Phillip and Ben rode through the rain and into the CCI3* lead
Good evening from Elkton, Maryland after a quality first day of dressage here at Fair Hill. Our Eventing Nation award for best weather comment of the day goes to Will Coleman, who said that it was so dreary he expected to see dementors coming out of the fog. I didn’t make Will as a Harry Potter fan, but he is cool and all Harry Potter fans are cool, so there you go. Despite the weather, spirits are high here and all expectations are for a fun weekend of competition.
As we all know, Andrea Leatherman sold her fabulous horse Mensa to Carl Bouckaert earlier this year, but that transition must have been made at least a little easier by the fact that she has a fabulous horse in the mare Mystic My, who leads the 60 horse CCI2* here at Fair Hill after the first day of dressage. This is Mystic My’s third two-star and she had the best trot work that I saw in the two-star division and perhaps the three-star all day. Andrea is easy to root for, and not just because she was kind enough to give me a golf cart ride in the rain at Morven. Karl Slezak of Canada is in second in the CCI2* on Ulando H for Canada. Scott Keach and Vamor are third in the two star, representing Australia. Scott told me that Vamor alternates between show jumping and eventing but the horse is ultimately meant to be an event horse and will look to move up in the spring time. 30 two-star horses ride dressage tomorrow.
Phillip Dutton and Ben lead the CCI3* here at Fair Hill after a really nice test that scored as the only Thursday three-star score to break under 50. Ben has a 7 point lead over Erin Sylvester and No Boundaries. Nina Ligon is third on Tipperary Liadhnan after a test that had brilliant moments as well as a few bobbles. Carl Bouckaert and Cyrano Z of Belgium are in 4th on a very steady performance. Phillip is riding 4 horses this weekend and he is 5th overnight in the CCI2* on Young Man.
CIC3* Thursday Dressage Results:
1. Phillip Dutton and Ben 47.2
2. Erin Sylvester and No Boundaries 54.4
3. Nina Ligon and Tipperary Liadhnan 56.2
4. Carl Bouckaert and Cyrano Z 57.0
Phillip already has a video on Eventing Nation today, so here is Nina Ligon and Tipperary Liadhnan. Apologies to Nina for cutting off her halt and salute, I am a terribly distracted videographer.
Portions of the leader board are sure to change tomorrow with some heavy hitters scheduled to ride including Arthur, Twizzel, Can’t Fire Me, Rolling Stone, and Veronica. Top to bottom, the Friday lineup is my favorite dressage group from any three-star this year because of the quality of horses and riders including the aforementioned Mensa, and Henny. Marilyn Little-Meredith will be defending her CIC3* win at Plantation this weekend and I’ll be cheering her on. Unfortunately EN blogger Lisa Marie Fergusson had to withdraw from Fair Hill this week and therefore will not be pursuing the Bit of Britain Challenge. She will touch base with us soon with an update.
Danica and Utah B of Canada:
Quite a few horses here in the Fair Hill three-star started off the year looking towards the Pan American Games, including Utah B and Danica Moore of Canada. Obviously, none of the horses here will be making the trip to Mexico, but competing in the Fair Hill three-star isn’t a bad alternative and will set their horses up nicely for their future three-star and hopefully four-star careers.
Several of the top three-star horses need a good weekend to maintain their 4* qualification and therefore stay on track for Rolex next year and beyond. I expect to see some safe riding for the qualifying score on Saturday. As usual, Fair Hill has a lot to do with looking ahead to Rolex for North America’s best horses.
Looking back to the YEH divisions from this morning, we mentioned that Kelli Temple and Corneel are leading the 4 year old division. Corneel is a lovely 4 year old owned by Jules Stiller and the horse came over from the UK in July. This is just his fourth event but he looked absolutely lovely. As Kelli pointed out, the YEH horses get a great experience here at Fair Hill with the YEH arena in the main arena right in front of the grandstand.
A number of the riders today (perhaps a third) wore their helmets today in the FEI dressage. It seems that rather than seeing a full conversion to helmets there is a divide of riders who choose to wear them and those who do not. In my mind, I don’t see a reason not to wear a helmet, but it’s a personal choice and I can respect that.
Lastly, I want to echo Visionaire’s welcome of Dubarry to the EN family of sponsors earlier this morning. My view is that sponsorship on Eventing Nation works both ways and we look to associate ourselves with companies who share our values of giving back to the sport, having fun, and keeping your feet dry. Dubarry is a fantastic company and we are very privileged to be partnered with them. And of course thank you to all of our readers who support our sponsors each and every day.
I’ll add videos to this post as they finish uploading, so check back after the London Olympics. The main arena here at Fair Hill is bustling right now with tomorrow’s riders getting their evening rides in to acclimate their horses to the environment. Stay tuned for much more from Fair Hill throughout the weekend including the NFL nicknames of your favorite horses. Go eventing.
