Ema Klugman and Bronte Beach Z. Photo by Veronica Green-Gott.
In 2014, Ema Klugman arrived at the Virginia Horse Center to compete in her first three-day event aboard the iconic Bendigo. Together, they finished on the podium. Today, she set herself up for history to repeat itself at VHC Eventing, presented by Capital Square. She and Bronte Beach Z are currently leading the CCI3*-S division with a 24.7.
“I actually did my very first three day event here in 2014,” Klugman said. “We were reminiscing in the car on the way here. So it’s been 11 years. It’s crazy, but I did my first CCI2* on Bendigo here back in the day. We’ve been coming here probably almost every year since then.”
“Bronte,” who is used to the intensity of the five-star level, enjoyed strutting her stuff at the CCI3*-S level, according to Klugman. “She’s a really fun horse to ride,” Klugman said. “She knows her job, certainly three star dressage is a test she’s very confirmed at. I really don’t have to do a lot. I just get her in front of my leg and sit and look nice. She’s super reliable in the ring, she’s pretty relaxed. She needs 20 minutes of warm up, and you can kind of go in. She jumped well, so I’m hoping to give her a good spin [around cross country] tomorrow.”
Looking ahead to the cross country, Klugman is looking forward to giving “Bronte” one last fitness run before heading south to compete at Terranova. “The terrain is really the big question here,” she said. “It’s really nice for them to run up that big hill, but also there’s terrain all through the course. My horses are all really different, so I think I go second on Bronte, so I’ll have been around it once before on another horse. It should be well within her capabilities.”
There was a last-minute shake-up in the CCI2*-L division today. Initially Phillip Dutton was on the leaderboard as winning the division, but a clerical error meant dark horse Megan Edwards jumped into the lead with a 22.4 aboard Legende De Mies. A true underdog pair, Edwards just started eventing “Legend” last year. Prior to that, Legend was a pure show jumper and had no dressage or eventing experience.
“So last April, we signed her up for one of our first events, and then she went to the Novice American Eventing Championships last year, and here we are,” Edwards said. “So she keeps trying to surprise us, even though it wasn’t our original plan. But yeah, we’re growing a beautiful partnership. She’s just a trier.”
At the end of the day, what made Edwards dressage test shine for the judges was the harmony between horse and rider. “I was coming out of my dressage test and one of the judges was talking to me. She was like, ‘That was a pleasure to watch.’ I was giggling and laughing because I did a flying change in my counter canter. Both judges gave me a 10 at some point, but also both gave me a four. That sounds about right for [Legend]. She can be pretty excellent, but then we can have an oopsie moment.”
Edwards’ plan for cross country is to focus on giving Legend a good round, not maintaining her hold on first place.
“She loves the job. She is still a little bit green to it, like I said, she just hasn’t been doing it for very long,” Edwards said. “We’ll see how the hills and everything go. I want to just give her a good round and try not to be greedy. I know I’m in first, but I don’t want to be too greedy, because I want a bigger picture with her. I’m excited, but I also want to take care of her, and I want to give her a nice, solid round, and not go chasing the time. I want to give her a good go for her first two-star long.”
It’s not every day that a horse who was competing at Novice level just last year beats two Olympic riders (Phillip Dutton and Caroline Pamukcu) to claim the lead in an FEI event.
“It feels pretty good, but I also want to take care of her,” Edwards said. “This could be a really fun future if I do this right, and I really want to do it right for her, because she deserves it. So yeah, it feels good [to lead the division]. But I also want to be a grown up about it and be good to her.”
Tim Bourke and DHI Kevin G. Photo by Veronica Green-Gott.
Tim Bourke first took ahold of DHI Kevin G’s reins just a few weeks ago, yet the pair are leading the CCI2*-S at the end of day one at VHC Eventing. Coming to Bourke via Lucia Strini, this weekend marks “Kevin” and Bourke’s second event together. Despite the brand new partnership, the pair scored a 25.5 in the dressage, followed by a double clear show jumping round.
“Kevin’s a good boy,” Bourke said. “He was the last one to go into the ring and not a whole lot phases him. He doesn’t take much in the warm-up. You just want to do a lot of canter work, get him a little bit in front of you, and then he’s really after it. You can get in the ring and go for it. I think Lucia has done a fantastic job training the horse, so it makes my job a little bit easier.”
While Bourke and Kevin had an excellent dressage test, Bourke did earn himself a talking to from his “coach” and young son, Senan, prior to entering the show jumping ring with the grey gelding. “As you can tell [Senan] has a big personality,” Bourke laughed. “Everyone at the show knows him. He definitely gives you his opinion. I had a pole down— alright, two poles down— on Melody earlier in the day, and I heard about it. I went in on Kevin knowing that my biggest critic was watching.”
Looking ahead to the cross country course, designed by Jay Hambly, Bourke echoes Ema Klugman when he describes the course as a “good fitness test.”
“I think it looks great, I think they do a fantastic job here,” Bourke said. “He’s done a really good job of the layout, of getting the horses on course. You got fence four, five and six up the top there. Then you start to start to go down the hill a little bit into the coffin, which is pretty tricky. I think it’ll catch a couple of people out a little bit on the hard stuff down the bottom, and then a good fitness test coming back up the hill. I think he’s done a really, really good job with the layout of the course, and it should be a good day of sport.”
Kenta Hiranaga and Promised Land TH. Photo by Veronica Green-Gott.
In the CCI1*-L, Kenta Hiranaga is making the most of his first time at the Virginia Horse Center and is leading the division aboard Promised Land TH with a score of 24.9. One of three horses Hiranaga rode in the division, the Holsteiner gelding is just 6 years old and is owned by Takashi Hotta.
“Dressage [he had a] very good performance. Cross country, too, very good performance,” Hiranaga said. “[It’s my] first time at Virginia Horse Center. It’s very up and down here, [it’s a] good location. Very hard, very good.”
“So number four is a combination,” Hiranaga continued. “Promised Land is a baby girl, right? The correct stride [when] course walking is four strides. But Promised Land is so brave and [it was] downhill so the big girl [did it in] three strides.”
Heading into show jumping tomorrow, Hiranaga is confident in Promised Land’s ability to produce a solid, clear round. “She is a very good jumper. I have confidence. [She is] so, so reliable. So [I’ll] try my best.”
Senan Bourke shows off his Halloween spirit. Photo by Veronica Green-Gott.
Upper level National competition also began today with the results as follows.
Advanced/Intermediate
First – Lynn Symansky & Bounce 6 – 37.3
Second – Katie Lichten & Hickstead Musterd – 44.7
Third – Leslie Lamb & Banjo – 45.2
Open Intermediate
First – Sharon White & Quizas – 30.4
Second – Hannah Sue Hollberg & Hachi – 32.8
Third – Morgan Booth & Cold Red Rum – 33.0
Open Preliminary A
First – Megan Edwards & Global Dynasty – 27.6
First – Lucia Strini & Excel Cool Quality – 27.6
Third – Hannah Sue Hollberg & Superstition – 28.7
Open Preliminary B
First – Carinne Wancowicz & Deichkind 10 – 27.4
Second – Caitlin Romeo & Fernhill B Good – 29.5
Third – Lucia Strini & Shirsheen Ice – 29.7
Preliminary Rider
First – Reese Dellangelo & Carlson 119 – 28.4
Second – Reese Dellangelo & Figaro Des Premices – 30.5
Third – Logan Harris & Terry Jade – 30.5
Modified Rider
First – Elisabeth Tansey & Night Moves – 31.8
Second – Addie Cant & Fiftyshadesofcharm – 37.4
Third – Laura Hilliard & Ballarin Shanado – 38.3
Open Modified
First – Emery Reagan & Allure – 27.0
Second – Kaitlin Clasing & TGS Lions Sunshine – 27.3
Third – Emeline Gilbert & MS Spirit – 28.5
Looking ahead to tomorrow, the majority of FEI divisions will wrap up competition with just the CCI2*-L finishing on Sunday morning. The day begins with the National divisions in the dressage ring. FEI competition starts at 10 a.m. with the CCI1*-L tackling the show jumping course. Soon afterwards, at 10:40 a.m., the remaining FEI divisions will hit the cross country course with the CCI2*-S first out of the start box.
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