Allison Springer in the Novice. I snapped a photo of her studying the prelim course map as she headed up to warmup, but this one captures the perfect essence of the weekend of eventing at Fair Hill.
Hellloooooo Eventing Nation!
I am seriously the happiest girl in the world at the moment. I have found the fastest internet in all of PA… it’s at the Kennett Square Public Library. Why is this so exciting, you ask? Well, it means I can bring you videos and coverage in a timely manner.. no more incorrect videos or late uploads. SO EXCITING! Anyway, back to Fair Hill. [Full Scores]
I know it’s under water every fall, but the weather has been amazing! Fair Hill is quickly becoming a favorite venue of mine. This title was/is held by Lamplight in Chicago. The views you have of the cross country are second to none. You can pretty much take strategic routes to see a single pair jump almost every fence on course. Walking the courses, the footing is up to snuff with aeration everywhere on the rolling terrain.
Without further ado, here is the intermediate xc video for your viewing pleasure. The course rode well for the most part, except as you know, for fence #14. You’ve seen the pictures of the fence here, and now you can really see Boyd and Thomas fly over it. It looks like a pretty straightforward fence, just a bit on the skinny side perhaps. This fence starts at the 3:18 mark below.
And, to wrap up Saturday, before we move on to the Preliminary and Novice divisions, here’s Quinn Anderson and Sprite’s sj round in the Training. She finished on her dressage score of 52.7 ending in 6th in the Jr OT. They are a fun pair to watch, and since she commented on my last post, here’s a shout out video for you.
Now, Sunday. Another fabulous day of weather, spectating, and eventing. Let’s start with the results:
Bruce Davidson, Sr. led from start to finish in OP-A on Here’s Lola, finishing on their dressage score of 29.1. Also in this division, Allie Blyskal won the dressage on 27.3, but added some time on cross country. Boyd Martin and Steady Eddie won the OP-B adding just one xc time penalty to their dressage score of 24.6. Watching this pair on the xc, he looked like he rather lived up to his name. Jackie Imholt and Asterix won the OP-C on their dressage score of 24.6. Also in this division was Chris Tally and Tucan Tango. You may remember them from this post. They finished their first prelim in 8th! We’ll hear more from them soon.
In case you forgot how to ride, here’s Bruce in the preliminary show jumping. Flawless.
Ryan Wood was second in the OP-A with a lovely round:
Here’s the preliminary coffin:
Now the Novice divisions took over. Ryan Wood won both the ON-A and ON-B with Woodstock Bennett and Woodstock Wallaby, respectively. Both horses finished on their sub-30 dressage scores. Katie Kindley and Cosmic Messenger took home the blue with a 27 from start to finish in ON-C. As for the Junior Novice Riders, Julianna Hansen and Lauren Walling took home top honors. Congrats all!
I leave you with the novice xc video so you can ride along while your boss is looking the other direction. Fence #4 was Novice’s bogey fence. It’s shine or glare from the sun had the horses giving it a second glance and there were quite a few refusals. Kudos to the rider in the video getting it done.
Next weekend, I’ll be in New York, but I’ll catch you at the next one, EN. Go eventing.
