Hannah Burnett and St. Barths are your Fair Hill CCI2* champions!!!! Doug Payne and Rebecca Howard both had rails down, giving Hannah a rail in hand when she entered with St. Barths. Hannah was clear, with a great round going as she approached the last jump. Then, just to make things interesting, St. Barths chested the last fence and Hannah nearly fell off but regrouped just in time to get across the finish line. The arena was silent for a few seconds and then the crowd erupted with cheers. Hannah left the ring smiling after a great weekend.
The course rode well, with a good number of clean rounds. The horses all looked good, another tribute to the great job by riders and show officials in handling the tough conditions yesterday. Today is cold but the rain has held off thus far.
Can you feel the excitement? A mood of intense calm shrouds the Fair Hill International today. Pride, reputation, sponsorships, Spring goals, team goals, dreams, and much more hang in the balance of wooden rails precariously perched on metal cups. The Show Jumping course is very tough. The second from last element is a triple combination, which is composed of a triple bar, to a square oxer, to a vertical. Who does that? The triple combination leads to the last, which is a very airy vertical. This is going to be good!
