Much-needed rain could not dampen the start of the Virginia Horse Center Eventing CCI & H.T. p/b Capital Square, as all FEI and upper-level National divisions successfully kicked off Friday competition. Virginia Horse Center is proud to serve as a launching pad of sorts for many eventing horses and riders, and this weekend welcomes a higher than typical number of first-time FEI riders as well as entries representing 10 nations, including riders from Colombia, Brazil, Panama and India.
Long Format Leaders Shine in Dressage
Karl Slezak and Herald De La Rose. Photo by Haley Boothe / Impulsion Media.
Virginia Horse Center hosts both a CCI1*-L and CCI2*-L this weekend, providing an opportunity for horses and riders with less FEI to experience a great environment for both education and competition. To that end, both of the Friday Long-format leaders are horses tackling their first such event at the level.
In the CCI2*-L, Canadian Olympian Karl Slezak (Paris – 2024) rode Elizabeth Leete’s Herald De La Rose to a score of 28.4 for a small advantage over second-placed Romulo Roux (COL) and Cornelius Bo (29.2). Herald de La Rose, an 8-year-old Anglo-European Sporthorse by Herald III, was initially sourced via fellow Canadians Kyle and Jen Carter for his owner, Elizabeth Leete, before becoming a part of Slezak’s string of developing horses.
“We actually bought him for [Leete],” Slezak said. “She said, ‘let’s see what you guys can do with him’ and he’s a very cool horse. Today’s temperatures were actually quite favorable for my horses – I tend to prefer more of a ‘kick’ ride and these cooler temperatures kind of gave them a bit more ‘oomph’ today.”
The timing of this event worked well for Slezak, and as a Florida resident, he says it’s important for him to get out to other areas and let his horses compete on different surfaces, at different venues.
“It’s always nice to come up here and expose them to the hills and new venues instead of sticking to the same events,” he explained. “We have a lot available to us in Florida, and it’s really nice, but it’s good to get out and experience other things.”
Dom Schramm and Sneaking Suspicion. Photo by Haley Boothe / Impulsion Media.
Looking to the CCI1*-L, it’s another Long format (and an FEI debut, in this instance) rookie leading the way in Australian CCI5* rider Dom Schramm’s Sneaking Suspicion. “I think pretty highly of him,” Schramm said of the well-bred 8-year-old Irish Sport horse by Sligo Candy Boy and out of the Lux Z mare Cloonbarry All Star. “He’s new-ish to me, I’ve just had him for a couple of years, and he’s been pretty successful – just slowly moving up the levels. He’s a big character – it was nice for him to get into the long court [dressage arena] today because he felt like he had more room.”
Schramm’s score of 30.9 is a touch higher than what “Crumpet” has shown in the past, but he chalked up the extra penalties to some tension lent from the indoor arena environment on Friday morning. “He was very fancy, but also a little electric and tense,” Schramm described. “But given everything, I was still really happy with him, and I talked with the owners, who reminded me this is all just a stepping stone and part of the learning.”
“There aren’t many hills like that [Oak Hill] side in American eventing,” he said when asked of his plans for cross-country tomorrow. “So it’ll be a great education, and I think the other big thing is you learn a lot about them, and they learn a lot about the job at their first three-day. So I’m just curious to see how he handles it all. Virginia really impressed me last fall, and so I’ve been really eager to come back and support it.”
Kim Severson Leads CCI3*-S after Two Phases
Kim Severson and Cooley Corraghy Diamond. Photo by Haley Boothe / Impulsion Media.
Olympic medalist Kim Severson (Athens – 2004) took the lead in the CCI3*-S division with the 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Cooley Corraghy Diamond in Friday morning’s dressage, scoring a 28.0 from judges Valerie Pride (USA) and Sara Miller Leary (USA). Their lead would remain unthreatened, even with one rail lowered on Friday afternoon’s Michel Vaillancourt (CAN)-designed show jumping course. Severson and Cooley Corraghy Diamond (owned by Ros and Bill Johnson) will subsequently carry a two-phase score of 32.0 into Saturday’s concluding cross-country phase.
“He didn’t do any flying changes!” Severson laughed when asked about her dressage test. Training the flying change has been challenging for Cooley Corraghy Diamond, but Severson feels the skill is becoming more consistent and confirmed each day. However, the CCI3*-S dressage test does not include flying changes, and as the horse has gained more confidence with the movement he’s tended to throw a few extras in for fun. Today, Severson said, while it wasn’t “the best test he’s ever done, he was really good. So I am very pleased with him.”
As Severson plans to finish the season out at the four-star level with this horse, Saturday’s cross-country run is all about setting up for the second half of the year and having a strong run after a less than ideal start to the season.
“We had kind of a rough start to the season for various reasons,” Severson said, noting some atypical jumping penalties and minor health issues that popped up here and there. “And he hadn’t done much last fall. I’m really glad to have another Intermediate to run at, it’s a great course with great hills and so hopefully I’ll have him back consistent from here on out through the rest of the year.”
Emeline Gilbert Leads CCI2*-S with MS Spirit
Emeline Gilbert and MS Spirit. Photo by Haley Boothe / Impulsion Media.
North Carolina-based young professional Emeline Gilbert is the two-phase CCI2*-S leader with her own 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse Gelding, jumping double clear around Michel Vaillancourt’s show jumping this afternoon to remain on her dressage score of 29.3.
This weekend is the third CCI2*-S for MS Spirit, who originally came to the US via the Goresbridge Go For Gold Select Event Horse Sale in Ireland and has a background in show jumping. For Gilbert, he’s been challenging but rewarding to produce, and she’s relied heavily on her coach, Pan American Games medalist Sharon White, for help along the way.
“He’s one that Sharon has loved from the get-go, and when I was less than sure, she’s always been like, ‘I just love this horse, he’s the real deal,’ and he seems to be proving that,” Gilbert said. “Last year it took him a while to kind of figure everything out. He’s massive – he’s like 17.1 – and just a very big boned horse, and sometimes he wasn’t sure where he fit in all the combinations, because his stride gets quite long on cross-country. So now that he’s kind of putting the pieces together, he’s been a really, really exciting one to bring along. I’m very lucky to have him in my string.”
Gilbert calls MS Spirit “my comfort horse” – he goes like an equitation horse in the jumping phases and provides her with a lot of confidence for her other horses competing this weekend. “He’s just a joy to ride. It’s just nice to have that stable one, and he was my first ride today, so it just made me better for the next.”
Cross-country begins on Saturday, May 23 at 11:15 am with the Advanced/Intermediate division on the Oak Hill side and at 9:15 am on the VHC side with Open Training. The remaining National divisions begin competition on Saturday, and the event will conclude on Sunday with final cross-country and show jumping rounds.
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