Area V Championships 2012 at Holly Hill Farm
By Mary Hirsch
Area V held its 2012 Championships at Holly Hill Farm in Benton, Louisiana this past weekend. True to its northern Louisiana roots, Holly Hill is known for hospitality and the excellent food served on Friday evening by the Rockin WH Ranch & Hay Co. Holly Hill won my heart from the moment I opened the program book and found the dressage tests for each division printed next to the course map. Follow up with delicious tortilla soup served in the pavilion, along with challenging but fair courses enhanced by some new construction, and Holly Hill earns its reputation as a competitor-friendly event.
Owners and organizers Bobby and Tracy Hewlett selected this farm many years ago for its sandy soil, gentle hills and lush meadows. With their hard work it has gradually evolved into one of Area V’s best-attended event fixtures, with over 250 entries for this event. Both Championship and regular divisions were offered.
The David O’Connor-designed courses asked for forward riding and technical skills at every level. The Intermediate, Preliminary and Training courses were built largely up to height, and often width as well. Big solid spread obstacles were found in the gallops. For all the levels, solid bank complexes, technical water jumps, wooded trails, open grassy meadows and much more offered some of everything, spaced among long gallops.
Each course had something that added an extra twist. Intermediate and Preliminary found a rollback-turn navigating between two huge logs on either side of a large oak tree. Novice had a max. rolltop, to a down-bank, to a feeder, well-spaced for a forward ride. Beginner Novice included a terrain path through the woods with a shady cabin jump, and two water crossings.
Training Level riders in particular had a combination on the course that was discussed obsessively by those committed to ride it – perhaps even dreamed about – before cross-country. One experienced trainer called it “prelim-ish.” An invigorating gallop across the hilltop meadow to #10, a big-ish table, then five strides into the shade to #11-A angled log, with two forward strides to the #11-B log. The riders who rated the exuberantly galloping steed to get to the table on a good stride, but not a flyer, found the logs jumped easily, angle and all. Those who came in overly strong to the table found the #11A-B combination rather sticky, but jump-able, with perhaps a few spare horse-legs flying here and there. The forgiving nature of the combination saved most hinky pairs from any penalty points. It was more the spectator-entertainment factor, along with rider nerves.
The Intermediate Championship was won by Emma Fisher of Mounds, OK and long-time partner Carlingford’s Forever, with clean jumping and only 4.8 time faults, finishing with 40.4. Emma and Forever have represented Area V atn the last two Area V NAJYR Championship 2*’s, and have been jumping around Intermediate courses since 2009. Another Area V 2012 NAJYR 2* representative grabbed reserve champion, Mary Frances Cargile and Take The Mick, of San Angelo, TX. Mary Frances and Take The Mick rode their first recognized Intermediate last year at this Holly Hill event, winning it with clear jumping rounds. The division’s small field of four were less than 2.8 points apart after dressage, so with everyone gathering time faults while jumping clean, the game was “fastest clear round wins.”
It was a different story for the Preliminary Championships once Lynne Partridge and El Cid of Bartonville, TX had put down a 25.2 dressage score, 8.3 points better than the next best dressage score posted by Kristy Limon and Excel. However, 3.8 time faults on cross-country and a rail in stadium dropped Kristy and Excel to 7th. The final top 5 all jumped double-clear in both cross-country and show jumping with the exception of the one rail by El Cid. Laura Szeremi and her chrome-y chestnut Argento, of Killeen, TX, posted the second-fastest cross-country round, coming up from their initial dressage 4th place to finish as reserve champion on a 34.8 dressage.
Kristin Curreri and Hondo of Dallas, TX squeeked out the Training Championship by finishing on dressage 29.6, after leader Bonner Carpenter and Picture This (Dallas, TX) added just one rail to finish second on 30.4. As does happen when the best compete in championships, the top seven finished less than a rail apart, double-clear throughout saving Picture This’ single rail. If it saved Bonner’s disappointment at all, she also went home with a 6th place and a double-clear / double-clear with All Inclusive.
The Novice Championship went to Heather Morris and Barnabus (owned by Cherye Huber) for finishing on a 24.5 dressage score. Rebecca Brown and Belafonte D’Avalon (owned by Kathy St. Martin) finished as reserve, also on dressage with a 29.5, while Mike Huber and Salzburg (owned by Debra Dealcuaz) gathered a single show jumping time fault for a final 33.0 and third place. The Novice championship division almost all went double-clear in the cross-country, but a show jumping course requiring a smart pace and precise turning skills thoroughly shook up a good bit of the dressage leaderboard.
The top 11 finishers in the Beginner Novice Championship thoroughly mastered all of the jumping, save for a total across the group of 3 time penalties in show jumping and 4 time penalties in cross-country. It was Brigitte Wexler’s sterling 22.4 dressage score that earned her championship, comfortably in front of reserve champion Jacqueline Sterle and Ibn Sashali on their 27.2 dressage. The top five finishers all finished on a dressage below 30.
What I learned at Holly Hill, photographing horses hurdling a single jump, then looking at the image just captured: It did not matter if the horse approached fast, slow, bold, calm, look-y or psychotic; it did not matter the horse’s size, conformation or stride length. What mattered is if the rider had set the stride properly from the beginning of the approach. So long as the rider accomplished that task, the images of horses in flight over the jump were very similar, regardless of the theatrics coming to the take-off. However if the stride were not right to the take-off, no matter how athletic the horse and rider, there was a much more entertaining variety in the positions of horse bodies, legs, heads, tails, etc.
Y’all come, sometime, to Holly Hill Farm in Benton, Louisiana and Go Eventing!
