Liz Halliday and Miks Master C. Photo by Sally Spickard.
We are in the full swing of things here at the Kentucky Horse Park, site of this year’s USEA American Eventing Championships, presented by Nutrena Feeds.
Today we saw the kickoff of the $60,000 Adequan Advanced Final, which features a 29-strong roster of top contenders currently led by Kentucky 5* podium finishers Liz Halliday and Miks Master C (Mighty Magic – Qui Lumba CBF, by Quite Easy). Liz delivered a polished test with “Mikki”, who’s out for his first run since he finished fifth individually (and silver in team competition) at CHIO Aachen earlier this summer.
“I was for the most part really pleased with that,” Liz said after her test, which earned a 23.1 and some cushion ahead of her next competitor. Earlier in the day, she’d been first down centerline with Ocala Horse Properties’ Deniro Z (Zapatero – Zonne-Trend by French Buffet xx). Deniro isn’t far off the leading mark, sitting fourth after dressage on a score of 28.9. “Just a couple of little things that weren’t quite how I wanted them, but I hope they mark him well, because I thought all in all, it was a good test.”
Strength in the hind end has been a big focus for Liz with the 11-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding, who is owned by Ocala Horse Properties and Debby Palmer. “The biggest thing is he’s asymmetric behind, so it’s really about keeping him strong without wearing him out in the warm-up. He offers so much in the ring, so much power, so you just want him to be able to deliver his best self.”
Just named to the U.S. eventing squad for the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile in October, Liz will use this weekend as a set-up — but don’t think that means she won’t want to compete for the win here at AEC.
“I mean, I’d like to be competitive,” she said. “I’m definitely going to try and run Deniro competitively as well. It doesn’t suit Mikki to go slow, so I think I’ll let him gallop within himself, but not take any undue risks.” She will have about 11 seconds of time in hand over second-placed Phillip Dutton and Z (27.5) on tomorrow’s cross country course.
Phillip Dutton and Z. Photo by Sally Spickard.
For his part, Phillip noted that his work with FEI dressage rider Arlene “Tuny” Page has been instrumental in continuing to fine-tune Z (Asca Z – Bella Bouche B by Babouche vh Gehucht Z), who is owned by Evie Dutton, Ann Jones, Suzanne Lacy, Caroline Moran, Tom Tierney, David and Patricia Vos. At 15 this year, Z has become a fairly consistent and competitive performer on the flat — but as Phillip knows well, there are always details to tune.
“I got two days of help from Tuny Page and it’s been really, really helpful in the whole process of getting him going and how it’s going to look in the ring,” Phillip elaborated. “Improving the contact and the connection and just overall how to present him and look in the best possible way.”
Phillip says he’s on a mission with Z to get to as many 5*s in the world as possible (though the jury’s still out on Australia; I told him it would be an epic homecoming of all homecomings and he laughed at me, so I’m not sure what that means. Just do it, Phillip, just do it.), which means this fall he’s got a ticket booked for the 5* at Pau (France).
Will Coleman and Off the Record. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Will Coleman secured third place after the first phase with the Off the Record Syndicate’s Off the Record (Arkansas VDL – Drumagoland Bay by Ard Ohio), scoring a 28.1 in a test Will was generally pleased with.
“He was a little spunky,” Will said of “Timmy”. “He came out and I was warming up and think he saw the cross country going — I think like probably a lot of horses today. He got pretty juiced about that, and he was just a little bit on the muscle. I wasn’t unhappy with him, but it’s not maybe it’s the best test. And that’s okay, you know, he’s in a good place, and we’ll go and hopefully have a good run tomorrow and then jump along on Friday.”
Will Coleman and Chin Tonic HS. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Coleman in Charge of Intermediate Championship
Will Coleman will also take first and second position ahead of the final phase of competition in the USEA Open Intermediate Championship, leading the way with Hyperion Stud’s Chin Tonic HS (Chin Champ – Wildera by Quinar), who added 4.4 time penalties to retain the lead earned in the dressage yesterday.
Will chose to drop “Chin” down to this Intermediate championship after first entering the Advanced. After the Holsteiner gelding had a small respiratory setback over the summer, Will felt he would be more competitive dropping down a level. “I think it started with maybe some allergies. But then he developed like a cold and I had to be very careful with him for about three and a half weeks. So I’ve only kind of just over the past three or four weeks, I’ve been able to get him now geared back up, headed towards Pau and I just thought, I’ve kind of not really been able to put the right amount of preparation into him to come to the AECs and do the Advanced class.”
Cross country today on both Chin Tonic as well as new ride Diabolo was just pure fun, Will said. “I had a ton of fun out there actually,” he explained. “Both horses just felt like they were kind of just playing around and having a good time. They both kind of came out of the box pretty keen and just said, let’s go. And they were awesome.”
Will Coleman and Diabolo. Photo by Sally Spickard.
After receiving a video from agent Sharon Ridgeway about a horse available in Australia, Will wasn’t immediately interested. In fact, it was Will’s wife, Katie, who was first keen on Diabolo (Diarado – Roulett M, by Aljano 2). Previously campaigned through the 4* level by Australian rider Gemma Tinney, Katie saw something promising as she sat on the couch watching the cross country video Sharon had sent.
“To be honest, Katie was sitting on the couch and she watched [the video] and she goes, ‘I think you need to go look at this horse’. She watched him go cross country and she said ‘I’m serious, I think this horse might like it.’ And to be honest, if she hadn’t said that I might not have paid that much attention.”
Before he knew it, Will was hopping a plane with his father to jet down to Australia for a quick three day trip (no word on how long that jet lag took to recover from) to try the horse. “We tried [Diabolo] every day for three days and a couple times one day, and we kind of liked him more and more every time we rode him. And I’m very grateful to Tinneys and to Sharon for trusting me with him — now I’ve just got to produce him.”
Adjusting to the Northern Hemisphere was difficult for Diabolo, so Will’s taken his time to get him out competing. There’s also the layer of getting to know a horse with as much experience as this one; typically, Will (like most riders) would prefer to make his own mark on his horses from a younger age. “I’m used to starting them much younger,” he said. “So it just wasn’t something I was 100% comfortable with. But we liked the horse and the more I talked to my owners, the more they kind of recognized that I have a really aging string, and I needed a horse.” Will’s current roster of upper-level horses is the smallest it’s ever been at this point in time, and as with any top rider a pipeline and a string of top horses is, well, not the only way to “make it” in this sport — but is certainly a major benefit.
“[My owners] stepped up for me. So I really owe it all to them, and for them giving me a little push to say ‘it’s alright, we got your back’, because that meant the world. And now I think we’re at a stage where we need to sort of retool a little bit. We’re short horses, the smallest group of horses, I’ve had in like, ten years. So this horse fills a nice hole, but we probably still have a few holes to fill.”
Caroline Pamukcu held the lead in the Intermediate for a short while after the scores recorded a double clear cross country. Upon finalization, two seconds of time were added to her score to drop her and HSH Double Sixteen into third place (though they still moved up three places after starting the week in sixth).
The 8-year-old former racehorse joined Caroline while she was basing in England last year after starting his career with Ireland’s Leila Barker. “Leila did a really good job of teaching him everything, getting a good foundation on the flatwork and foundation of jumping,” Caroline described. Strength and fitness has been the focus for this young talent, and Caroline’s hoping to aim for either the 4*-S at Morven Park or the 3*-L at Maryland this fall as his bigger goal.
Score Updates from Preliminary, Modified, Training
With much going on each day, it’s difficult to fully cover every division, but let’s take a look at the scores in the rest of the equally important divisions! The awesome team at the USEA is working hard to ensure every division is covered in full, so be sure to follow along with their reports here.
Bates Preliminary Amateur: Kelly Beaver and Excel Star Pluto (33.9)
Bates Preliminary Horse: Elisabeth Halliday and Maybach (25.8)
Bates Preliminary JR/YR: Annabelle Sprague and Da Vinci Code (29.2)
Bates USEA Preliminary Rider: Ashton Hays and A Boy Named Rozy (31.9)
[Catch up on the USEA’s report from Prelim]
USEA Modified Rider: Carlin Keefe and Point Nemo (28.8)
USEA Modified Open: Chelsey Sawtell and Toto’s Weather Tamer (31.7)
[Catch up on USEA’s report from Modified]
USEA Training Amateur: Stephanie Letarte and GarryNdruig Albie (25.5)
USEA Training Horse: Jane Jennings and SF Vancouver 2 (26.0)
USEA Training Junior: Marina Cassou and Castleturvin Mungo (29.6)
USEA Training Rider: Sierra Lesny and Sebastian (24.2)
[Catch up on the USEA’s report from Training]
The action continues tomorrow, beginning with cross country for the Advanced competitors. Training level will also run cross country tomorrow. Novice will begin their competition with dressage, and we’ll welcome the Beginner Novice competitors starting Friday. There’s much to see and do, and you can follow along virtually using the Horse & Country live stream here.
If you’re an Instagram user, be sure to follow us (@goeventing) tomorrow (Thursday) for a takeover with Caroline Pamukcu and Sierra Lesny. Go Eventing!
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