and 8s — but in the walk work, it was 1s and 2s. He didn’t take one step of walk through all those movements, but then in the canter he was good. That was the same test as here, but I thought, ‘I’m not going to get stressed about it; I’m going to make sure I give him time’.”

Pippa Funnell and MCS Maverick clear the last. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This morning, after the final horse inspection, and after the efforts of yesterday’s speedy clear across the cross-country, Pippa also carved out pure, unadulterated time for the horse to just settle within himself before the competition’s climax.

“After the horse inspection, I took him up beyond the stable field, and I didn’t want to jump him this morning, but I did want to do some pole work and stretch him,” she says. “He’s got a very big stride, so I just did some canter poles and got him to close himself up, but in a relaxed way. He’ll sleep well after this — he’s running on adrenaline, but I’m really chuffed because you often question whether you’re doing it the right way when you have a horse that wants to go faster than you want to go. I’m chuffed that it worked, and delighted for his owner, Sarah Ross — it’s just sad she wasn’t here!”

She had reason enough not to be: it’s Sarah’s birthday this weekend, and as Bramham was never necessarily a sure thing in Maverick’s calendar for the year, her family organised to spirit her away for a celebration, but she’s been cheering her horse and rider on from afar while making sure that Pippa, like Maverick, is totally unpressured.

“She sent me a text saying ‘absolutely brilliant yesterday — but there’s absolutely no pressure for today’,” says Pippa. “Of course, there’s that bit of me that wanted to stay ahead of Piggy, but actually I came in looking at it as a way to find out more about the horse.”

Of course, ultimately she managed both: she learned that the horse, and the system, were both even better than expected, and she stayed ahead of her great friend, too.

“I said to her yesterday, ‘god, you’re an annoying cow, aren’t you?'” she laughs. “Gemma Stevens was messaging me, and because Piggy had been right on her tail last week, I said, ‘as much as I love Piglet, she’s bloody annoying, the way she’s right there waiting!'”

Piggy March and Brookfield Cavalier Cruise. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

And waiting in close quarters, she certainly was. Just four competitors finished on their dressage score in this week’s CCI4*-L competition, and the highest-placed of those was runner-up Piggy March, who secured the goods with her Thoresby CCI4*-S winner and CCI4*-L debutant Brookfield Cavalier Cruise, just 0.3 penalties behind Pippa. But while she and the Brookfield team came in with reasonable expectations for their first-timer, it also wasn’t really a surprise to anyone when he pulled three exceptional phases out of the bag: “He felt very careful and good and easy to do today — it didn’t take anything out of him, so it’s really exciting. He’s kind of gone as well as I hoped he would, but until you do it, you don’t know. And it’s so tough out there — the cross-country’s as tough as it gets for a four-star, so to deal with it well and come out and jump nicely is really exciting.”

So far, 2023 has represented a very promising start for Piggy and the ten-year-old, who she previously rode as a young Intermediate before suggesting that he go the way of fellow Brookfield rider Tom McEwen, “because I thought he’d be better for him at five-star, and Tom might be braver about going a bit quicker!” But when Piggy’s top horse, Brookfield Inocent, sustained an injury last year that has sidelined him since, the decision was made to rearrange the situation again so that each rider could have a Brookfield horse at the upper end of their strings.

“Brookfield tries to share the horses around a bit, and he’s a horse who’s won with every rider — he’s an easy, charming horse — so I’m just the very lucky one in that it’s worked out at this stage of his career that he’s with me,” says Piggy. “It’s a testament to the horse — he’s a very straightforward, level character, and ever since he was a five-year-old, he hasn’t needed to run much. He’s got a very old head on young shoulders, and that’s the beauty of him, and why he’s progressed quickly.”

Jesse Campbell and Gambesie. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

British-based Kiwi Jesse Campbell delivered a clear to secure the third place he’d held overnight with the former Jonty Evans ride Gambesie – despite “a few butterflies!” at the final horse inspection this morning, where he was asked to trot the horse a second time, but then quickly accepted.

Jesse came into the final phase with something of a secret weapon on his side: Irish showjumper Shane Breen, who gave the pair a final training session on the Monday of the event. Training with the Hickstead Derby winner has been transformative, even if, as Jesse explains, it began as something of a time-filler during the pandemic: “It’s a bit of a Covid development,” he says. “We sort of were scratching our heads with Team New Zealand on sort of things that we could do during 2020, and we made some calls and explored some options, and that was one of them. He’s based at Hickstead, which isn’t far from where I am now, and so I’ve been really lucky to be under his tutelage. He’s a true horseman, so he just understands horses on a whole ‘nother level that I wouldn’t have even explored before. Mostly he’s changed things for us by telling me, ‘just use your legs more!'”

When Jesse found himself sitting in third after cross-country with the level debutant Gambesie, he sent a text to the Irishman — “he texted me back saying ‘relax, and remember how to be a showjumper.’ And then the horse did it for me. It was magic.”

In just about every way, the twelve-year-old gelding has exceeded expectations this week: Jesse and his team have focused on short format events with him exclusively since the Seven-Year-Old World Championships in 2018, largely due to ongoing issues with the horse’s hooves, which they now hope they’ve conclusively solved.

“It was all a bit of an unknown as to what he could do this week,” says Jesse, “but we’re lucky in that we’re able to train on the South Downs, and because we’ve had such a wet spring, we’ve got perfect ground. He’s had a really long, slow build-up to this, and I really hoped that that bank of fitness work would come through for us, especially as he doesn’t really have a catalogue of long-format experience to fall back on. He’s come through it amazingly well, and I found him so rideable. I loved riding the track; it was just really cool.”

If Jesse stumbled upon any surprises out on Ian Stark’s tough track, it was simply the pleasant shock of discovering that his short-format horse might actually be the perfect contender for the toughest, longest of tracks.

“He was just so easy — like, I was continually surprised just how easily he travelled,” he says. “I kept thinking, ‘oh, we’re five seconds up!’ and it was coming easier than it had on my other horse, who’s the one I think of as the fast one. He just kept on jumping and galloping.”

Tom McEwen and Luna Mist. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tom McEwen‘s smart, sharp ten-year-old Luna Mist, who was a winner at Blair CCI4*-L last summer, stepped up two places into a final fourth place on the strength of her clear round. That was enough to earn her the competition’s best-placed mare prize, edging out Harry Meade‘s Cavalier Crystal, who finished fifth just 0.6 penalties behind. Fresh off the back of her biggest career win yet at Chatsworth CCI4*-S, and in her first year out of the under-25 class, Lizzie Baugh finished on her dressage score of 35.8 with B Exclusive to take sixth place in just her second-ever CCI4*-L, while Aaron Millar and KEC Deakon put a pin in a successful Badminton reroute to take seventh.

Harry Mutch and HD Bronze. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Winner Pippa had another reason to celebrate today: Harry Mutch finished his inaugural Bramham senior CCI4*-L competition in eighth place, tipping a solitary rail with his seventeen-year-old top-level campaigner HD Bronze. Harry has recently come through the all-round training programme offered by the Wesko Equestrian Foundation, of which Pippa is the primary trainer; at the tail end of his tenure with the programme, he temporarily relocated from his northern home base to ride full time with Pippa at the Billy Stud, and the results of their combined efforts have been writ large across the 26-year-old’s recent performances. At Bramham particularly, it’s a significant uptick: he’s previously contested the under-25 class three times with HD Bronze — once at Bicton, when the class was relocated there during Covid — and has never previously completed cross-country. This time, though? His 30.2 saw him sit fifth after dressage; adding just 3.2 time penalties yesterday kept him in the same slot; and while that singular rail today will be a touch disappointing to any elite athlete, that competitive trajectory over the course of the last year can’t be sniffed at.

Grace Taylor and Game Changer. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There was just one competitor for the US across any of Bramham’s classes this year, but Grace Taylor made sure to represent the Stars and Stripes well: she and the eleven-year-old Game Changer overcame a tense start to the week, when they were held at the first horse inspection, to stay well in touch with the business end of the leaderboard throughout the competition. Their 35.5 put them in the mix on day one, and while they didn’t feature in the top ten at the close of dressage, a barnstorming round with just 3.6 time penalties across the country yesterday nudged them closer. When they delivered a classy clear today, the daughter of British team selector Nigel Taylor and US Olympian Ann (neé Sutton) and her relatively inexperienced mount were able to make the final leap and take a final ninth place. The top ten is rounded out by Gubby Leech, who finished on his dressage score of 39.7 with Royal Harvest to close the book on an impressive week-long climb.

And so the crazy train rolls on into another five-star week — one that both EN and Pippa Funnell will be heading full speed towards tomorrow. We’ll see you there — and we’ll be back soon with a final report from Bramham’s CCI4*-S class — but until then, and as always, Go Eventing.

The final top ten in Bramham’s 2023 CCI4*-L.

Bramham International Horse Trials: [Website] [Schedule][Volunteer] [Ride Times/Live Scoring] [EN’s Coverage] [Live Stream]

A ‘Magic’ Week: Bubby Upton Becomes British Under-25 Champion at Bramham

By Tilly Berendt on Jun 11, 2023 11:38 am -

Bubby Upton once again becomes the British under-25 national champion after a sterling week with Magic Roundabout IV. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The Under-25 CCI4*-L had scarcely started, and then it was all over — and there was little in the way of surprise when Bubby Upton took the win with Magic Roundabout IV, having led from the front on a score that would have earned her the lead in the main CCI4*-L on any of the days of competition. While her rail down today stopped her from nailing down the leading score of the whole competition, she still wound up finishing on the exact same score that won the main class — a particularly impressive feat when this under-25 section sees a much higher rate of attrition across the board.

“He jumped fantastically, but being the competitive person I am, I was annoyed to have had a rail,” says Bubby with a grin. But, she concedes, “I didn’t particularly feel like we could have done much differently — it was just one of those things, and he jumped fantastically around the rest of the course and tried so hard.”

Bubby came into the competition with significantly more experience at the top levels than her peers: she’s been a top ten finisher with different horses at Pau and Badminton, and though this was her own and Magic Roundabout’s first trip to Bramham, she always knew it would suit him well as a stepping stone en route to a five-star debut.

“I’m absolutely thrilled with him, and to be honest, I can’t fault him — he’s given me his all this whole week. And yeah, to win is obviously fantastic, but more importantly, the feeling he gave me in preparation for Burghley at the end of the year is really exciting for us all. There’s no better set-up for that than here,” says Bubby.

Bubby Upton and Magic Roundabout IV. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This isn’t the first time the University of Edinburgh graduate has won the British under-25 title — she did so two years ago, when the competition was temporarily relocated during the pandemic, with her longtime partner Cannavaro. This week’s circumstances, though, feel very different to that week — not least because she’d earned herself an extraordinary margin of over 13 penalties coming into the final phase.

“It was a funny one, because I’ve obviously always known the under-25s class to be at Bramham, and then that year, it was at Bicton,” says Bubby. “But I think back then it was such a big win for me because it was my first at that level, and it was on a horse that I never thought would ever win a class like that. I never thought he’d even get to that level, so that victory was probably the most special of my career.”

Here, though, “there was quite a bit of chat about, you know, ‘Magic should win’, and this and that, and I heard the commentary when I went in to the dressage saying that everyone’s got their money on Magic winning. I did feel a bit of pressure then. Maybe, then, people kind of expected it as opposed to it being a shock, which it was back in 2021. But of course, it’s still unbelievably sweet to win any class, especially because the horse deserved it so much. The way he performed all week — he did the best test of his life; cross country yesterday was just the biggest buzz; and the feeling around this track was pretty special, too, so I was just pleased to be able to get the job done for him.”

Tom Bird and Rebel Rhyme. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Tom Bird and Rebel Rhyme also had a significant margin in hand as they came into the final phase, but they didn’t use any of the 13.2 penalties of wiggle room they’d been afforded. Despite the gelding’s record in this phase, which would have the 13-year-old down as arguably the most statistically unreliable jumper in the field, the pair rallied to deliver the goods and take second place in this prestigious class.

“He was just super — he’s a big horse, and he struggles a bit showjumping, particularly on the third day, but I just came in feeling calm. I thought this might be the day it all came together,” beams 21-year-old Tom, who splits his time between producing competition horses and assisting with his parents’ livery yard and riding school in Warwickshire.

Not only did the pair pull off a good enough performance to secure second place in the class, they also delivered the only fault-free round of the division. This marks their first clear round at a four-star — and, in fact, only their second-ever FEI showjumping clear. Their last came in a Junior CCI2*-L in 2019, and in this class last year, they toppled five rails and picked up a further 6.8 time penalties. Though an FOD result eluded them, it wasn’t by much: yesterday, they’d zoomed up the rankings from seventh to second after adding just 0.8 time penalties.

“He just ate it up,” says Tom. “I mean, Bramham’s massive, and it never feels easy, but he just he just cruised around and was so on his lines.”

Tom Bird and Rebel Rhyme. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

That quick clear across the country is also a major improvement on last year, where they picked up 20 penalties and added 7.6 time penalties, too — but the sea change, Tom explains, is in learning from where they went wrong in their preparation last spring.

“In hindsight, he wasn’t quite fit enough last year, so I knew I needed him fitter. He just feels a completely different horse this year; he finished really well and then came out and jumped the round of his life today. I’m over the moon, and absolutely delighted with him.”

That improved fitness comes through “lots of interval training” on the hills around Tom’s yard, and has been helped along this year by a trip to Ballindenisk in Ireland to run in the four-star in April, which gave him rather more match practice than many of his peers in this tough spring.

In any case, it’s a career-affirming result for the young professional and a horse that was never bought with lofty expectations in mind: “We’ve had him since I was 17. He was my first horse when I came out of ponies, and we bought him see if he could go Novice to teach me the ropes coming onto a horse,” says Tom with a smile. “He might not be your typical event horse to look at, but he just keeps proving himself and I can’t thank him enough for everything he’s done.”

That gratitude extends in many directions: Tom rattles off a laundry list of names who have helped him pull off this result, including Chris Bartle — “it’s not always gone our way, but he’s stuck with us through thick and thin” — dressage trainer Pammy Hutton, and his home team, helmed by head girl Daisy.

Sasha Hargreaves and Woodlands Be Daring. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Third place went the way of Sasha Hargreaves, who remained in that spot despite tipping two rails with Woodlands Be Daring, thanks to the significant 13.5 penalty margin afforded to her when previously fourth-placed Felicity Collins and Shadow Minnie Moon took three rails to slip to fifth, and Richard Coney and Poetry In Motion II, who stepped up one slot to fourth, had one fence down too.

For the young professional, who runs a string of young horses alongside this, her sole top horse, it’s a heartening result — and an educational one, too, as she learned how her partner copes with a test of this intensity, particularly on the final day.

“I think the hills yesterday took it out oh him a bit today,” she says of her partner of six years, who she describes as ‘one that’s been ticking along in the background’. “It’s always interesting — I know him really well, but not at long format. He was a bit flatter than he normally would be, but he tried his absolute hardest for me and I couldn’t have asked anything more from this result.”

While their first-phase result, a 34.2, put them a touch off the pace, their clear round with 10.8 time penalties yesterday propelled them up the leaderboard into podium position — but Sasha didn’t necessarily relish the idea of getting out onto the tough Ian Stark track yesterday until it was actually done.

“Cross-country day was quite terrifying,” laughs Sasha. “Like everyone, I haven’t had the best preparation this spring, so I was very nervous, but he was unbelievable out there.”

This is just the pair’s second CCI4*-L — they completed Blenheim last autumn, though as Sasha explains, “it didn’t quite go to plan – so it was nice to put those demons to bed this week.”

Just as Tom ahead of them had learned plenty from his tricky Bramham run last year, though, Sasha took that Blenheim and used it to reshape how she rides and supports her horse in bigger ticket competitions.

“We had a couple of runouts at Blenheim that were green mistakes on my part, and it was the first time he’d seen crowds, so he just went a bit green. I wasn’t there to support him, and so it meant that when I walked the course here, I did so knowing that I’d need to help him out a bit more than normal. He’s normally a complete and utter cross-country machine, but when they haven’t seen crowds this big or courses this long, you have to do a bit more than you’re used to. That’s been the main thing this week: I’ve just held his hand more than I usually would. We worked together for it.”

The final standings in Bramham’s 2023 under-25 CCI4*-L.

Bramham International Horse Trials: [Website] [Schedule][Volunteer] [Ride Times/Live Scoring] [EN’s Coverage] [Live Stream]

All Fly Through Easy Breezy Final Horse Inspection at Bromont

By Abby Powell on Jun 11, 2023 10:05 am -

Phillip Dutton and Azure. Photo by Abby Powell.

It’s a truly phenomenal day for a show jumping finale here in Quebec. The air quality in this area has remained excellent all weekend and after an exceptionally uneventful second horse inspection across all divisions, we’re ready to kick off the conclusion of an excellent weekend at MARS Bromont CCI.

All horses faired very well after tackling Derek di Grazia’s cross country courses yesterday and there were no withdrawals over night. Just one horse was held across all divisions: our personal choice for best named horse this weekend, Alfredo Sauce and Canada’s Sean McIntosh. The pair were accepted upon representation.

That means all standings remain the unchanged as we head into show jumping over a Marc Donovan designed course, assisted by Canada’s Sarah Roberts. The CCI2*-L in currently underway, followed by the CCI3*-L just before noon, and the day will conclude with the 4*-S and finally the 4*-L. Allez Bromont!

: Boyd Martin and Asti’s Charm. Photo by Abby Powell.

: Noah Stanlaske and DHI Showman. Photo by Abby Powell.

: Maya Clarkson and Make Mojo C. Photo by Abby Powell.

: Boyd Martin and Chiraz. Photo by Abby Powell.

: Boyd Martin and On Cue. Photo by Abby Powell.

: Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol HIM. Photo by Abby Powell.

: Arielle Aharoni and Dutch Times. Photo by Abby Powell.

MARS Bromont CCI: [Website] [Schedule] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Live Scoring] [EN’s Form Guide] [EN’s Coverage]

Top-Five Contender Eliminated in Bramham’s Final Horse Inspection

By Tilly Berendt on Jun 11, 2023 5:24 am -

CCI4*-L leaders Pippa Funnell and MCS Maverick. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The final horse inspection at Bramham is always a bit of a tense ordeal: Saturday’s CCI4*-L cross-country challenge is arguably the toughest of its level, and with intense terrain across the course, too, horsemanship must be at the fore in the aftermath. Sometimes, though, there’s only so much that icing can do – and after much deliberation from the ground jury and holding box vet, it was decided that Max Warburton‘s Monbeg Exclusive, fifth overnight in the under-25 CCI4*-L, would not be accepted to continue the competition.

Max Warburton and Monbeg Exclusive are the sole eliminations of the morning. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though no one was ultimately eliminated in the main CCI4*-L class, two were held: Harry Meade‘s Red Kite, who stepped up to fourth place overnight after delivering one of the five clears inside the time yesterday. Day one leaders Izzy Taylor and Happy Days, 27th overnight, were also sent to the holding box.

Harry Meade and Red Kite. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Both were subsequently accepted upon representation, as were Jesse Campbell‘s Gambesie, third overnight, and Jack Pinkney‘s Rehy Revelation, 32nd, who were each asked to trot again but not sent to the holding box for further examination. We do find ourselves down by one in this class, though: Abi Boulton and the former Ludwig Svennerstal mount Balham Mist, 16th overnight, withdrew before the final horse inspection, leaving us with 32 to showjump today.

Here’s a look at how the leaderboard looks now in the under-25 class, which sees Bubby Upton and Magic Roundabout IV lead with an enormous margin on 13.3 penalties, or three rails and three seconds:

And the top ten in the main CCI4*-L, which has a much smaller margin for error for overnight leader Pippa Funnell, who doesn’t even have a time penalty in hand:

The under-25 CCI4*-L will be the first class to jump today, with the six remaining competitors taking to the ring from 11.00 a.m. The main CCI4*-L will follow on after the first class’s prize giving, with jumping commencing from 12.15 p.m. Though there’s no live-streaming today, we’ll be bringing you full reports from each class through the day as we crown our new Bramham champions. Until then: Go Eventing!

Bramham International Horse Trials: [Website] [Schedule][Volunteer] [Ride Times/Live Scoring] [EN’s Coverage] [Live Stream]

Sunday Links from SmartPak

By Allie Heninger on Jun 11, 2023 12:01 am -

Phillip Dutton and Azure. Photo by Abby Powell.

Our final day of Bromont and Bramham is upon us! After a good leaderboard shake-up across the (rather tumultuous) country yesterday, Phillip Dutton and Azure leapt from 15th to 1st in the MARS Bromont CCI4*-L with nary a double-clear in sight, while Boyd Martin wrings out first place leads in the 4*-S, 3*-L, and 2*-L. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Pippa Funnell leads the pack coming into Sunday in the Bramham CCI4*-L on MCS Maverick. I am once again stunned by the complexity we are blessed with in Bromont’s cross-country course, and am not at all surprised at the shuffled placings post-sandbox.

EN has boots on the ground at both Bromont and Bramham this weekend, so keep it locked here and follow along at @goeventing for everything you need to know from these big spring events!

MARS Bromont CCI (Lac Brome, Quebec, Canada) [Website] [Schedule] [Entries] [Volunteer][Live Scoring] [EN’s Form Guide] [EN’s Coverage]

EN has boots on the ground for Bramham International Horse Trials in the UK too, where Tilly will be bringing us all the ins and outs of the show. You can follow along with the live stream on H&C+ (subscription required).

Bramham International Horse Trials (Wetherby, West Yorkshire, UK) [Website] [Schedule][Volunteer] [Ride Times / Live Scoring] [EN’s Coverage] [Live Stream]

U.S. Weekend Action:

Apple Knoll Farm H.T. (Millis, MA) [Website] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Cobblestone Farms H.T. I (Chelsea, MI) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring]

Golden Spike H.T. (Ogden, UT) [Website] [Volunteer] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring]

Middleburg H.T. (The Plains, VA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]

Plantation Field H.T. (Coatesville, PA) [Website] [Entries] [Volunteer]

Queeny Park H.T. (Saint Louis, MI) [Website] [Volunteer] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring]

River Glen June H.T. (New Market, TN) [Website] [Entries / Ride Times / Scoring]

Links to Start Your Sunday:

Come JUMP! with Sharon White at Last Frontier Farm in Summit Point, West Virginia this July 4

Embracing Empathy & Understanding In The Equestrian Community: A Rebuttal To “Who Will Train The Horses One Day”

Vassily’s Welfare Comes Before Olympic Dreams, Says Hoy

Welcoming our new Defender Burghley Ambassadors Tim & Jonelle Team Price

Horses at Arlington National Cemetery will be suspended for a year for rehab

Weekly Pick from SmartPak: How well do you know your equine GI issues? Test your knowledge with SmartPak’s quiz. How many of these are signs of equine gastric ulcers?

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Morning Viewing: Finally, the secret sauce for white breeches and half pads, courtesy of Kaimbri White (hint: the answer is, and always will be, Dawn Powerwash).

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The Boys of Summer Lead Bromont: Boyd Martin, Phillip Dutton Claim 4* + 3* Lead, Noah Stanlaske Best of U25

By Sally Spickard on Jun 10, 2023 11:04 pm -

Phillip Dutton and Azure. Photo by Abby Powell.

It’s the Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton show following a wonderful day of cross country at the MARS Bromont CCI after an exceptional showcase of riding and sport. Between the two Olympians, they lead all FEI divisions here save, of course, the Under-25 CCI2*-L.

After the conclusion of competition on Saturday, Phillip Dutton leads the CCI4*-L on the 11-year-old Irish mare Azure (Omar – Cavalier Roselier, by Cavalier Royale), contesting her second CCI4*-L this weekend and today adding just one second of time over the optimum of 10 minutes to bump up into the lead. This quick turn of foot was rewarded with a whopping 14-place leap up in the standings, and a two-phase score of 36.8 gives Phillip a rail and some time in hand for tomorrow’s show jumping.

“We’re sort of getting into a partnership,” Phillip said of Azure, who is owned by Anne, Caroline, and Michael Moran. “Obviously the dressage, we’ve got a long way to go there, so we’re going to go back to the drawing board because I definitely was making progress in the spring but I’m a little bit disappointed with what we did here in the dressage. So we’ve got a bit of work to do there. But she knows me pretty well now on the cross country and I trust her as so I’m able to shave off time on the approach to the jumps as well. So we’re forming a partnership, a good partnership, and hopefully it’s gonna grow from here.”

Phillip Dutton and Azure. Photo by Abby Powell.

Despite a couple of greener moments on course, Phillip was able to use his experience to navigate Derek di Grazia’s up-to-standard test and the undulating, tiring terrain. “The terrain is kind of undulating, so there’s never any just flat area,” he explained. “You’re constantly a little bit up and down all the time, which you know, takes probably fifteen percent off your speed when you’re really trying to go fast. Certainly on that old steeplechase track you could really put the foot down there, but on a lot of the other parts the horse was still managing the gallop rather than just going for it.”

After today’s big effort, tomorrow is still a question mark for Azure. She does have a handful of rails since moving up to this level, so Phillip will once again call on his experience getting a horse that’s made a sincere effort the day before around Marc Donovan’s show jumping track come Sunday. The rail he has in hand may come in to play, but a strong showing here will cement Azure as one of Phillip’s stars on the rise.

Arielle Aharoni and Dutch Times. Photo by Abby Powell.

Also making major moves up in the standings after a brilliant cross country trip today are Arielle Aharoni with Christina Aharoni’s Dutch Times (Goodtimes – Alino Queen, by Michellino). This pair moved up six places, from eighth into second, adding 8.4 time penalties to their dressage score for a two-phase mark of 41.3. Arielle and “Dutch” finished tenth here in the same division last year, and they’re no strangers to this venue as this is their third trip here as a pair.

Arielle has taken her time gaining mileage and experience with her 15-year-old partner. In fact, this weekend would be their seventh 4*-L competition together. That patience has paid off — in 2022, Arielle and Dutch began to accumulate more consistent results in FEI competition. She now finds herself well-placed to finish on the podium — or better — this weekend. Arielle credits the amount of trust and comfort she and Dutch have built in each other with their ability to compete on the clock today — something they haven’t historically been able to do.

“He came out of the box hot, like he was ready to rumble and I just let him go,” she elaborated. “And I’m not one to usually even come close to time. Usually we’re like, you know, 30 seconds over a minute over. But this year, I was like, ‘I’m so comfortable with this horse. I know he’s confident with all the combinations he’s ever seen. I’m going to try to be a little faster this year.’ And you know what? I’ve been a little bit faster this year, and it’s working out for me!”

Arielle Aharoni and Dutch Times. Photo by Abby Powell.

With all of this experience under her and her horse’s belt, Arielle is now firmly eyeing a 5* move-up in the near future. This goal informed her plan as she walked around Derek’s track, which carries a bit of a reputation as being a five-star preparer or a “mini Kentucky”. Speaking to the angled rails to a big, looming corner at fence 9AB, which was given an option after rider rep Hannah Sue Hollberg and other competitors brought their concerns about the question up to the Ground Jury and designer. Seven pairs would end up opting for the direct route here, including Arielle.

“Actually, it rode perfectly fine, but I think I sat there for thirty minutes looking at it,” she said of the combination. “I was like, ‘do I take the option? Or do I just go for it?’ But my goal is Kentucky five-star, so if I want to do that, I should be able to take all the straight routes and you know, not think about worrying.”

Looking to tomorrow, Arielle is feeling cautiously confident about her chances to hold or improve her position. “I have full confidence in his show jumping, I just have to pray that I do all the riding right because he is going to be fabulous.”

Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol HIM. Photo by Abby Powell.

An elated Hannah Sue Hollberg caught up with me after her ride aboard Christa Schmidt’s Capitol H I M (Con Air – O-Heraldika, by Heraldik xx), which was good enough to move her up nine places into third place overnight on a score of 42.4. This 16-year-old Holsteiner gelding was originally purchased for Christa to ride, but due to his sharpness and also a tendency to be horse shy, Hannah Sue took the reins and with Christa’s support began campaigning him up the levels. He began his international eventing career in 2019 with Hannah Sue and first made the step up to the 4* level in 2021.

Today, Hannah Sue says she learned that she can go quick across the country with “Chito”. In fact, it was actually discovered by Hannah Sue’s vet last year that the gelding had Cushing’s disease — despite being asymptomatic, she followed a hunch and was proven to be correct. As a result of the treatment, Hannah Sue says she can feel a world of a difference in how Chito feels and performs now.

“It’s given him back his athleticism,” she reflected. “Now he can gallop like he used to be able to and he dragged me all the way around today. Every time I asked him to speed up he did. I had a really good feeling about [today], and he’s such a good cross country horse and you know, he’s all heart. If I can just steer him and do the right thing, he tries so hard no matter what.”

Hannah Sue has worked hard on her own technique in order to better set Chito up for success to go quick. Admitting she sometimes struggles with her hands and holding back too much, she was proud of her ability to get a little out of her comfort zone today to put the pedal down. “I was trying to be as fast as I could. So the beginning of the course was a little bit more uncomfortable than I like! But it was a good feeling — that’s kind of how you have to be, you know, to be fast and it worked out really well. I just had to let go of control a bit and be more trusting and he was just so awesome.”

Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol HIM. Photo by Abby Powell.

“I wanted to challenge myself a little,” she said when asked why she’d chosen Bromont as the Long format to aim for with Chito. “This is like the hardest four-star Long I’ve ever walked. So I definitely came to the right place.” Hannah Sue did put in for the U.S. team heading to Chile this fall for the Pan American Games, but should she not be selected to the team she says she feels Chito is ready to aim for the Maryland 5 Star in October, which would be a second try at the 5* level for this pair (they went to Kentucky in 2022 but parted ways on cross country).

Derek di Grazia’s track rode quite well today, despite its steep challenge. Issues were a bit scattered throughout, but the 9AB combination would have caused the most difficulty with four pairs encountering difficulty here and having to go around to the option. Dressage leader Colleen Loach dropped out of her position, but delivered a clear cross country with FE Golden Eye, adding 12.4 time penalties to sit in fourth overnight. Second- and third-placed Lillian Heard Wood ran into some trouble with both Chilly and Dassett Olympus on course, but finished well with both and was feeling understandably disappointed but generally positive about her horses at the end of the day.

Derek was pleased with how his tracks rode today, reiterating his philosophy that the course should be, above all, fair to the horses. “I always try to believe that it’s fair and and that it is something that is very possible to do,” he commented. “Especially at the level, realistically, you believe that horses that are at the four-star level are trained to a certain level of proficiency and that they should be able to handle what you put out there. But the biggest thing is really is to make sure it’s fair, that they really are able to understand what what the question is and then be able to go ahead and execute.”

The designer in residence here has already put his thinking cap on for what he wants to put in place for the upcoming “Little Bromont” and FEI Nations Cup in August, which will feature a CCI4*-S track.

Boyd Martin and On Cue. Photo by Abby Powell.

Boyd Martin Takes Charge of CCI4*-S and CCI3*-L, Retains Lead on CCI2*-L

Boyd Martin has five rides this weekend across three divisions and had a very good day in the office: he’s leading each of those three divisions.

He and five-star winning mare On Cue easily retained their lead in the CCI4*-S by delivering the fastest round of the division and adding 12.8 penalties to their dressage score. They’ll head into tomorrow’s show jumping with a score of 41.8 and will have plenty of breathing room ahead of Phillip Dutton and Z. The Aachen-bound pair had a steady round, picking up 20 time faults and slotting them into second place after dressage runners-up Colleen Loach and Vermont retired on course.

Boyd can’t help but sing the praises of Christine Turner’s mare, and while he rode steadily and not necessarily for the fastest time he was still rather impressed by her easy effort.

“She’s just got back in the swing of things and it was a monstrous four-star short course and she went around on a loose rein,” Boyd said. “She would be one of my all time favorite horses ever to ride. She gallops like the wind, she’s smart, she’s careful, she’s brave, she’s easy to turn, she sees a fence in a split second. I just love her to bits.”

Boyd Martin and Chiraz. Photo by Abby Powell.

After CCI3*L division leaders Lauren Nicholson and Larcot Z, a newer ride in her string, collected a few time faults and left the door open for a new division leader today, Boyd and Sandra Olsen’s Chiraz galloped right though. The pair, who was sitting second after dressage, delivered a clear round three seconds inside the time to take over the lead heading into show jumping with a score of 29.6.

“We’ve only been together for a short period of time and I really didn’t know what to expect,” Boyd said of the 10-year-old Holsteiner. “He put in a fantastic round across the country and we had a couple of iffy fences, but he kept kept fighting for me.”

Boyd’s remaining three mounts this weekend were entries in the CCI2*-L division and all of them ended the day near (or at) the top of the leaderboard.

“All three of my [two-star] horses felt green, but that’s exactly why I brought them to Bromont. It’s always a tough, challenging cross country course and I feel like the horses finished with a good education. ‘Morris’, ‘Barney’, and ‘Charm’ all ripped around in a competitive time and they were green in spots, but I felt like they really stood up to the task.”

Boyd Martin and Astis Charming. Photo by Abby Powell.

Asti’s Charming, a ten-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Sterling Equestrian, retains the lead in the division and remains on his dressage score of 23.0.

“Hats off to Charm,” Boyd said. He dug deep and he was definitely feeling some inexperienced moments, but he showed plenty of grit and and ended up doing the time quite easily.”

Mo Chroi (“Morris”) also ran clear and inside the time and moves from sixth place to third. Barney Rubble crossed the flags just one second over time and climbs from eleventh to sixth heading into show jumping.

Noah Stanlaske and DHI Showman. Photo by Abby Powell.

Noah Stanlaske Best of the U25CCI2*-L

It was a lot of hard work that got Noah Stanlaske to the point he is today: leading the U25CCI2*-L division at MARS Bromont CCI. Noah took the reins on DHI Showman after the gelding was first campaigned by coach Buck Davidson (Noah also works with Shannon Lilley, who’s been here helping him this week). Having ridden a Thoroughbred from his first Beginner Novice on, transitioning to a big warmblood was a big change for Noah.

“You know, I came out here wanting to be competitive. And I think I achieved that today,” Noah said. “I was a little nervous, like listening going last of the day I heard where everything went wrong. I also heard where things went well and where I could learn how to maybe kick a bit more, where to really push for the time. It was hard to make and there was a point where I didn’t think I was going to make [the time], so it was just exciting to get across the finish line.”

When asked what has really grown in the time Noah and “Elvis” have been together, he answered, “I think our bond, really. Him seeing me taking care of him. Him supporting me. He’s a horse that needs a person — he loves his attention, he loves his cookies, he loves his hugs. You can just go and hug him for ten minutes straight — he gives you the heavy breath and the puppy eyes. Our bond is really I think what’s made him help support me and me support him.”

Noah will go into tomorrow’s show jumping finale on a score of 29.2, and won’t have much breathing room ahead of second-placed Sara Schulman on a score of 29.6.

Maya Clarkson and Maks Mojo C. Photo by Abby Powell.

MARS Bromont Rising Participants Shine on Cross Country Day

It was a banner day for the future of the sport as the young riders receiving the MARS Bromont Rising grants showcased their skills and talent on cross country. Second placed in the 3*-L overnight will be one such recipient, Maya Clarkson. A clear cross country inside the time was rewarded with a move up from ninth into second on a score of 32.5.

“It was so much fun. My horse was super,” Maya said. “The course was amazing. I thought that it asked a lot of really good questions is definitely it was kind of my first three long. So it was like the hardest course that either of us have ever seen. And I thought that he answered every single question like, by a mile. He was so good. I couldn’t have been happier with him.”

This was a 3*-L debut for Maya, who has been campaigning internationally with Maks Mojo C — who shares a sire (Mighty Magic) with Miks Master C and Mama’s Magic Way, to name a couple — since 2022. She said the insights gleaned from the Bromont Rising program made for some additional tools for her arsenal in a new venue.

“[Bromont Rising] was really helpful in regards to how to ride the specific tracks and the terrain,” she said. “I’ve never been here before and the ground is different, so that was really helpful knowing how the horses might react to certain parts of the ground and where to stay away from.”

Sara Schulman and Cooley Chromatic. Photo by Abby Powell.

Highest-placed of the Bromont Rising riders in the U25CCI2*-L is Sara Schulman, who delivered an impressive round on her own Cooley Chromatic to sit second overnight on a score of 29.6. Partnered together since the seven-year-old gelding was four, Sara says it’s been a real pleasure to strengthen her partnership with her horse to get to this point.

“I’ve had him since the beginning of his career, which has been a really nice partnership to build off of,” Sara said. “When I got him, he was 16 hands and now he’s 17.1, so I’ve had to adapt with that as he’s grown. But having a partnership of three and a half years is a really nice thing to have going on to a new course and new terrain and the biggest test of his career. Sometimes you don’t know quite how younger ones are going to react to the terrain questions or the twisting courses, and he ate it up. I took a little bit of extra time to set him up because he was a bit eager to be running out of the box, but I’m excited that he was so excited to be running around.”

Speaking to the benefits of the Bromont Rising program, Sara thought for a moment when asked what her biggest takeaway has been. “I think one big takeaway that is important for all of us to go with is that we’re the future of the sport and we sort of have to take responsibility in that,” she reflected. “So shedding a positive light on the sport and creating education especially [where there] were so many spectators out on course, which was awesome. And there were quite a few people who came up and I explained a little bit more about my horse and a bit about the sport. So I think just spreading that education and awareness to positive vibe for our sport is really important.”

Sara Schulman and Cooley Chromatic. Photo by Abby Powell.

One of the coaches here this weekend, Germany Olympian Bettina Hoy, was equally impressed with the outcome of the weekend so far (though we do still have one more day of competition!). The young riders she’s been helping worked hard all week to soak up the knowledge they were gaining from the teachings of Bettina, dressage judge Cara Whitham, and course designer Derek di Grazia. For Bettina, the chance to share some of the knowledge she’s acquired over her career is a chance to give back and help further the sport.

“Overall, I’m actually very impressed by everyone, the fact that they really soaked it up every piece of information they could get, they really soaked it up, they worked very hard,” Bettina said. “And I could see them try to put into place, especially in the dressage on the cross country, I think, you know, at an event, I don’t think you can change that much. You can give some information, what to look for, especially here, as I said before, they would have felt the horses getting a little bit tired. Knowing how to deal with that knowing and having a debrief to what can you do better? How can you get your horse maybe a little bit fitter, if they felt there was getting tired. But I was impressed by the way they rode — they were very positive. They’re good kids. And I think, you know, some of them will certainly make it up to the top. And it’s fantastic of Ms. Mars to sponsor this, because I think it makes a huge difference to the kids.”

“I was very lucky and having had amazing coaches, all the way along. Foremost, my dad. But then I could tap into a lot of special coaching and trainers as well. And I’m just foremost really, really thankful that I can give something back into the sport and if what I have to say or what I can pass on, if that makes the sport safer, more enjoyable, keeping horse and rider happy and healthy. That’s my biggest reward.”

And with that, my time in Quebec comes to a very sad close. I head off entirely too early tomorrow to make a baby shower on the other coast, so I’ll leave the Sunday reporting to Abby Powell and our intern for the weekend, Poppy van Mahltzan. All divisions will jog at 8 AM tomorrow morning, and the competition will resume 9:30 AM starting with CCI2*-L show jumping.

Stay tuned for much more from the conclusion of what’s been a very wonderful weekend in Bromont. Go Eventing!

MARS Bromont CCI: [Website] [Schedule] [Entries] [Volunteer] [Live Scoring] [EN’s Form Guide] [EN’s Coverage]

: Alex Conrad and Bonito. Photo by Abby Powell.

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: MARS Bromont Rising recipient Emeline Gilbert and EWSZ Mozart. Photo by Abby Powell.

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: Jessie Phoenix and Fluorescent Adolescent. Photo by Abby Powell.

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: Lauren Nicholson and I’ll Have Another. Photo by Abby Powell.

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: Lindsay Traisnel and Bacyrouge impress at Bromont’s 4*-L in June. Photo by Abby Powell.

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Cross-Country Day at Bramham: Pippa Funnell Steps Into First; Bubby Upton Is Untouchable

By Tilly Berendt on Jun 10, 2023 6:58 pm -

Bramham: the biggest, boldest of four-stars. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though cross country day at Bramham started out inauspiciously – the first four competitors out of the start box came home clear and with negligible or no time penalties — it quickly gained in intensity, with problems presenting themselves far and wide throughout the 5,885m CCI4*-L track. Of the 45 starters, 33 would go on to complete — a fair completion rate of 73%. 27 of those completing did so sans jumping penalties; five did so without jumping or time penalties. These are, all things considered, very good numbers for a competition that’s widely considered the world’s toughest four-star; in comparison, 2019 saw a clear rate of just 33% – nearly half today’s 60% – and considerably more safety device activations in that iteration, too. Just one device was activated in today’s senior CCI4*-L: Aimee Penny and PSH Encore triggered a MIMclip at fence 8ABC, the rail-ditch-rail combination.

Part of that positive upward trend towards completions may well be attributed to a change in qualifications enacted by the FEI at the tail end of last season. Now, athlete categorisations are based on results over a four-year, rather than eight-year, period, though each grade has also had its required number of qualifying results lessened in tandem with this change. Also newly brought in is a rule regarding horses returning to competition after time off: those who haven’t contested an FEI competition in 13 months or more must log a qualifying result at the preceding level. All this serves to tidy up the entry lists at the top end competitions this spring, though they’re not changes that have been met with universal praise.

Whatever the case, though, Ian Stark’s typically big, bold tracks here still exerted plenty of influence, even with this more positive spin on the numbers. Never was that felt more than when firm favourite — and first-phase leaders — Ros Canter and Izilot DHI took to the course late in the day. With wins at two-, three-, and four-star level to his name already, smart-but-sharp ‘Isaac’ was hotly tipped coming into this event, but the ten-year-old quite quickly made it plainly evident that even the most talented of athletes is still far from a machine when he nipped out the side door at fence 3b, a relatively straightforward left-handed log-to-skinny question.

Pippa Funnell and MCS Maverick take over the top spot at Bramham. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

That opened the door for a number of potential pretenders to the throne — and although the previous two days’ relentlessly tough judging had been frustrating for everyone at the time, it did mean that much of the field was closely bunched, and so a few seconds in either direction could make a huge impact. Ultimately, though, it would be Pippa Funnell, second-placed after dressage, who would step into the top spot with the ten-year-old CCI4*-L debutant MCS Maverick, who added just 1.2 time penalties and never looked to come off the boil on course despite being held for several minutes just before fence 14.

“If ever I’ve had one that gives you the feeling that it’s going to run around Burghley or Badminton, he’s one, and that’s why probably I quietly took him on, but he is a project,” says Pippa. “He’s not there yet, and he’s got a lot of sort of maturing and strengthening to do.”

So far, he’s ticked all the boxes in the two phases he’s completed — but the first phase, Pippa explains, is where he can be particularly tough, and so as she’s gotten to know him, she’s devised a way to keep him in a positive mental place.

“I was absolutely delighted with the dressage, but it is proper, proper mind games, because he’s not strong enough in his body just to say, ‘I’m going to do so much work that I’m going to wear him out’, because you won’t wear the horse out. He’s got that much blood you won’t wear him out physically, and I was really aware with the dressage that I couldn’t make him body sore, so he did lots of hacking, lots of cantering off his back, loose lunging, just stuff that really relaxes his brain. Tomorrow, too, will be all about learning.”

This is just Pippa’s third international on the gelding, who she took on from fellow five-star rider and Billy Stud stable jockey Helen Wilson.

“Helen, who rides for us, has ridden the horse and Sarah Ross, the owner, always had the horse at home. She bought the horse as a three or four year old, and Helen’s always ridden the horse,” says Pippa. “I saw it, actually, as a young horse — I think it was either four or five — the first time they ever took it cross country schooling and I said then, ‘Gosh, what a lovely quality horse’. And so I always followed it, because Helen was in the area, and then Helen was working for us and things, and so I did sit on him for the first time a couple of years ago for Helen, just out of interest. I really liked him, but he’s just quite hot.”

It was Helen who eventually suggested that owner Sarah place the horse with Pippa: “Helen had a good run at Houghton last year and and then, you know, had ups and downs and found it, I think, fairly difficult because the horse was kept at the owner’s and so she couldn’t ride it really regularly. Between them, they mutually decided to see if I would just give it a go. I made it very clear I would, but if I was not happy with him jumping and cross country wise, then I wasn’t prepared to put in the work. But Helen always said he was a machine in the way he galloped, and she’s right about that.”

Piggy March and Brookfield Cavalier Cruise. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Piggy March now finds herself in second place overnight after delivering the first clear round inside the time as just the second out of the startbox with another ten-year-old in Brookfield Cavalier Cruise. Though this is the gelding’s first CCI4*-L, he came to Bramham off the back of a win in Thoresby’s secondary CCI4*-S section, and a fourteenth-place finish at the same level at Bicton last month. Now, the former ride of Tom McEwen and Harry Meade, who Piggy describes as “a horse who’s won with every rider”, stands on the precipice of potential victory once again — he’s just 0.3 penalties behind the overnight leader, giving Pippa and MCS Maverick nothing in hand going into tomorrow’s showjumping.

Jesse Campbell and Gambesie. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Though his two time penalties allowed Piggy to squeeze in ahead, New Zealand’s Jesse Campbell retained his third-placed spot on the leaderboard with the twelve-year-old Dutch-bred debutant Gambesie, a former mount of Irish Olympian Jonty Evans. After battling some recurrent hoof issues, Jesse and his team have clearly hit upon a winning formula for the talented gelding, who rose to the occasion at the tail end of the class.

Harry Meade and Red Kite sail through the final element of the Roundhouse complex. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Harry Meade enjoyed a very good day in the office indeed: both his horses now sit in the top ten going into showjumping, with Red Kite stepping into fourth after adding neither time nor jumping penalties — and stepping into a space vacated by day one leaders Izzy Taylor and Happy Days, who picked up jumping penalties at the B element of fence 19, a skinny on a downhill approach — and the exciting Cavalier Crystal moving to seventh with a scant 1.2 time penalties.

Harry Mutch and HD Bronze at the Roundhouse. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Much as at Thoresby earlier this year, that double of good results sees him in close quarters with Harry Mutch, who piloted his longtime partner HD Bronze to an enormously classy clear with just 3.2 time penalties in the rider’s first year out of the under-25s. They retain their post-dressage fifth-place spot.

Tom McEwen and Luna Mist. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Less than a rail covers the entirety of the top five as we go into tomorrow’s finale, and Pippa will have just a rail and a time penalty in hand over sixth-placed Tom McEwen and Luna Mist.

The top ten going into tomorrow’s final horse inspection and showjumping in the Bramham CCI4*-L.

The under-25 CCI4*-L ran over the same course, and with the same 10:20 optimum time, but as is often the case, the relative inexperience of its small field of entries meant that the rate of attrition was considerably higher in this class. Just seven of our original 11 competitors will go on to tomorrow morning’s final horse inspection; pathfinder Richard Coney was the first to go by the wayside when he fell with third-placed Mermus R Diamonds at the main water complex at 18ABCDE. He wasn’t the only rider to take a tumble: overnight leaders Morgane Euriat and Baccarat d’Argonne, who were cross-country leaders here last year, also ended their weekend early when Morgane fell at fence six, the Roundhouse complex, which was made up of a trakehner, a skinny, and an angled ditch and brush, and Imo Brook, too, had a horse fall at the Womble Bond Dickinson Pond at 18ABCDE, necessitating a hold on course.

Bubby Upton and Magic Roundabout IV jump into the first water at Bramham. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There was no such trouble, though, for Bubby Upton, who had led the first phase on a 26.5 — a score so impressive that it would have led any of the three classes in this week’s competition. She and Magic Roundabout IV, who she sourced through Piggy March, added nothing to it with their decisive, mature round — a marker, undoubtedly, of the considerable experience Bubby has picked up around top-level courses — to retain their lead.

“It was a big ask for him — people think he’s a lot more experienced than he is, but he’s only ran twice since May last year,” says Bubby, who won the under-25 title two years ago with Cannavaro, when this class was temporarily rerouted to Devon’s Bicton under Covid measures. “So with the spring we’ve had he really lacked prep runs, so I had a lot of confidence in him, but obviously at the same time I was kind of a little bit uncertain of how he’d cope round this track.”

She needn’t have worried. Though neither horse nor rider has ever tackled the tough Yorkshire track before, Bubby took the ride on Magic Roundabout with Piggy’s assurance that he was a horse best suited for Bramham and Burghley types of courses — big, bold, galloping, and stacked with terrain. And though a freak field accident last year put off his debut, he’s more than stepped up now that he’s here. Once again, the pair would easily be in the lead had they been taking part in the senior CCI4*-L.

“He was just phenomenal,” says Bubby. “He ate up the track and made it feel like a lot of fun, to be honest. It was a real joy to ride; it was going really great, but I had to keep just like, regaining my focus because he was making it feel so smooth, I had to just keep putting myself in check almost before the combinations coming up, but he just kept responding. There wasn’t a single moment really where he gave me anything to worry about. He just responded to everything I asked for and was full of running.”

Because of Magic Roundabout’s easy rhythm, Bubby found herself bang on her first and second minute markers, and then up on the clock thereafter — which meant that when she got to the tops of the venue’s famous hills, “I could give him five, six strides to breathe because the time was no pressure,” she explains. “And then the bounce into the water and the coffin, I just really took my time to make sure I didn’t make a stupid mistake.”

Part of the key to Bubby’s success today was a last-minute change of plan in her route at the first water at 11AB.

“I didn’t change anything in my plan as a result of watching, but I did change my plan in that first water after walking it with [trainer] Caroline Moore,” she says. “She told me to stay a lot more left jumping into that log actually into the water; I was aiming more right of centre, and thank God I did [what she recommended] because then it gave me that really nice curve to the corner. If you jumped the corner heading even slightly left you were then in real trouble for the last corner. So that was the only slight change I made. And I watched [CCI4*-L pathefinder] Aaron Millar go through that and he was pure class, so I watched that and I thought, that’s enough. You can overwatch, so you have to be so careful of who you watch in relation to what your horse is like versus their horse, and my horse has got an enormous stride. so I knew that he can make that distance as long as I didn’t jump in too big into the water and I landed in control.”

Tom Bird and Rebel Rhyme. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Bubby now leads this class by an extraordinary margin: she’ll go into the final day of competition with 13.3 penalties — or three rails and three second — in hand over second-placed Tom Bird and Rebel Rhyme, who climbed from seventh after dressage to the podium after delivering the first clear of this class.

Sasha Hargreaves and Woodlands Be Daring. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Sasha Hargreaves, too, delivered an early clear — albeit with 10.8 time penalties — to move from outside the top five to overnight third with Woodlands Be Daring. She has 5.2 penalties in hand over fourth-placed Felicity Collins and Shadow Minnie Moon, who also added 10.8 time penalties.

Tomorrow sees the final horse inspections take place in front of Bramham House from 9.00 a.m., followed by the under-25 CCI4*-L showjumping from 11.00 a.m. and the main CCI4*-L showjumping from 12.15 p.m. Though there’s no more live-streaming tomorrow, keep it locked on to EN, and we’ll bring you reports from both the inspections and the exciting finale of these two important classes. Plus, stay tuned for a full report from the finale of the packed CCI4*-S, too!

The leaderboard as it stands going into the final day of the under-25 CCI4*-L.

Bramham International Horse Trials: [Website] [Schedule][Volunteer] [Ride Times/Live Scoring] [EN’s Coverage] [Live Stream]

Host Nation France Names Paris 2024 Eventing Long List

By US Equestrian Press Release on Jun 10, 2023 12:00 pm -

Karim Laghouag and Triton Fontain. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

14 months after the announcement of the selections, 28 pairs of riders and horses are already identified by the federal sports management team and accompanied by the FFE both on the sport side and on all organizational and career management aspects. The objective: to facilitate and professionalize the preparation of riders and their horses to accompany their rise in power until the Games.

Thanks to its status as the host nation of the Olympic Games in 2024, France is directly qualified in the four equestrian disciplines and will therefore present a team in show jumping, dressage, dressage, dressage and para-dressage.

These lists are built on objective criteria of performance and sporting potential for the specific format of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, such as the format of the events without “drop score” or the configuration of the courses, including the cross of the complete competition. These lists will evolve over the months that separate us from the Olympic and Paralympic deadline according to the results of the couples. They will tighten as the event approaches to lead to the final selection that should be announced at the end of June/early July 2024.

Sophie Dubourg, National Technical Director, FFE: “We are happy to have confirmed the long lists of the French team in each discipline. These couples are the elite of tricolor horseback riding. We have built a very solid team with a strong experience. Now, our goal is to value our champions and continue to move forward together. In this period, the challenge is now high for them: perform to be the best in 2024 and integrate the selection. Preparing for the major championships is very difficult, physically and psychologically. The training is intensive and the pressure is high.”

The pairs selected to the eventing long list are:

Thomas Carlile and Darmagnac de Béliard, owned by S.C.E.A. DE BELIARD and Jean-Jacques Montagne.
Sébastien Cavaillon and Elipso de la Vigne, owned by the Elipso Paris 2024 union
Luc Chateau and Cocorico de l’Ebat, owned by Caroline Queval and her rider.
Karim Laghouag and Triton Fontaine, owned by Philippe Lemoine, Guy Bessat, S.A.R.L. ECURIE KARIM LAGHOUAG and Camille Laffite.
Karim Laghouag and Embrun de Reno, owned by S.A.R.L. ECURIE KARIM LAGHOUAG, Guy Bessat, Camille Laffite and Philippe Lemoine.
Stéphane Landois and Chaman Dumontceau, owned by S.C.E.A. BLUE CHERRY SQUAD
Gireg Le Coz and Aisprit de la Loge, owned by Frédérique Grand and Augustin Grand.
Héloïse Le Guern and Canakine du Sudre Z, owned by Bénédicte Le Guern and Philippe Le Guern.
Camille Lejeune and Dame Decoeur Tardonne, owned by Sarah Gospodnetic and her rider.
Maxime Livio and Api du Libraire, owned by S.d.f Api Club.
Maxime Livio and Carouzo Bois Marotin, owned by S.C. Sixty-six and company, Gilles Saiagh and Céline Fronteau.
Benjamin Massié and Edition Fonroy, owned by Jean-Luc Van Hoenacker and his rider.
Gaspard Maksud and Zaragoza, owned by Jane Young and Martin Thurlow.
Astier Nicolas and Alertamalib’Or, owned by Aliette Forien, Pascal Ravery, Nicolas Paul and his rider.
Nicolas Touzaint and Absolut Gold*HDC, owned by Haras des Coudrettes.
Nicolas Touzaint and Diabolo Menthe, owned by Mézard Sports and Françoise Niclaus.

You can read the full press release with the list of combinations named for all Olympic disciplines here.

EN’s pre-Paris coverage is brought to you with support from Zoetis Equine.

Bold, Beautiful, Bromont: Preview Derek di Grazia’s MARS Bromont CCI4*-L Cross Country

By Sally Spickard on Jun 10, 2023 9:00 am -

Photo by Sally Spickard.

If you ask just about any top rider why they choose to come to Bromont each year, the answer is always similar: because it’s a true cross country test that sets horses up well with added experience for the next level to come. It’s not an event you’d want to bring just any horse to — you’d want to bring a horse that is either ready for a bigger test or who needs some exposure to a more challenging track.

“It’s kind of like being on vacation, terrified!” Lillian Heard Wood, overnight second in the CCI4*-L division here at the MARS Bromont CCI in Quebec, remarked on Friday. Lillian names Bromont as her favorite three-day of all time, and she does her best to bring horses that are ready to be here as often as she can. “I think the cross country’s epic,” she elaborated. “It’s what it’s supposed to be. It kind of looks like, you know, a Badminton, like a Burghley, or a Kentucky — like it has that feel to it. So if you want to know if your horse can get there, that’s why you come here.”

Indeed it does, and we’ve got Kentucky and Burghley designer-in-residence Derek di Grazia here to lay his craft on the undulating terrain at the Bromont Olympic Equestrian Park. The 10 minute track, which features 27 numbered obstacles and 40 total jumping efforts, is not short on challenges and will require a brave and bold ride the whole way around to finish strong. True to Derek style, he’s made prime use of the ground here, strategically placing fences in places that will require riders to really think about the big picture rather than just the fence immediately in front of them.

“Bromont’s its own course, and quite different from many,” Derek said of the venue. “I think when riders know they’re coming to Bromont, they know that there’s going to be ups and downs and actually quite some pulls on the course, so the horses have to be fit. But it also lends to having some great opportunities for setting jumps here, and creating different sorts of questions for the course.”

Photo by Sally Spickard.

“As each property is very unique and they have their own sets of pluses and minuses, I think that it’s great to have really interesting terrain to work with. It’s all got to work within the course, and also the footing has to be decent for the horses and riders for the day. So there are a variety of factors that go into creating it and having it all come together just right for the day.”

Truly safe cross country riding requires not just bravery and athleticism, but also thinking on the part of both horse and rider. This is the skill Derek wants to cultivate in the riders that tackle his courses. He wants them to understand what each question is asking, and how the course fits together as a whole. You must not be married to a specific number of strides, instead you must keep your leg on and your eyes up and focus on riding the horse underneath you as the ground changes along the way.

“I think that the track is relatively the same [as last year] — it sort of goes the same direction — however, most of the combinations are all new,” Derek described. “They’ve actually built quite a few new jumps for this year’s course at all levels, so it should give the riders a fresh look and, I would think, some new things to contemplate on the cross country.”

One such question comes up at fence 4 on the track. The first three fences are inviting, beginning with the Hemlock Roll at fence 1. There is good galloping space between each of the first 4 fences so that riders can focus on getting their horses out in front of their leg before the going gets intense. At fence 4, though, they’ll have their first test of “can you ride a horse that’s finding its footwork?”, as the approach to the narrow table will require galloping down a steep camber into the water and back out and over the fence. This fence is unlikely to cause real problems, but should provide good intel for riders as to how to respond to their horses’ tackling of the undulations.

A steep uphill climb and a sweeping left-hand turn to the Fairway Question coffin complex at fence 7ABC presents the next major challenge, and riders will need to make sure they’ve got a good line through this obstacle as the way through is not straight as an arrow. The prospect of the delicious galloping lane that immediately follows this question will encourage riders to keep kicking to get to the other side.

Photo by Sally Spickard.

Coming at 9AB is an Angled Rails to Corner question, which caused quite a stir as riders began to walk the track earlier this week. After some discussion with Derek and the Ground Jury, it was decided to add an option to this line, which features a very steep angled, yellow MIM-pinned rail to a right-handed corner. To help find the line, the ground line at the rail has been set to the left of center, but adding an option (which allows riders to jump the rails straight on and then circle back to the right to hop a small skinny) will provide some insurance should any competitors feel they cannot navigate this question safely.

The track also features a keyhole to a large down bank, slightly reminiscent of the big ol’ drop into space featured on the Tokyo Olympic track, at fence 15ABC, the Owl Hole Drop and Corner.

Photo by Sally Spickard.

Two fences are placed in the arena this year: a single, galloping table, followed by two tables on a bending related distance. After that, the riders will tackle the far loop of the track, which will take them into the big water at fence 19ABC, the Trackside Pond, that features a big, angled log to jump into the water followed by two offset chevrons.

The back third of the course will be primarily about ensuring horses are fit and able to get home safely. Derek continues to ask riders to test their turning skills with a handful of combinations en route to the finish, including an interesting question at fence 25 that will have riders jumping a log and hopping down over the hacking path to turn over a small speed bump.

It’s a bit difficult to really see here, but the ground ahead of fence 26 is far from flat! Photo by Sally Spickard.

Finally, fence 26 (Red Top Cabin) may look innocuous, but take a look at the undulation in the ground approaching it. A leg-weary horse may find it difficult to stay straight and true here — and again, I wouldn’t anticipate any issues here, but if a horse is feeling the efforts by this point, you may see some scrambles over this as the horses must employ their footwork to maintain a straight approach.

The Horseshoe Brush at fence 27 will welcome riders back to the finish. Should these 4*-L riders complete this track well, they should feel more than set up to prepare for the next level of competition. This track gives off major Kentucky vibes, and it’s been dressed beautifully by the hardworking grounds crew and volunteers here this weekend. It should be an absolute showcase of sport tomorrow, and we can’t wait to see what the day holds.

There is no live stream this weekend, but we’ll be doing our best to keep you updated on both the Bromont (@bromontcci) and the EN (@goeventing) Instagram pages. Abby and I will be back with a full cross country report later this evening, so stay tuned — and Go Eventing!

You can also view the full track overview on CrossCountryApp here.